Our latest production is the “Other Cecil” that launched in Bulawayo in August 2022 at the Bulawayo Theatre and had its Harare premiere in September at the Mitambo International Theatre Festival at Reps Theatre. It returns to the Bulawayo Theatre in early November. Baphi Mdladla gets standing ovations as the traditional poacher facing the men with guns.

Lasting just one hour it takes Lion conservation as its central theme but as seen through the story of the lion as symbol of empire and the shooting in July 2015 of Cecil the lion in Hwange National Park. The eyes of the local poachers, the traditional hunter, a visiting American hunter, the National Park team all engage in a musical tribute and dancing extravaganza on the Zimbabwean savannah. But why was the lion named Cecil? Why not Mzilikazi or Lobengula?