dough_bollinger: Evolution of entertainment in Lusaka

Kalimba & Kalumbu Songs, Northern Rhodesia (Zambia 1952 & 1557) '99 By KELVIN KACHINGWE
ALTHOUGH Lusaka?s first building was a store in 1908 built by Benjamin Glasser, it was not until four years later that it had its own hotel as well as a social and sports club.
And for the better part of the next two or three decades, very few entertainment spots opened up in Lusaka, which this year, is celebrating its 100 years of existence as a local authority.
One wonders how the early settlers coped with that kind of scenario!
But over a centenary later, the array of entertainment spots are many. The only indictment on Lusaka is that it cannot claim to be a host city of any major international arts festival or initiative.
In fact, this is a very serious indictment!
This is so especially that with its rich cultural diversity, Africa as a continent is fast becoming a festival continent. Throughout the year, there are many colourful arts, musical and religious festivals celebrated in Africa.
In Nigeria for instance, there is the Argungu Fishing Festival (a grand fishing competition for the locals and other competitions like canoe racing, swimming and diving), the Durbar Festival (traditional parade of horsemen) and Igue Festival (thanksgiving festival held every year at Benim city).
In South Africa, they have the Cape Town International Jazz Festival (a two-day annual jazz festival organised in Cape Town where jazz legends from all over the world come and perform), Splashy Fen (a musical festival near Underberg in KwaZulu-Natal featuring mainstream and alternative rock and pop), Riebeek Kasteel Olive Festival (held in Western Cape offering the best olives and wine in South Africa along with live entertainment and art competition) and Hermanus Wine and Food Fair (when whales travel to south coast of Cape for mating in September). The Hermanus festival includes good food, wine and whale-watching.
In Kenya, festivals are an integral part of Kenyan tourism. These include the International Camel Derby (an annual camel-racing event organised to highlight the booming desertification), the Art Festival (organised by the National Museums of Kenya to give an opportunity to exhibitors to display their paintings and art works and create art awareness in Kenya) and the Kenya Tourism Week (a week-long celebration that includes art and music exhibition and giving opportunity to tourists to travel to less-explored areas).
But for Lusaka, the only festival of international repute is the privately-organised April International Theatre Festival whose participants are drawn locally and regionally. Organised by Yezi-Arts Promotions and Productions (YAPP), the festival provides an opportunity for theatre freaks to enjoy proper drama at the Lusaka Playhouse for a number of days.
This is important, because, in the last few years, proper drama productions have often times failed to draw large crowds to the Lusaka Playhouse. This is in contrast with comedy shows by groups such as Zambia One Comedy, Natuseke Inseko and Dorika and the Big Dudes which have attracted over-crowded audiences.
But as the common Elizabethan term means, playhouses are for theatre.
But so central is the Lusaka Playhouse for the city?s entertainment life that it often plays host to all sorts of functions.
Though it is difficult to credit any single person with the establishment of the Lusaka Playhouse, construction was facilitated by an initial grant of ?5 000 from the Beit Trust through its then chairperson Sir Alfred Beit and further financing from the Roan Consolidated Mines (RCM), which made its own substantial donation for the Lusaka Theatre Club.
Lady Benson, wife of Sir Arthur Benson, then Governor of Northern Rhodesia, laid a foundation stone for the building of Lusaka Theatre Club at the vacant plot allocated by the Lusaka Municipal Council to the Garrison Theatre, next to the then Ridgeway Hotel (now Holiday Inn) at stand number 2637 Church/Nasser.
Thereafter, construction started, culminating in the official opening on June 9, 1956 by Joyce Grenville, a British movie star whose brother was the chief executive officer for RCM.
The club officially opened with an inaugural play ?And So To Bed? which was produced by Dorothy Martin. Over the years, the club has had its own experiences and was never spared from the effects and impact of colonialism ? which made the place exclusively white populated until the 1960s when the emerging black leadership found ways of opening it up to multi-racial representation.
Since then, it has hosted thousands of theatre productions. In recent times, it has provided a platform to artistically send-off prominent artistes who have passed on.
Although not as active as it used to be in the past in terms of theatre productions, there is growing interest among the residents of Lusaka to restore it to its rightful place including rehabilitation of its infrastructure which is old.
They want to restore it because they realise just how central it is to the city.
As Lusaka celebrates 100 years, Lusaka Playhouse is playing host to a plethora of activities which include the documentary on Lusaka, discussions on the film industry in Zambia, the fashion industry and its challenges, the problems facing the expansion of Lusaka, the role of playhouses, theatre, drama and community centres in the city.
But the Lusaka Playhouse has not been alone in providing an entertainment platform for the residents of Lusaka.
In the past, there used to be the Star Market in Lusaka which used to provide a platform for live music.
Yes, live music!
This is another serious damn on Lusaka!
One of the serious frustrations of Lusaka is that there are very few places one can go to just sit and enjoy some band play live music. A few hotels such as the Pamodzi and Inter-Continental do provide for that. However, the average man is most unlikely to find himself in these venues on a Friday or Saturday evening.
For jazz lovers however, the Club Misty at Levy Junction has proved consistent in providing live jazz entertainment even during the week.
Non jazz lovers often go to Kalahari Pub and Grill near Football House where various bands such as Air Power, Green Labels and Muvi Posse take turns in performing over weekends, taking the audience down memory lane with some of their kalindula covers.
Well, the new generation of musicians have certainly made waves and have become an active part of Lusaka life, particularly over weekends. These are the musicians that perform (albeit lip synch) at various entertainment spots in Lusaka, particularly in Kabwata and Chilenje areas of the capital city.
In a way therefore, entertainment remains very much alive in Lusaka.
However, one would wish that celebrations that have been lined-up to mark 100 years of Lusaka such as the fashion show, garden tea party, adult arts exhibition, grand music day, the marathon, float procession and malasha bicycle race, the film festival and Lusaka one comedy, can be permanent fixtures in the life of Lusaka.
You certainly do not want to wait for another 100 years to see these again!