130th Anniversary Musical
TITLE OF THE MUSICAL:
SIGNS OF TIME – “THE BLUE HOUSE”
SONG: Celebration
AUTHOR: Zé Pires
ACT 0: Vision
(NARRATOR)
When we speak of vision, most people think of the simple beauty of seeing—a gift that many receive at birth. Yet, among those blessed with sight, there are the exceptional ones who do not depend on eyes, light, or distance to perceive what is invisible to others. These are the ones who observe with imagination, who see greatness in a grain of sand.
It was such visionaries who saw, in the fertile lands, in the strength of hardworking people, and in the need for expanding trade, the promising economic potential of Delagoa Bay—driven by the growing commerce with the Transvaal. Believing in the possibilities of these investments, Standard Bank chose to establish itself in Mozambique.
SONG: DÁ SINAL
AUTHOR – Hélio Beatz
Performers - Pauleta Muholove.
ACT 1 – INSTALLATION OF THE BLUE HOUSE
SCENE 1
SETTING – MAPUTO
Characters:
- Mr. Sive – Father of a young man attending a job interview at the bank.
- Zebedeu – Car washer stationed on 10th of November Avenue.
Atmosphere:
The band maintains the vibe of the soundtrack as the background for the scene.
Zebedeu, a young car washer, whistles and sings along to the music while Mr. Sive looks for a place to park.
Screen:
In front of the bank, cars are parked with only one parking spot left open—where the car is meant to park.
[DIALOGUE]
ZEBEDEU: Over here, boss, there’s a spot right here… Niiice… All good, all good! (singing)
ZEBEDEU: Good afternoon, boss… can I wash your car?
SIVE: “All good” is my car? Are you saying it’s dirty or are you implying it’s falling apart?
ZEBEDEU: Nooo, boss, not at all… I just mean I can shine it up like new. Put some tire shine and polish those headlights.
SIVE: Oh really? So my car looks old to you? What’s the problem? Doesn’t this bank you’re standing in front of have over 100 years? And doesn’t it help feed your family?
ZEBEDEU: 130, boss.
SIVE: Yes, 130. So what’s the problem? Is this how you young people treat your elders? With disrespect? Let me tell you something, young man—age only matters when you let it affect you. Just look at your neighbors here… would you believe they’re 130 years old?
ZEBEDEU: Haha, no way, boss… Zebedeu here, I’ll keep an eye on your car then…
SIVE: Keep an eye on what? I’m not leaving. I just want to charge my phone while I wait for my son. My car doesn’t have a charger, but here, it does…
ZEBEDEU: Yes, boss, I’m selling. I’ve got iPhone chargers, Type-C… even power banks.
SIVE: I’m not buying anything, man… I saw on the news your neighbors renovated this whole place.
ZEBEDEU: AHMM… (surprised)
SIVE: I see you didn’t know… and apparently, you’re a salesman too.
ZEBEDEU: Good thing you brought that up. Tell me something, boss—is this bank foreign?
SIVE: Wrong. This bank is Mozambican.
ZEBEDEU: Yeah, boss… but how did it get here?
SIVE: Well, there were big business opportunities—here, with the Transvaal railway line that reached this area, and also in Beira. They saw the opportunity and seized it.
ZEBEDEU: Ahhh, so that’s why the bank is practically the same age as CFM?
SIVE: Exactly. That’s why they first set up on Araújo Street, near the…
ZEBEDEU: Downtown? Sailors? Nightclubs, p…
SIVE: Hey, kid!
ZEBEDEU: I meant the Port, boss!
SIVE: I’m old enough to be your grandfather… those things came much later. We’re talking about 1892, when they got royal authorization to operate in Mozambique.
ZEBEDEU: King Ngungunhana?
SIVE: Hey wena, mpfana… don’t you know any history? Ngungunhana was from Gaza! Do you even know what this city used to be called?
ZEBEDEU: Ahhh… Maputo, it’s always been Maputo, boss.
SIVE: Get outta here, man… It was called Delagoa Bay, then Lourenço Marques. This “Maputo” thing is recent… Machel’s era.
(NARRATOR)
Hehehe, it’s true. It was called Delagoa Bay, and Aranguã in Beira. And it was these southern and central railway lines that motivated Standard Bank to come to Mozambique, starting its operations with a branch on Araújo Street in Lourenço Marques—now Maputo.
SOG: MAPUTO
AUTHOR - [SHEILA JESUITA]
PERFORMER: Onésia Muholove
SCENE 2
SETTING – BEIRA
DETAILS:
- Characters:
- Grandma Marta – A lady from Beira and grandmother of a young man who is also attending the same interview as Mr. Sive’s son.
- Raimunda – Daughter of Grandma Marta and mother of the young man who went to the interview.
SCENE 2 – BEIRA
SETTING: The band plays a soundscape evoking the city of Beira.
Characters:
- Grandma Marta – A proud Beira native and grandmother of a young man attending the same interview as Mr. Sive’s son.
- Raimunda – Her daughter and mother of the interviewee.
[DIALOGUE]
Grandma Marta: Daughter, have you noticed? They were together in Maputo, and now they’re together here too…
Raimunda: And over there, they’ve already got a sea view… Mom, isn’t his interview over yet?
Grandma Marta: Waaa… calm down, daughter!
Raimunda: How can I be calm? Robertinho is my son… what if it doesn’t work out?
Grandma Marta: Not work out? Is that even possible? Do you think they’d dare? With my grandson? Don’t you know who I am? Didn’t you work here?
Raimunda: Oh mom, stop it. You, more than anyone, know that’s not how it works. We all got in through merit and hard work.
Grandma Marta: Ohhh, they can’t mess with our family; 130 years can’t just end like that… This bank knows me well.
Raimunda: So they’re afraid of Dad now? Where do you get these ideas?
Grandma Marta: … You think Tomaginho just fell into that position from the sky?
Raimunda: So it was Dad? Ahahahaha!
Grandma Marta: 18 years, daughter, 18 years. But you know what? Do you know who brought Bernardo in?
Raimunda: Him too? So we’re working in Portugal now… I see we’ve been pulling some strings…
Grandma Marta: Ahhh no… That’s a tough zone… Nova Mambone? Giii…
Raimunda: But mama…
Grandma Marta: Those folks… they don’t play with stones. They work with lightning and thunder.
Raimunda: (laughing) But they’re taking so long! (growing anxious)
Grandma Marta: You know, daughter… let me tell you something… This land right here… You don’t know it used to belong to our family?
Raimunda: Hummmm mama? Now you’re making things up…
Grandma Marta: The bank first started on Araújo Street, right? And then? Didn’t it build on that land where the headquarters stood for many years? After years of negotiation, didn’t they come talk to us? Didn’t they visit us at the work hut? What do you Maputo folks call it?
Raimunda: Ndomba.
Grandma Marta: That’s it. On your great-grandmother’s land, she had her ndomba there. We were sorting everything out… (She begins singing a traditional song from Beira/Sofala)
Raimunda: But you know, Mom, on a more serious note, a lot of people follow those practices and believe that going to a traditional healer will solve their unemployment or influence others’ decisions.
Grandma Marta: Influence who?
Raimunda: Other things, Mom. You know that’s not true.
Grandma Marta: Let’s go home, daughter!
(NARRATOR)
(laughing) It’s not true, and we all know Grandma Marta is just being playful. Merit is non-negotiable at the bank.
What is true is that she’s right about one thing: Standard Bank only received its license to operate in Beira after resolving a two-year dispute over exclusivity granted to the Bank of Africa. The Beira branch finally opened once the railway line to Chimoio was completed—and from there, the bank only grew.
SONG: Ndinaneda Kupi
AUTHOR: Cambezo (Beira – Ngoma Winner)
PERFORMER: Cambezo
SCENE 3 – THE NEW HOUSE
Characters:
- Mr. Sive
- Zebedeu
Setting: Same location
Screen: At some point, show the Naguib artwork from the Standard Bank cafeteria wall.
Narration:
For over 80 years, a building with powerful Latin architecture housed the leadership of this great family. Grandparents, parents, children, and grandchildren passed through those six imposing columns, supporting their families through social, economic, and political storms. But like children, one day they grow and no longer fit in their parents’ arms. That’s what happened with the Blue House… the family grew… 49 branches across a country modernizing every day… and through a union of will and opportunity, the new Blue House rose proudly in the very cradle of the bay where it was born, nurtured by the arms of the city that helped it grow strong and healthy—Maputo, a home of the arts.
SIVE: Kid, do you know what was here before the bank moved in?
ZEBEDEU: I’m afraid to answer, boss—you’ll call me ignorant.
SIVE: Being ignorant isn’t the problem… the problem is when you don’t want to stop being ignorant.
ZEBEDEU: Alright, old man. What was here?
SIVE: Do you know who the painter Naguib is?
ZEBEDEU: See? AHHHHH
SIVE: Naguib had a restaurant/café called Café com Letras.
ZEBEDEU: Oh really?
SIVE: You could drink art and eat culture here… artists of all kinds passed through this space, both local and international. Filipe Mukenga—know him? Gilberto Gil—know him? Did you know the band Nkhuvo started here with Stélio Zoé, Nelton Miranda, Isabel Novela, Zé Pires, and Swit? Ahmmm, now you’re quiet?
ZEBEDEU: So that’s it, boss… now I get it… the spirit of the arts never left this place… I’ve been guarding cars here and ended up watching concerts by people I only saw on TV, thanks to the Bank… I’ve heard Ghorwane, Jimmy Dludlu, Rhodália… a dream.
CAFÉ COM LETRAS ERA SONG:
SWIT – Reconstruir Moçambique
AUTHOR: Soito
PERFORMER: Pauleta
ACT 2 – VALUES
SCENE 1 – LEGACIES
Characters: [To be defined]
Setting: The band prepares to play a Ghorwane song.
Screen: Open.
Legacy is one of the key indicators of a strong relationship between a company and its employees. When that relationship fails, former employees are the first to discourage continuity. But when it succeeds, they become the strongest advocates, inspiring even those with no prior family ties to join.
Leaving a legacy is like hearing an artist’s voice echo through the decades via their work… for 130 years, that voice has echoed—sometimes loudly, sometimes softly—but it has always been heard. Ghorwane is one such voice that continues to resonate.
Mr. Sive, elderly, conservative, and reserved, quietly hopes someone in his family will finally join the bank. Meanwhile, Grandma Marta and her daughter Raimunda come from a family with generations of service to the bank. Raimunda’s anxiety is justified—she doesn’t want to see the family legacy broken.
But what do these two families have in common? They’re both waiting outside the bank, hoping their children will be selected after a long recruitment process.
What this shows is that, even though the Blue House values legacy, being a descendant of a former employee doesn’t give you an advantage. Meritocracy is in full effect.
SONG: Xizambi / Vana va Ndota
AUTHOR: Roberto Chitsondzo
PERFORMER: Roberto Chitsondzo
SCENE 2 – ACCELERATION
(DIALOGUE)
SIVE: Kid, do you know what legacies are?
ZEBEDEU: Boss, don’t call me ignorant... I do know.
SIVE: We’re all ignorant about many things, kid... but what does it mean to leave a legacy?
ZEBEDEU: It means to teach.
SIVE: Hmm... it’s the mark you leave through your actions, works, ideas, and values in other people’s lives, even after you part ways. Ever thought about that?
ZEBEDEU: Ahmmm, really? But me, washing cars, guarding cars... what kind of legacy am I leaving? Soap?
SIVE: Oh man, your values are yours alone, they cost you nothing. If you car washers were organized, paid dues, and had a clear plan... don’t you think the bosses at the Blue House could help you?
ZEBEDEU: Boss, you’re dreaming... people don’t trust us like this...
SIVE: Listen, you’ve got to see the SIGNS... you guys play a double role here. You wash cars and keep the area safe... if you show organization and seriousness, they’ll listen to you... Go ask inside if there’s something called an incubator. Got a phone?
ZEBEDEU: Yeah, I do...
SIVE: Give it here, I’ll show you the signs... [Showing on the phone]... you like Facebook, TikTok... go to the incubator’s website and you’ll see everything.
(NARRATOR)
That’s exactly it... it’s a question for each of us here: “What did you do today that you can be proud of?” The Blue House does that every day... promoting employment through entrepreneurship. Today, over 5,000 people, especially women and youth, have been impacted by the various projects of the Business Incubator.
SONG: VUMELA
AUTHOR: [Mingas]
PERFORMER: Mingas
SONG: NWETY (DUET WITH ONÉSIA)
PERFORMERS: Mingas and Onésia
SCENE 3 – SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
(NARRATOR)
Here’s an example of legacy... values passed down through generations... someone proud every day of what they’ve done and continue to do...
[When surprised by Grandma Marta dressed up to play tennis with a racket...]
RAIMUNDA: Mama, mama (laughing hard)... where are you going like that?
GRANDMA MARTA: I’m going to play tennis... I’ve always wanted to learn... played a bit back at the Nautical Club in Beira.
RAIMUNDA: But mama, you’re too old for these games, where are you going to play?
GRANDMA MARTA: See? That’s your problem. You look at the elderly and think they should just sit and fade away.
RAIMUNDA: But where are you going to play? Here at home?
GRANDMA MARTA: Standard Bank...
RAIMUNDA: At Standard Bank, Mama?
GRANDMA MARTA: Didn’t you see the news? They’re setting up a court at the school next door to scout for talent...
RAIMUNDA: You’re talent, Mama? It’s for kids, Mama... ahahah
(NARRATOR)
Ahahahah... Grandma Marta is right. Sedentary lifestyles have serious consequences: cardiovascular diseases, obesity, diabetes, and even mental health impacts. That’s why the Blue House moves with the energy of a 20-year-old. In sports, it’s active in football and athletics through the Blue Run. In health, it promotes access to quality healthcare in underserved communities. Mosquito nets, blood donation programs... it’s active in education, the environment, and even culture, with the Acácias Jazz Festival... which Onésia Muholove has been part of.
SONG: NDZILO TA FULENE
PERFORMER: Onésia Muholove
SCENE 4 – CITIZENSHIP
SPOT: É Posssível [https://youtu.be/DOO4Sjm7yeM]
Grupo MOSA...
(Entrance with the phrase... It’s possible... it’s possible...)
SONG: Grupo MOSA
AUTHOR: [To be defined]PERFORMERS: Grupo MOSA
SCENE 5 – GENDER BALANCE
Nelton starts with Wansanty’s bass line.
Grupo MOSA sings the bass melody in harmony.
Screen: Images of the bank’s female employees fill the screen in a gallery format.
Poem: Ode to the Mozambican Woman
Author: Severino Ngoenha
There is an ancient substance that crosses centuries without belonging to any.
It does not assert itself — it remains.
It does not impose — it founds.
It is a presence that cannot be spoken, but that organizes the world like someone embroidering chaos with invisible fingers.
On the margins of history, where names fade,
there is a figure that never ceased to be.
Not at the center of statues, but in the rhythm of clay,
not in treaties, but in the gestures that sustain daily life.
The woman — or rather, that which time could never erase — knew how to exist in tension with reality.
She did not live in victory, but in constancy.
Not in palaces, but in kitchens, markets, backyards where life is decided.
It is in that place that philosophical reason hesitates,
because there is no system, but wisdom.
No discourse, but survival.
No proclaimed freedom, but assumed responsibility.
The African woman cannot be explained.
She is prior to the concept,
and perhaps that is why she has so often been forgotten by it.
Western philosophy, busy separating subject from object,
passed by her without seeing —
for she was both subject and world,
action and consequence,
logos and flesh.
In Mozambique, where the land bled for ideals that were never fulfilled,
she remained.
Not as a symbol of the nation,
but as the condition for the possibility of living.
She did not wait for revolutions to be new:
she was born new every day,
within the same pains,
with the same cloths,
with the same silences.
While official discourse stumbled over promises,
she built a parallel order —
made of persistence, resistance,
of uncodified wisdom.
And even today, when everything wavers,
she is what remains.
Not as a last resort,
but as the first foundation.
She does not seek recognition.
But if philosophy wants to rediscover its meaning,
it must pass through her.
Grupo MOSA exits the stage.
SONG: Wansaty
AUTHOR: Rhodália
PERFORMER: Onésia
Second fashion walk while singing.
As the music ends, the screen fills with images of all female employees and the models on stage.
ONÉSIA SAYS:
There are more and more companies taking gender equality seriously. Once again, the Blue House stands out as the first bank to have a woman as Chairperson of the Board.
SCENE 6 – EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT
(NARRATOR)
At the Blue House, safety is a very serious matter. And when I say serious, I mean serious. Sometimes it might even sound like paranoia, but as our colleagues from John would say: “Better safe than sorry.” At the Blue House, it’s everything: natural disasters, health, accidents — everything, everything, everything. But what stands out most is that this safety extends to employees, clients, partners — in other words, society.
(DIALOGUE)
ZEBEDEU: The old man seems fine but he’s not really okay... what’s going on?
SIVE: What do you know? You know nothing. Besides washing and guarding cars, are you also a psychologist?
ZEBEDEU: I’m a psychiatrist... (starts laughing)
SIVE: See who’s provoking now? So you’re calling me crazy...
ZEBEDEU: No boss... I really am a psychiatrist. You know, boss, that some physical conditions are worsened by psychological suffering caused by social problems?
SIVE: You’re a strange kid. You don’t know general culture, not even your own, but here you are giving a scientific lecture...
ZEBEDEU: Well boss, it’s true... I was at university, but life got tough and since there’s no work... this was the only way.
SIVE: You could’ve become an artist...
[General shock among the artists on stage]
WHAT... noooooo
SIVE: Just kidding, just kidding... don’t get mad.
SIVE: But it’s true, I’m not okay... I’m really worried. Generations and generations have tried to get into the Blue House, but without success. My granddaughter who’s inside now is our purest hope.
ZEBEDEU: But why do you want it so badly? Aren’t there other places to work?
SIVE: Of course there are... but the safety, the culture, and the organizational environment make all the difference. You know that for over 10 years the Bank has run a Graduate Development Program, which has opened the doors of the corporate world to hundreds of young people. Some of them have even reached high positions in the organization, like board members. Did you know that...
... – they continue talking.
(NARRATOR)
It seems Mr. Sive is really seeing the signs. And who wouldn’t be proud to be part of a family that, for four consecutive years, has been ranked among the top 10 in Mozambique, named 16 times since 2014 as the Best Investment Bank in Mozambique, and recently awarded Best Bank of 2024 by the prestigious magazine The Banker?
ACT 3 – SIGNS OF THE TIMES
SCENE 1
At this very moment, both Mr. Sive’s grandson and Grandma Marta’s granddaughter run out of the bank, overjoyed because they’ve just been accepted.
Screen: Split into two — Mr. Sive’s grandson celebrating at headquarters in Maputo, and Grandma Marta’s grandson celebrating at the Beira branch.
LUÍSA: I did it, Grandpa, I did it...
SIVE: Congratulations, congratulations.
They hug.
Meanwhile in Beira:
ROBERTO: Mooooom!
RAIMUNDA: Congratulations, congratulations.
GRANDMA: They hug.
SONG: Parabéns – [Wazimbo]
PERFORMER: Wazimbo
(DIALOGUE)
GRANDMA MARTA: Did you see, daughter, how your son celebrated?
RAIMUNDA: He has to celebrate, Mom. He was telling me about so many things that only those who pay attention to the signs can see.
GRANDMA MARTA: But I’m attentive, nothing gets past me.
RAIMUNDA: Mom, I’m talking about things...
GRANDMA MARTA: Daughter, I know everything. Now watch how we celebrate...
SONG: Mbhole Mbhole Na Yona
AUTHOR: Djaaka
PERFORMER: Pauleta Muholove
SCENE 2 – A DIGITAL BANK
GRANDMA MARTA (typing on phone): Hello, hello Sive...
SIVE: Helloooo, how are you dear?
GRANDMA MARTA: Dear, dear what? Send the money!
SIVE: Whaaat? Let us celebrate, love...
GRANDMA MARTA: Love does what? Celebrate by sending money. Don’t you use QuiQ QuiQ... do a QuiQ then... we want to celebrate too. (hangs up)
NARRATOR: Ehhh, so you two know each other???
GRANDMA MARTA: Hey you’re too nosy... listening to other people’s conversations??? Rascal.
(NARRATOR)
Ahahahah, turns out Mr. Sive and Grandma Marta have something in common — they met recently at the Heart Campaign event and it was love at first sight. But now living far apart, the Blue House makes that distance barely felt in daily matters. The couple knows what’s up: they use QuiQ for payments and NETPlus for their businesses. It’s the Blue House’s digital fluidity, well matched with the fluidity of this new generation that shares their work through this accessible digital world.
SONG: Um Copo
AUTHOR: Suraia Eduardo
PERFORMER: Suraia Eduardo
FINAL SCENE
Spot: 130 Years – Signs of the Times
(NARRATOR)
On August 20, 2024, Standard Bank marked 130 years of presence in Mozambique. This milestone gives the institution, formerly known as Standard Totta, the status of the oldest and one of the most systemic banks in the country. Its operations follow the highest standards of best practices, confirming the appropriateness of its name. A banking entity that has undergone multiple transformations and accompanied crucial periods in Mozambican history, consistently remaining among the top, finds in the “Shield” a symbol of unquestionable identity.
Indeed, the Bank’s journey and the country’s have developed in parallel, with temporal indicators manifesting ubiquitously: in extractive industries (mining, oil and gas), renewable energy, energy and transport infrastructure, agribusiness, telecommunications, and all sectors driving Mozambique’s progress. At every relevant stage, every strategic perspective, every challenge, every decisive moment, every achievement and risk decision, the signs of the times have always been present — and continue to emerge daily, observable in multiple contexts.
FINAL SONG: Malala
AUTHOR: Jimmy Dlulu
CAST & CREW
MUSIC
- Onésia Muholove – Vocals
- Pauleta Muholove – Vocals
- Wazimbo – Special Guest
- Deltino Guerreiro – Special Guest
- Cheny Wa Gune – Special Guest
- Stélio Zoé – Drums & Effects
- Nelton Miranda – Bass
- Djivas Madeule – Guitar
- Nelson Pimenta – Percussion
- Ebenezer Sengo – Guitar
- Tony Tembe – Backing Vocals
- Gigi – Backing Vocals
- Filipa – Backing Vocals
- Zé Pires – Keyboards, Production & General Direction
THEATRE
- Horácio Guiamba – Narration
DANCE
- Arejústel Ananias Santinho Mulimela
- Custódio Jossefa Sitoe
- Anneliese Erwin Huber
- Leonor Newasse Paulo Moiane
- Alexandre dos Santos Chilaule – Choreographer
PRODUCTION
- Odete Tembe – Production Director
- Shelcia – Communication & Image Director
TECHNICAL TEAM
- Fanuel Macuacua – Technical Director & PA Technician
- Bruno Vergamota – Lighting & Video Content