Doug Hill immortalised
FOR over five decades, the name Doug Hill has been synonymous with the art of theatre in Masvingo.
It is also a name that rings a thunderous bell in the ear of anyone who knows the history of professional theatre in Zimbabwe. Hill is set to be immortalised through a schools drama festival named after the towering Thespian.
“It is in honour of Doug Hill’s ever-growing legacy that the Charles Austin Theatre has decided to launch a School’s drama festival, which will be a competition for primary and high schools within and outside Masvingo,” said Charles Austin Theatre’s artistic director, Khetani Banda. As far as I am concerned, Doug Hill’s theatre work in Masvingo and even Zimbabwe can’t go unnoticed and unappreciated. If it wasn’t for the passion of this man, perhaps the Charles Austin Theatre wouldn’t be standing right now and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration that I probably wouldn’t have a theatre career since he was the one who mentored me when I was a young adult.”
Banda went on to reflect on the impact that Hill had on the careers of other theatre practitioners in Masvingo.
“Influential theatre practitioners of my era in Masvingo and in Zimbabwe such as Nama nominated theatre director, Charles Munganasa, were also extensively trained by Doug when they were youths.
“It is in light of Doug Hill’s heritage and his work with youths and high schools that we felt compelled to launch this festival in his honour. He caught us when we were young and we hope to do the same with the children of our generation,” explained Banda.
The festival, which is set for July, is expected to involve most, if not all the high schools in Masvingo.
Continued Banda: “Adjudicators of the festival shall be Charles Munganasa, National International Theatre Institute Coordinator Lloyd Nyikadzino and poet, playwright and theatre director Zaza Muchemwa.
“Eleven awards are up for grabs and besides the competition, guests will be entertained by various artistes in music, dance and poetry.”
Commenting on the honour, Doug Hill, who is 90 years old, said; “What I’m happiest for is the continuing work by the Charles Austin Theatre to discover and groom new theatre talent. Empires should not die with the Kings, they should continue with the young.”
The Doug Hill Schools Drama Festival shall be an annual event to be hosted at the Charles Austin Theatre.
With a career that began in Mutare, then Umtali, in the 1950s, Doug Hill from the onset of his theatre expeditions exhibited great ambition and instinct from staging his first production on a makeshift stage to being one of the cornerstones of Masvingo’s multi-award winning drama company, the Masvingo Drama Circle, now the Masvingo Theatre and Arts Club.
Hill also advocated for the construction of the Charles Austin Theatre, Masvingo’s only theatre house, which was then officially opened in 1974. He is also a former mayor and alderman of Fort Victoria, now Masvingo, and was honoured with the Freedom of the Municipality. He is a former District Governor of the Rotary Club during the period when the District encompassed Zimbabwe, Malawi, Swaziland and a region of South Africa.