The full length Motlhala that incorporates live music and dance and premiered at Maitisong Festival on Wednesday is amongst Africa's top 10 plays which will be officially read at the Women's International Playwrights Conference in Chile later this year.

In an interview, Motlhala composer Neo Kebiditswe said it took her two years to develop and write the play that has now earned her and the producer Kealeboga Mosekiemang an international recognition as they will be attending the Women International Playwright conference in Chile.

Kebiditswe said Motlhala compelled and challenged her to explore her utmost level of creativity and also fed her inspiration and passion for directing the play.

She said she was inspired by her rich imagination incorporated with technical research where she managed to intertwine Botswana and Zimbabwean cultures.

She said upon finishing the play, she was happy to share her joy first in the country hence she applied to show her play at Maitisong festival before sharing it with the world and used the chance to create promotional awareness.

Kebiditswe's other major productions include Sokologa that played at Assistej African Youth Festival in 2015 where she says she got experience of professional theatre festival and

developed the love for directing after meeting her then play director Tefo Paya.

She stated that her most recent playwright Dimino that she made to sensitise the readers on gender based violence was published by THC Foundation and Petlo Literary Artist Trust and was sponsored by Stanbic Bank.

She also said she has written numerus plays as a student and performed in major productions and her biggest was her New York performance.

Kebiditswe appreciated PoetaVango, Red and Neat and Phatsimang Jewellery for their sponsorship and extended her gratitude to her cast and families and friends who she said supported them throughout their preparations.

She however decried lack of support from the government and private sector who she said are not doing much to support and boost theatre adding that theatre and arts in general can diversify the economy and create employment.

“It is proven that the arts are a powerful tool for change, to mobilise communities, to give hope and to occupy people instead of them being idle. Also gone are the days where art was done for free that is why we need sponsorship so as to sell our products. We are living in an era where theatre should not be foreign to people anymore,” Kebiditswe said.

Motlhala is an original composition that explores self- discovery, love and tragedy and

starts in the village of Maru- Maru located in the outskirts of Zimbabwe where the main character Tedai the heir to the Maru-Maru throne (Tompson Kgudo) breaks the norm and compromises tradition thus

initiating a path for the unknown and finds himself confronted with bad luck, unsuccessful relationships and danger. The main character continued to live in mediocrity resembling a beggar though a royal son but

eventually manages to discover himself when he relocates to Botswana where more trouble and bad luck followed him.

The play is performed in Setswana, Shona and English languages. BOPA