Anthem of Life is Edmonton Playwright Tololwa Mollel's adaption of South African Poet Laureate Mazisi Kunene's Anthem of the Decades: A Zulu Epic (AOTD). Driven by a diverse ensemble of performers from various artistic disciplines, the trilogy will include a fluid mixture of African-style storytelling, Odissi Dance and Odissi-inspired movement; live Hindustani music, choral speech and animation of large-scale Zulu-style God-masks and creatures. ​

​The heart of Kunene's epic is a Zulu creation myth. In it, the Supreme Creator sends to earth the slow chameleon with a message: "Mankind shall live forever!" Later, he sends the fast salamander to say: "Mankind shall die!". Kunene grew this into a saga of vast cosmological quests and conflicts, ultimately resolving into a balance between The Creator, the Gods, Humanity, the Ancestors and the Cosmos. Anthem of Life Part 1 explores the creation of humanity, debates and intrigues between Goddesses and Gods over whether to destroy or empower us and trials and triumphs we undergo because of their actions.​

Anthem of Life Part 1 will be premiering in 2024!