ICON theatre ready to educate during Hurungwe Arts Festival

Icon as traditional tourism actors in  Gache Kache

Icon in Gache Kache 

By Nhau Mangirazi

Icon theatre is among youthful groups that will be at the forthcoming Hurungwe Arts Festival on 28-29 November 2914.

Established in 2006 as talent for development group with 10 members, it became a professional theatre group three years later in Karoi town covering Hurungwe district but now perform in Mashonaland West province and the country as a whole.

Executive director Funwell Leo Magada says they started from humble beginnings at primary and secondary schools around Hurungwe.

‘’We did many performances around Hurungwe for a start to see how is our group’s production was accepted.  We had full houses every time we performed. Teachers and pupils’ comments on our appraisal forms were inspirational. We had different tours around Mashonaland West, walking long distances as some of the schools are located where there is no transport but we had no option but to strive for the best’’ says Magada.

Magada says the community must ‘’ value arts as an industry and have a shared perspective and informed decision making for their social well-being through advocacy’’

He says they look forward to see youths gaining effective access to quality adolescent sexual and reproductive health information, education and service in order to make informed choices concerning their lives.

It will further assist communities to acquire the necessary skills in order to fully enjoy their sexual and reproductive rights and spearhead advocacy for these rights.

Icon aims to empower communities and develop ethic and civic responsibilities in order to contribute their own social well-being, understand that art is an industry and information dissemination tool.

The group has been engaged with organizations such as Women Aids Support Network, Schools Aids Action Committees, Patsimeredu edutainment Trust, Staybridge Arts, Bambambela, Baptism of Fire, Savanna Trust. Rimuka-Tamuka traditional dance group, Shingirai drama group, human rights and advocacy groups such as Zimbabwe civic education trust, National Constitutional Assembly, Civnet, Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council, {ZNFPC}, Zimbabwe Red Cross Society Zimbabwe Development Community Program, (ZDCP), Heads of Christian Denominations,{HOCD}, Ministry of Health and Child Care among others.

Baptism of Fire, BOF, organized the show with the assistance of Culture Fund says it will be a search talent program for artists.

BOF programs manager, Joel Zilala says, ‘’Hurungwe Arts Festival is the golden opportunity to search for talent from the district that is still yet to be tapped. We look forward to see promoters taking the fun and engage our local talent who have the potential to make it nationally or internationally’’