The company was established under its current name in 1981 by Cont Mhlanga,[1] and has since become an influential cultural institution in Zimbabwe, playing a role not only in stimulating the performance arts scene, but also in examining critical issues in politics, health, women's rights and development with urban and rural communities through a method of active audience engagement.
[5] The Senior Drama Lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe, Owen Seda, notes that "as a conquest society, colonial Rhodesia was in dire need of legitimacy in its values and existence as a domineering settler society…Through theatre and other arts, western civilisation was contrasted with the lives of indigenous people who were regarded as uncivilised and without a culture.
In this context, Amakhosi emerged as a strand of revolutionary black nationalist theatre, critical not only of colonialism, but also of the post-independence leadership which it characterised as hypocritical and corrupt.
)[8] Cont Mhlanga has been described by theatre expert Jane Plastow as "a product of urban township life", in contrast to many other African playwrights who hail from the elite classes.
[12] One such "discussion theatre" performance – Workshop Negative (1986) – which the group had wanted to take on tour in Botswana and Zambia, was cut short as it did not receive "the Government's blessing",[13] due to its highly critical portrayal of the country's leaders as hypocritical and corrupt.
[16] In 1990 the company branched out to radio with Ngokwako Sgadula (a popular serial about family planning), and TV with Tshada Laye, a screen play about marriage and divorce (13 episodes).
Several Amakhosi dancers and actors, such as Alois Moyo, have risen to prominence in the Zimbabwean theatre scene, or have headed abroad to advance their careers in South Africa and Europe.
Cont Mhlanga has won several awards for his work, including the Freedom to Create Prize in 2008, for "practising protest theatre and challenging state ideologies in Zimbabwe for over 25 years.
"[4][18] Amakhosi Theatre has initiated several projects and collaborations with African and European organisations, and received vital funding support for its activities, mainly from Scandinavia, through NGOs such as NORAD, DANIDA and HiVOS.
However, at a new alternative venue in 2011, in Bulawayo City centre - the Amakhosi Elite 400 (already described as "Zimbabwe's premiere arts and culture hub") - the company has attempted to revive its activities and host a diverse array of performance events.
[20] Voices From Zimbabwe began with a statement by Cont Mhlanga from the Amakhosi Theatre in 2007, announcing the launch of a movement to "support creative artists from all disciplines to produce, perform, distribute and amplify the voices of the majority who live in Difficult Times while exposing the trickery and hypocrisy of the minority who live in Good Times, while they claim to be acting on behalf of the people and the country, by taking such critical and sometimes protest works to the people by all means available and possible.