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A group of youths in Musina has built up an arts organisation which tells stories and expresses feelings through poetry, music and plays.
Limpopo Mirror recently spent a Saturday morning with some members from the Mus’Town Theatre organisation at the local park.
The organisation’s dramatic director and manager, Bheki Biller (22), said that he recruited some local youths and started Mus’Town Theatre organisation in 2010 as a theatre group.
“We later grew into an art organisation,” he said; "my purpose was not only to keep the youths from the harsh street life of crime and substance abuse, but I wanted for youths to create a platform of expressing feelings through drama.”
The organisation’s sub-groups and individual artists have participated in both provincial and national art activities. “There was no arts consciousness in our locations until we started our project,” he said.
Bheki revealed that it was difficult to sustain the spirit of the group in the first days since not all the members shared the group’s vision.
Mus'Town Theatre group stages realistic plays, where they also portray the struggle of refugees and the violence they are faced with when they cross borders illegally. Bheki said that the nature of violence which refugees have to endure is extreme.
So far, Mus’Town Theatre Production has proved to be a hub of talents, where one finds poets, singers, storytellers, writers and actors. “This industry needs people who have sober minds and are prepared to also get some education to complement their talents,” he said.
He urged all young females in the acting industry to remain bold or else they will be taken advantage of by older men, which is so bad. “Let’s not prioritise bad conduct and lifestyle,” he said; "we need to start respecting ourselves and our fans.”
He decried the Musina Municipality’s dormant attitude towards local artists, where the municipality fails to afford the artists full support. “We still live in a place where the municipality tells us that they don’t have a financial budget for arts,” he said; “but they have money for sport. This is ironic; how can one separate sport, art and culture from not operating together?”
Lufuno Sebola (18) said that she has found a way of life in acting, where she sees the stage as her world. “When we cry on stage, the audience also cry; when we laugh or smile, they also do the same,” she said; "and then tell me, is the stage not a world of its own comprising actors and actresses?”
Mus’Town is currently working on a film, Jabu le Pule, which is due soon. “It tackles issues of drug abuse, where we show how drugs can be a ‘wall’ (hindrance),” he concluded.
Young theatre director Bheki Biller says that local municipalities must give local artists a priority to perform in government-related functions.
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The cast from Mus'Town Theatre Production in action.
By: Tshifhiwa Mukwevho
Tshifhiwa Given Mukwevho was born in 1984 in Madombidzha village, not far from Louis Trichardt in the Limpopo Province. After submitting articles for roughly a year for Limpopo Mirror's youth supplement, Makoya, he started writing for the main newspaper. He is a prolific writer who published his first book, titled A Traumatic Revenge in 2011. It focusses on life on the street and how to survive amidst poverty. His second book titled The Violent Gestures of Life was published in 2014.
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