open air gigs at Colour Purple

The success of the village project, only to be razed off by Police in the late 70s was its ability to win the consent of the masses to fully participate in the playmaking process. The father to open air dramaturgy, the German writer Bertolt Brecht probably did not envision that the virtues of moving away from closed theatre auditorium would result in painful consequences of this sort.
Despite this dark side of a true example of open-air entertainment, spectacular outlets and resting places like Colour Purple, situated along Willovale Road in Harare have not hesitated to borrow such a model and put it to a different use.
This time, it is not about political wrestling or orthodox theatrical showcase, it is about the fusion of art pieces that have the capacity to move and thrill revellers. There is no fear of imprisonment, rather there is cheering as fans dance to the melodies of their musical icons.
Moving away from conventional entertainment, where the sound of music is kept within the buildings, the owner of the outlet who is also a music promoter, Karen Madake popularly known as Amai Jojo, recently introduced open air gigs whereby DJs and musicians showcase their talents in full view of onlookers.
These events are regularly slotted for Fridays up to Sundays where different artistes grace the place to give a mixed bag of entertainment. Justfying this development, Madake indicated that: “We would like to cater for those who like variety and at the same time give families an opportunity to enjoy together at our leisure centre.
“Besides DJs and musicians, we are also going to introduce a number of activities at the joint so that we try to entertain every reveller who comes to our place.
“This will be in the form of dance groups that infuse music and drama,” she added.
The owners also emphasisesd that they will organise family shows, which will feature popular musicians, among them, Tongayi Moyo, Alick Macheso and Kireni Zulu, serving to demystify the belief that such venues are intimidating and infested with immorality.
The move seeks to welcome all fans who cannot attend live shows that are usually held at night, according them time to see and mingle with their beloved artistes and DJs.
Over the past three weeks the joint has hosted famous DJs such as Bridget Gavanga, Witness Matema and Hazvinei Sakarombe to the excitement of fans.
Adding on to this , the sungura maestro Macheso, who is not new to the venue, backed by Venus Crew will perform on the family show organised for tomorrow while DJs will complete the weekend blaze on Sartuday.