(Pic by Val Adamson: Thuli Dumkude (interim chairperson Stable Theatre), Stella Khumalo (HOD DAC KZN), Welcome Msomi and Vuyokazi Mhlophe, Brand Manager: Johnnie Walker)International playwright, producer, director, author and choreographer Welcome Msomi has poured his prize for winning the Arts category in the Johnnie Walker Celebrating Strides Awards into helping resuscitate the Stable Theatre art centre in Durban. Today marked the official handover of the bursar award of R125,000.
“We want to encourage new productions which can tell important cultural and diverse stories of people, especially of those human tales of township experiences highlighting the importance of diversity in communities,” explains Welcome Msomi who has requested that a fund be created titled The Kessie Govender Fund for Theatre Development. “The funds will be specifically used towards the development of new talent in KwaZulu-Natal and to encourage and assist up and coming playwrights, directors and actors from the Durban and surrounding areas to follow their dreams.”
One of Durban’s most internationally successful sons of theatre, he bestowed on Stable Theatre the immeasurable prestige of promising to bring some of his productions to the venue and even suggested that a revival of uMabatha might be on the cards.
Made possible by the Celebrating Strides Award money, a production is in the planning stages to be held at Stable Theatre over the festive season. Titled Nkanyezi, it will run from December 10 to 19 at Stable Theatre and will be directed by Thuli Dumakude. Newly-appointed interim chairperson of Stable Theatre and an actress of international note, she won the Laurence Olivier Award for Actress of the Year in a New Play for her performance in Poppie Nongena in the UK in 1983.
The non-profit Stable Theatre, which dates back to the height of apartheid, was founded by the late Kessie Govender, an actor, playwright and passionate arts activist. It was created to draw together the community and it continued to thrive despite a lack of funding and neglect by officials. The centre offers performance and rehearsal space as well as an easily accessible venue for workshops or seminars. Now supported by the Department of Arts and Culture KZN, the venue is a home for all arts and allows artists to present exhibitions, writers to host book launches, film-makers to premiere their films and poets to entrance audiences with their work.
Thuli Dumakude says the funding would create a welcome new energy for Stable Theatre and would help sustain the very important artistic expression needed for a developing nation. She commended Msomi and thanked him for his generosity in giving back to others.
Msomi was one of 12 Johnnie Walker Celebrating Strides Awards finalists - in four categories including design, entrepreneurship, environment and the arts - chosen for the success they achieved in their various fields. The other winners chosen by the independent panel of judges as well as members of the public are businessman Max Maisela, urban designer and environmentalist Simon Nicks and architect Mokena Makeka.
Msomi wrote his first book at age 15 and went on to become an accomplished author whose name has become synonymous with Zulu literature. He is the founder of the IZulu Dance theatre and Music and responsible for launching the Zulu version of The Lion King for Ster Kinekor. He also conceptualised the 1994 inauguration of the first democratically elected government as the ‘many cultures one nation’ celebration as well as Nelson Mandela’s subsequent birthday celebrations.
Msomi is world renowned for his Zulu adaptation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth and says that he loves the universality of Shakespeare and believes his themes still have huge relevance to modern society, including South Africa today. “I am inspired by the similarities between the intrigues, plots and counterplots that brewed in Macbeth and the events that took place among the early tribes of Africa - for example, Shaka Zulu,” he says. “It was fun to do a Zulu adaptation, called uMabatha, and see audiences all around the world view Shakespeare through new eyes.”
In 1994, Welcome Msomi formed a joint venture event marketing company, named Msomi Hunt Lascaris. In 1996, he co-founded and became first CEO of Sasani Limited, a global entertainment and production company with sound studios, film processing labs and camera rental companies in Johannesburg and Cape Town. He is the chairman of Ezinkulu Productions, which supplies TV programmes to the SABC and of Msomi Comprehensive Network, Msomi Call Centers, Blue Moon Corporate Communications, Best of Both Worlds Pictures, Africa Sports Network, and Network BBDO, one of South Africa’s leading advertising agencies. Msomi is also the chairman of Welcome Msomi Communications, the director of Meropa Communications and JNPR, public relations firms. He has written the text for A Mandela Portrait with music created by Michael Hankinson for a tour of major American cities.
Tracey Kirsten, Johnnie Walker® Marketing Manager says this initiative fitted perfectly with the vision for the Celebrating Strides Awards: “We wanted to recognize and honour individuals like Msomi who have made great strides to achieve their dreams. But in doing so we also wanted to - through their success - inspire others and empower those around them who might not have had the same opportunities.
“We had the most incredibly inspiring 12 people as finalists in each category and it’s never an easy task for judges to narrow this down to a final four,” she adds. “But the criteria was very clear. Aside from having done extremely well in their particular fields, the winners’ involvement in community development was a key deciding factor. The way Msomi has ploughed his win back into Stable Theatre in the community from which he hails will hopefully act as a catalyst and inspire a whole new generation of artists dreaming of a chance to embark on their own journeys. “