Hello and welcome to the Maitisong Website.
May 2007

MAITISONG (place of entertainment' in Setswana) is the theatre built by Maru a Pula School in 1986 to serve both the school and the community. It is in Gaborone, the capital city of Botswana. It is the only theatre to have been purpose built since Independence in 1966.

Maitisong has been extensively used since it opened on 22 March 1987 by the school and by the community.

STAFF
Director: GAO LEMMENYANE
Technician: JOHANE GAORENGWE
Secretary: COMFORT LEKGOWE

BACKGROUND

HISTORY

Maru a Pula School has had a policy of outreach to the community' since the school was opened in 1972. When it was realised that they school needed a hall and that there was no theatre in Gaborone, the Headmaster at that time, David Matthews, campaigned to raise money to build such a theatre. Money was raised in the U.S.A. and South Africa and the architect Ian Marshall drew up the plans. In 1986 building began and on the 22 March 1097 Maitisong was officially opened. There followed the Maitisong Opening Festival which gave the public the chance to see the new theatre at work and judge what it was capable of. Many groups came together in the Opening Festival and music, dance and drama burst onto the stage like never before in Gaborone's history.

A new theatrical age had dawned in Gaborone.

Quickly the community took to the new and very user-friendly' theatre and its use took off so that there was, on average, one show a week. The Botswana Government, the B.D.F., the foreign embassies, hopeful promoters, schools, choirs and Maru a Pula itself came to put on shows. Great artists like Abdullah Ibrahim, Sibongile Khumalo, Pieter-Dirk Uys, Richard Cock, Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Oliver Mtukudzi, have all been on the Maitisong stage. But, don't forget, so have local Gospel choirs, drama groups and cultural communities.

Maitisong caters for all.

The Maitisong Opening Festival in 1987 became the annual Maitisong Festival, a week long festival of the arts in Botswana. It is the oldest and biggest arts Festival in Botswana bringing plays, dance and orchestral concerts to fee-paying audiences in Maitisong and non-stop Gospel, kwaito and Afro-pop shows to thousands of revellers in Old Naledi free of charge.

Because of its pioneering work, the Maitisong Office has become a useful cultural resource. Information and advice on performers, music lessons, theatre management and fund raising has been sought over the years. Its voice has been heard on the Botswana National Cultural Council, Botswana's highest cultural body. It has also been closely associated with the Botswana Music Camp, an annual hands-on week of music making.

Maitisong has been a visible symbol of Maru a Pula's policy of reaching out to the community as thousands of people come onto the school campus each year to attend shows. From the school's point of view the shows and performers that have come to Maitisong have added a valuable cultural facet to their education here. It has also meant that the drama at the school has flourished and established itself as amongst the best in the region.

Maitisong has certainly made its mark in a way that the founders could not have foreseen.

TECHNICAL

It is a small theatre with just over 400 seats in a raked auditorium. There is no proscenium arch and the main curtain can open completely revealing a 23m wide stage. The lighting bars above the stage and the large wooden sound reflector are completely visible. The stage is 8m deep and has a tile-on-concrete floor onto which a sprung wooden dance floor can be laid.

Backstage there are two dressing rooms with showers, mirrors and lights. There is an 18-channel sound system with on-stage inputs and a 24-channel lighting desk with basic computer functions.

Maitisong has an adjacent small dance/music room with a large mirror and dance bars. There are piano practice rooms and offices enclosing a courtyard that is used for interval gatherings.