Schools set to showcase acting talent

The High Schools Drama competition is running for the second year and its objective is to create space for children to tell their own stories through drama and theatre performances. The competition is sponsored by Plan Zimbabwe.

 

According to the director of the festival, Raisedon Baya, the competition is open to all secondary and high schools in urban and rural communities.

He said the participating schools were expected to come up with performances that support Plan Zimbabwe’s global campaign called “Because I Am A Girl (BIAAG)”.

Plan Zimbabwe’s Bulawayo programme unit manager Tsungai Mahumucha said the competition presented an opportunity for children to unleash their  acting talents while sending advocacy messages which improve the lives of all children, in particular girls. “The competition challenges secondary school children to reflect on their societies, identify challenges and opportunities for children,” she said.

Mahumucha added that the programme, earmarked for girls, was also meant for the children to package  their ideas in a spellbinding manner for different audiences to appreciate their inherent talents.

Plan Bulawayo’s child rights coordinator Gertrude Ndlovu said the main theme for the high school competition was to allow students to conceptualise ideas that would act as voices of the girl child who may not have an opportunity to be heard.

The BIAAG’s sub theme for the competition is “Girls’ Rights and Opportunities For Education”.

Participating schools are expected to create 20-minute plays focusing on the theme.

“The presentations are expected to explore challenges and opportunities for the girl child both at home and at school, rural or urban, as she pursues her educational needs and dreams. The idea is to challenge young people to tell their own stories, through their own eyes and to be part of the global discourse on gender equity,” said Ndlovu.

Preliminary rounds will be held between July and August 2012 with the finalist from each pool performing in Bulawayo during the Intwasa Arts Festival which is running under the theme “Blooming”.

“The competition offers space for children to bloom as we expect some to take up acting as a profession,” said Ndlovu.