Arts Views With Thabani H Moyo
THE whole world is currently subdued by the Corona Virus which has continued to rack havoc and threaten human existence. The second wave has forced most countries including Zimbabwe to go on second total lockdowns. This has seen most businesses and organisations shutting or scaling down their activities. It is against this background that Geraldine Drama has come out calling for online registration for the GRD Competitions for 2021. It seems the organisers are not ready to throw in the towel, instead they believe adapting to the new normal is the only way to go.
This year GRD Competitions are in their third edition and the call is out for interested Theatre groups from Bulawayo Metropolis, Matabeleland South and Matabeleland North to register online. Last year GRD competition expanded from being a Bulawayo project to include the other two sister provinces of Matabeleland North and South. The objective was to expand GRD activities and include other provinces in their talent scouting and promotion programs. GRD competitions are for community theatre groups and has seen such groups as Bambelela Arts Ensemble, Langelitsha Theatre Group, Jahunda Community Arts and many more battling for the top spot.
Zambezi Times took interest in finding out how Geraldine Drama planned to carry out its activities this year since Corona Virus and lockdown regulations are making it hard to carry out activities that require people to gather in one space. Khaliphile Sibanda, the lady in charge of GRD activities, acknowledges that 2021 will not be easy but they are geared up to take the challenge. After the online registration is complete GRD will host an online workshop for all the groups that will have registered. The workshop is aimed at equipping the groups with theatre skills and at the same time unpacking the expectations of the organisers. GRD Competition rules will also be outlined. Khaliphile Sibanda accepted that working under Covid 19 has been a challenge. “Starting from the second edition Covid 19 has not been nice to us. We had our finals in 2020 under Covid 19 restrictions and the vibe which is needed by the artists when performing was not there as the audiences were not allowed in. The event was streamed live on our Facebook page,” stated Sibanda. True, Theatre is not complete in the absence of a live audience. The performance triangle is lost as one turns to be performing for cameras. Those responses from the audience that signals the impact or lack of it of the performance are lost. Performances turn to sound like technical rehearsals but one guesses we have to be used to the new age of doing theatre shows.
GRD plans to do its competitions online where performances will be streamed live on social media platforms. But before the competitions, a product must be put together through rehearsals. When quizzed on how rehearsals were going to be conducted given the strict lockdown restrictions Khaliphile Sibanda says as GRD they have adopted a system were rehearsals are done online. The cast and their technical team will be equipped on how to conduct online rehearsals. ‘This will help us to maximise this lockdown time instead of doing nothing’, said Sibanda. It is true artists have to find a way of using this lockdown period productively.
Khaliphile Sibanda admitted that the whole plan is expensive as internet access in Zimbabwe is expensive. As GRD they will try and use platforms that are accessible to the majority of Zimbabweans like Whatsapp. On the lost audiences she said it was sad that the messages from these performances are now reaching a few. This is a challenge that most artists who need a live audience are facing. One can only hope that a winning formula will be found in the near future.
Khaliphile also took the opportunity to unpack a theatre project, Les Miserables, that GRD is working on. The original story is set in France. ‘We are going to be doing a resignation that suits African Society as well as Bulawayo Stage. This means altering some of the things that we don’t have in Zimbabwe and those that our stages cannot handle. The cast is made of artists picked from different groups.’
Despite the Covid 19 restrictions some artists are pushing ahead. GRD is applauded for pushing ahead with its programs and altering its approach to fit in the new normal than to do away with what they set out to do as a Theatre organisation.
Thabani H Moyo writes in his personal capacity.
