Khaliphile Makes International Playwright Mark

Despite receiving overwhelming support within the local circles, playwrights from the city can all attest to be haunted by the same spirit of failing to make a visible orlasting mark across borders.

The curse has been so visible that most playwrights, especially women, shelve their works as soon as they showcase them on different platforms in the city, mainly due to lack of publicity and even financial muscle to probe their works any further.

However, there are a few outstanding playwrights who seem to be managing to exorcise that spirit as they are getting international recognition where many would have submitted to the spirit a doubting Thomas.

Such is the case of Miss Khaliphile Sibanda (25), who is a full time writer for Geraldine Roche Drama, with a career that spans over five years and its finally starting to pay off as her play He Doesn’t Have a Backbone has been selected for the 12 th Women Playwrights International Conference to be held in Canada, mid-2021.

“This is overwhelming. I was not expecting my play to win since this was an international competition for renowned writers but here I am. I am very excited to be part of this and to receive recognition of this magnitude; it shows that we are doing things appropriately and we heading the right direction,” said Miss Sibanda. The play was chosen from 350 submissions and it will be given an excerpted reading.

Miss Sibanda has also been invited to participate in the YouthSpark Pan-African Conference, which will be held in Kigali, Rwanda next month.

“I feel honored to be part of this conference. I was chosen from more than 1000 applicants and that on its own means a lot for me and my career. I was chosen after I submitted the play It Not Gold which touches on leadership and morals. I hope these achievements will inspire other upcoming female playwrights,” said Miss Sibanda.