Empty stages on World Theatre Day

Bruce Ndlovu

Society Reporter

WHILE Bulawayo prides itself on being the “home of the arts”, this year’s World Theatre Day celebrations, held on Thursday, painted a bleak picture of theatre’s public and practitioner appeal.

The day, once celebrated with gusto in a city that produced some of the country’s finest thespians, was marked by a conspicuous lack of pomp and fanfare.

Stages across the city remained empty and the few performances offered received little public support.

Instead of celebrating the craft, Thursday seemed to drive another nail into local theatre’s coffin, confirming long held but unspoken fears.

The situation is similar in Harare.

Although institutions like Theatre in the Park, Jasen Mphepo Little Theatre, Zimbabwe Theatre Academy, the Centre for Talent Development and the Savannah Trust have striven to keep the stage alive, the results have been disheartening.

The sector faces significant viability challenges and its growth has been stunted, especially since the Covid-19-induced lockdowns.

Bulawayo’s once-vaunted theatre scene, if not already dead, is comatose, leading to increasing doubts about its potential revival.

The question posed last week was: How did this happen?

What went so wrong that even World Theatre Day failed to inspire the city’s thespians to overcome their lethargy and perform?

“Theatre has been on the decline for many years now and there are many reasons for this,” veteran playwright Raisedon Baya said.

“I think the easiest reason that people cite for the decline of theatre is that there are economic challenges, so people cannot make any worthwhile production. I think that is an excuse for everyone who is looking for an easy escape.

“On the contrary, I think the creative sector should prosper in hard times because we become the conscience, the eyes and mouths of the country. So, if we are speaking on issues that the nation wants to hear, they will come and see what we want to produce.”

According to Baya, the decline stems from a failure to recognise that theatre requires more than just actors.

“I think that our strategy was wrong from the beginning. I feel we have concentrated too much on training actors. All the workshops, all the master classes are about equipping actors, who are the people who go on stage and perform.

“What we are not doing is training the producers, who are people who should be creating original works for those actors to go and perform. We have not been training writers, directors, producers or technical people who work behind the scenes.

“Our training has given the impression that once someone can act, they can make miracles and do everything. I think we have been misleading ourselves into thinking that actors are the backbone of the sector. Right now, if you see one production, you have seen it all and I think we need a reset,” he said.

Baya emphasised the need for collaboration to revive Zimbabwean theatre’s audience appeal.

“As a sector, we tend to work in silos. Everyone wants to be seen as the one who is doing everything. We are not coming to work as one when theatre should be thought of as something like football. You need to come together and work as a team because the entire process is collaborative,” he said.

Umkhathi Theatre Works founder Matesu Dube attributed the decline to funding constraints, with producers financing their passion projects.

“World Theatre Day is an important day on the arts calendar that needs to be celebrated by thespians and their audiences worldwide. We are a city that used to be renowned for theatre arts but there were no major celebrations on this day.

“I think this is due to many factors, with one major factor being funding for theatre shows. A show needs resources for it to be in the rehearsal room and we need things like sets and costumes to be visually appealing to its audiences.

“In most theatre shows you see on stage, the producer would have used their money to produce the show. So, this means when you do not have your extra cash, you cannot create a show. When you put up a theatre show, it is hard to make a profit,” he said.

Dube also blamed theatre practitioners who had long abandoned community halls, their traditional bases.

“This is why artistes are now focusing on setbooks, because, with schools, there is a readily available audience that is willing to pay to watch the performances. As theatre practitioners, we now compete with a lot of entertainment options that people can watch online at home instead of going to the theatre.

“I think we are to blame as we let the culture of staging theatre shows in our community halls die some years ago,” he said.

Fellow thespian Nomashawekazi “Lady Tshawe” Damasane also agrees that financial constraints are at the root of many problems plaguing the local theatre scene. She lamented the lack of adequate rehearsal spaces.

“The primary issue are resources. We struggle to finance six to eight weeks of rehearsals. Securing a functional theatre for a week-long run is also prohibitively expensive. This often results in single-night performances. Even with sufficient rehearsal time, audience turnout remains low. This raises questions about theatre’s viability, but I believe it is not dead. We need to reconnect with our target audience and find ways to generate their interest,” she said.

Last year, Daniel Maposa, executive director of Savanna Trust, a non-profit organisation specialising in theatre, expressed dissatisfaction with the sector’s current state.

“Theatre groups face a critical juncture. We struggle with viability and stunted growth. Community theatre groups no longer have easy access to public halls, their former rehearsal spaces. For example, Cyril Jennings Hall in Highfield, Harare, once provided free rehearsal space. Now, groups must pay substantial fees,” he explained.

This situation forces many groups to rehearse in open spaces and backyards, resulting in fewer and lower-quality productions.

“Audience attraction depends on the quality and consistency of productions. People will not pay for substandard shows produced sporadically. Consequently, audience numbers are dwindling, which is a major concern,” Maposa added.