Artists training vital

for four actors from its Theatre School.
The graduation held at the Alliance Francais Centre was attended by a cross section of theatre practitioners, representatives of arts and culture funding organisations, theatre institutions, and parents of the graduating actors and the National Arts Council.
The four actors, Everson Ndlovu, Leeroy Gono, Musa Saruro and Precious Mudzingwa successfully completed a three-year actors training programme that offers “intensive work on individual skills and the application of the skills to work on group projects and productions for public performances.”
Although Theory X Theatre Initiative’s training is mainly on performance, students are “given an opportunity to learn skills in production and the technical side of theatre.”
The course encompasses acting, character analysis, voice, movement, improvisation, play analysis and performance.
It is the main objective of the Theory X Theatre Initiative to equip actors “with skills to earn a living working full time not only in theatre but also in film, television and radio.”
This is driven by the organisation’s commitment to enhancing theatre professional’s individual skills that enable them to contribute effectively to the development of theatre groups they belong to as well as to the growth viable theatre arts scene in Zimbabwe.
In his message the managing director of Theory X, Graig Peter, who is currently in Portugal on theatre assignment said his organisation was indebted to all those who had “shared created, collaborated and assisted with the creation of new theatre professionals.”
He stressed that Theory X Theatre Initiative had provided the young theatre professionals a perfect stage from which they will launch their careers and hoped that the graduands would dedicate themselves to producing exciting new work that will entertain and educate.
He added that the four young actors’ commitment to the arts and their strong belief in theatre and especially their bravery in choosing “the uncertainty of their dreams over the more traditional career paths” should be appreciated.
Making a viable, rewarding and fulfilling career in the local theatre industry is very difficult.
Many times, excellent talents have graced the Zimbabwe theatre scene as writers, actors and directors with so much promise only to vanish without trace after few years of hogging the theatre limelight.
This is mainly because their inability to make a decent living out of their theatre talents.
Public systems to support careers in theatre and other performing arts are absent while the public that should provide the main source of income through patronage of theatre performances seems to see little value in theatre and find it difficult to pay the required admission fees to performances.
And yet in spite of these challenges, there are such as the four graduates of the Theory X Theatre Initiative training programme, who see great potential in making decent living through full time preoccupation in theatre made possible by the vision of their organisation “to develop Zimbabwe into a robust artistic nation, proud of its cultural assets and recognised internationally for its local talent.”
The director of the National Arts Council, Elvas Mari, who was the guest of honour at the graduation ceremony called on all institutions associations and promoters “to develop a culture of training artists so that the quality of Zimbabwe’s arts products will be improved to reach international standards.”
Mari stressed on the need for artists to make use of training institutions to acquire the necessary skills to “create and produce original creative arts of high quality.”
He further indicated the National Arts Council’s newly developed strategic plan for the period 2011-2015 highlights “professionalisation of the arts sector, training in arts management and capacitating artists as the key deliverables” in the four year period.
Mari added that the graduation of the four young actors was ample example that most Zimbabwean theatre artists see training as a critical process of acquiring “skills that will them become professionals.
“There is therefore need for the nation of Zimbabwe to assure the young theatre professionals that they did not make a mistake by following their passion in the arts and culture sector.”
A lot needs to be done to demonstrate that the nation of Zimbabwe does not consider that young people who chose to pursue full time careers in theatre have not made a bad choice of careers.
One such a way is to show that the nation appreciates the value of theatre for stage, radio and television.
At present many people in Zimbabwe seem to be not eager to pay to watch theatre performances. It seems that they prefer that theatre performances be accessed free of charge.
The price of theatre products offered by the local television and radio is not consistent with prices of similar products in Southern Africa.
In some cases producers of drama for stage, television and drama are regarded as not for profit amateur professionals.
This unwillingness to pay viable prices for theatre products for stage, television and radio stands out clearly as the most eloquent indication that those who choose careers in theatre are being considered as having made wrong career decisions.
For many years Zimbabwean theatre industry has grown on the back of donor support. This is why most theatre products have tended to be vehicles of promoting development messages and campaigns consistent with the agendas of the funding agencies. Theatre companies have therefore tended to see development aid sponsorship as the only viable capital for viable theatre.
Equally dependent on development aid and donor support has been the professional theatre training programmes and the theatre education institutions themselves.
This was clearly demonstrated by the fact the main financial support received by the Theory X Theatre Initiative for its three years theatre-training programme was from Africalia.
Without such support the four young actors would not have benefited from the excellent training that was demonstrated by their brilliant performance of a play “The Accidental Death of a Radical”.
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