adminChivandikwa, Josh Nyapimbi and Florence Mukanga-Majachani is expected to gather views from theatre practitioners on the idea of setting up a voluntary national theatre regulatory body and to recommend its functions, its composition, its structure and how it will relate to other official regulatory authorities and administrative structures in the arts and culture sector.
The indaba indicated that it had resolved to strengthen the existing national theatre platforms “with main focus on the Zimbabwe Theatre Association(ZiTA); the International Theatre Institute (Zimbabwe Centre); and the Zimbabwe Association of Theatre for Children and Young People (ZATCYP) – the Zimbabwe Theatre Centre of ASSITEJ.”
The participation in this meeting by representatives of theatre arts departments from various universities has the potential of leading to the establishment of a national association of university theatre that could affiliate with the International Association of University Theatre which regularly organises international university theatre festivals, conferences and workshops on theatre education.
The three-day indaba that was supported by the Norwegian Embassy in partnership with Hivos Foundation and the Culture Fund of Zimbabwe Trust, also resolved to undertake an inventory of theatre venues and spaces through out the country in order to determine the state and use of these facilities and to recommend on what should be done to make these facilities accessible to theatre practitioners as well as making them suitable for different types of theatre performances by different theatre groups.
The indaba expected such inventory to be undertaken at provincial level and to see national theatre associations playing a role in this regard.
As a result of views exchanged during the discussion on “how to professionalise the theatre sector in Zimbabwe” and having compared local efforts to those of South Africa in building a professional theatre sector, the indaba resolved to undertake a research on the different “theatre training models being used across the country and to consider harmonising these theatre training approaches.”
This is going to be a very tough assignment given the multiplicity of efforts by different theatre institutions, organisations and groups which have developed different theatre training approaches in response to specific needs of different theatre practitioners.
There are organisations that are running theatre training programmes that are certified by universities while in the majority of cases training that is gained mainly through participating in different theatre productions and attending short workshops some of which have been led by untrained theatre practitioners.
This situation is further complicated by the absence of formal theatre education in the national school curriculum of Zimbabwe.
School-leavers who have not been exposed to formal theatre education find themselves in groups that aim at earning a living through full-time theatre but without any exposure to basic theatre education and training.
Not only are these young theatre practitioners without financial resources to attend professional theatre training programmes on offer mainly in Harare and Bulawayo, they also do not have the time to devote to long-term and structured theatre training programmes.
The indaba also resolved to encourage the practice in the country of a large diversity of theatre forms.
This encouragement will no doubt depend on the holding of a number of theatre training programmes in different parts of the country especially at the arts and culture festivals.
In the past year theatre practitioners in Harare and Bulawayo were fortunate to access the 24-Hour Theatre Challenge, and several though short workshops on physical theatre. However, theatre forms such as dance drama, musicals, and puppetry are not being regularly presented and promoted.
Participants to this “first ever national theatre indaba in more than 32 years”, also resolved that the theatre indaba be an annual event.
They also resolved that the team comprising aves Guzha, Cont Mhlanga. Daniel Maposa, Josh Nyapimbi and Raisedon Baya that convened the first theatre indaba be retained as conference committee that should begin to plan for the 2nd National Theatre Indaba.
The committee was also mandated to follow up on the implementation of all the resolutions of the first indaba.
The committee is also expected to distribute extensively to Zimbabwe’s theatre fraternity copies of presentations made at this meeting which include an analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to the practice of theatre in Zimbabwe; media coverage of theatre; professionalisation of the theatre sector; the issue of a national theatre policy and the roles and functions of national theatre organisations.
It is hoped that the dialogue that started in Gweru on these critical issues on theatre practice in Zimbabwe will continue through different forum and platforms.
Those who advocated, during the National Arts Indaba convened last year by the National Arts Council in Masvingo, for a Zimbabwe theatre journal have a valid point.
Such a journal would have been the most appropriate vehicle for carrying presentations made at this First National Theatre Indaba and responses of those thespians who did not have the opportunity to take part in this platform. The challenge for initiating a Zimbabwe theatre journal at that time was thrown to universities that have theatre arts departments as well as to national theatre associations.
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