Imitha Players
(Also written Imita Players). Imitha means "rays of the sun" and the group was founded in East London in 1970 by Skhala Xinwa and Rob Amato. It was a Xhosa group, and led by Amato, which they produced local adaptations of international works. Their first production was Oedipus Rex, in English in 1971. The nucleus of the group was a Handel choir and in the O.R. they replaced the choral odes with Handel. This was a great success and they took it to Durban, Pretoria, Johannesburg, and into the countryside over a period of two years. They also took their productions to Port Elizabeth and Grahamstown where they had exchange agreements with the Serpent Players of Athol Fugard and the Ikhwezi Players of Don Maclennan.
Later they produced Moliére’s The Miser (1975), Wole Soyinka’s The Swamp Dwellers, and work by Sartre. Prominent members of the group were Skhala Xinwa, Julius Mtsaka, Melody Kose, Frank Ntutu, Mtunsi Noganta, Cyril Mjo and Margaret Mjo.
Sources
Rolf Solberg, 1999. See reviews in Daily Dispatch 30 October 1971, Pretoria News 5 April 1972, Rand Daily Mail 6 April 1972, The Star 7 April 1972)
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