Village Gossip Productions
Village Gossip Productions cc is a collaborative- multidisciplinary production company that specialises in Theatre Productions/Performing Arts Events & CreativeContent Programming. Founded 16-years ago by Napo Masheane; she with different partners further developed it to being the backbone of uku’bikwa - the act of pronouncing, announcing and presenting African narratives, poetics and theatrics, that nurture, encourage, empower and develop artists.
Over time Village Gossip Productions has used spoken word (storytelling, poetry), performance arts (drama, music, dance, movement) and visual art (photography, digital media), to shift the African narratives through cutting-edge creative expressions and experiences. While COVID-19 crisis has affected us, all WE have accelerated and adapted to delivering our creative offering either virtually or through hybrid forms that embrace both the digital and live platforms.
Mission
The mission of Village Gossip Productions is to conduct robust research, build strong links and support different nuances, to create a conscious kind of art.
Vision
The vision is to establish art-networking programs and content with similar organizations, companies, and institutions both nationally and internationally.
OBJECTIVES
To in-corporate different genres of CREATIVE and PERFORMING ARTS i.e. theatre, music, dance, storytelling, poetry, film and visual arts as to promote, preserve and advance authentic
AFRICAN HerStories.
To uphold artistic archives, cultural heritage and artistic prosperity as defined by womxn creatives. To re-instil in our communities an African pride of her-story/ and our-stories as Re-Birthed, Re-Lived, and Re-Imagined by sister-friends
Artistic Director/ Curator Napo Masheane
Napo Masheane is a multi-award winning playwright, producer, director, poet, curator, cultural activist, translator and acclaimed performer on both international and national stages. Being born in Soweto, growing up in Qwaqwa (Free State), and currently reciting in Johannesburg, Napo holds a Marketing Management, Speech & Drama and Master’s Degree in Creative Writing.
A founding member of FeelaSistah! Spoken Word Collective and with its demise, went on to become one of the leading South African black theatre matriarchs, after her provocative plays such as: ‘My Bum Is Genetic Deal With It’, ‘The Fat Black Women Sing’, ‘KHWEZI Say My Name which is stage adaptation of RediTlhabi’s book: KHWEZI and ‘My Vagina Was Not Buried With Him.
Napo published three poetry anthologies, Caves Speak in Metaphors (2007), Fat Songs for My Girlfriends, (2012) and Heartbeat of the Rain (2020). She stands as a proud member of Play riot(contemporary South African Playwrights).
In 2015 Napo became the first black woman to write, produce and direct a play called: A New Song, at the Market Theatre main’s stage (John Kanitheatre), while picked up on the international circuit, one of her monologues Mama the Storm Is Outside was performed by leading actor, Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years A Slave) at Royal Court (London).
Napo constantly crossing geographical, academic and artistic borders, through cultural exchanges, guest lecturing has done collaborative works with prominent organisations such as; ‘Black Lives Matter’ with visual activist, Zanele Muholi. Between 2017/18 Napo held the position of being the Deputy Artistic Director of South African State Theatre (SAST) and briefly emerged as the Artistic Director of Sibikwa Arts Centre.
Presently Napo sits as the advisory board member, under performing arts at Stockholm University Of The Arts and is the Managing Director of Village Gossip Productions, a theatre company that allows her to travel the world… directing, researching, lecturing, performing and documenting black women narratives.
1st-7th Aug’22
171 St Georges Road, Observatory Extention, 2198
+27 (0) 64 871 3000
info@herstorytheatrefestival.co.za
