Arts Views with Thabani H Moyo
DAVES Guzha, director at Theatre In The Park and the current Chairperson of the Pan-African Cultural Congress Bureau 5 (PACC5) has said Zimbabwe Theatre Sector currently lacks good scripts. Guzha was sharing his experience as a theatre maker during an interactive discussion on Shangano Arts Festival WhatsApp platform.
“A good theatre performance starts with a good script. Zimbabwe’s theatre situation is in a dire situation and the biggest problem is that there are no bankable scripts that have been written in the past two years. At some point Zimbabwe reached a stage where plays will run for two weeks but recently theatre plays runs have become a one night affair. For Guzha’s that is an exhibition of lack of seriousness. “The problem that we need to fix is scripts,” ascertains the theatre guru.
Zimbabwean theatre is currently not attractive enough hence there are no bums on theatre seats during show premieres. The fact that theatre shows are running for one nights reflects on the fact that the plays being showcased are of mediocre standard. For Guzha the answer lies in coming up with script writing training projects and this must not be a once off event but a continuous process. There is also need for scriptwriters to share what they would have written with other theatre makers so that they can also have an input in the writing process.
Guzha also believes Zimbabwe has reached a period where theatre makers have to think of doing performances in their own indigenous languages. Most theatre makers in Zimbabwe use English as a medium because they think works in English are more marketable than those in local languages. For Guzha, that is not the case.
“It’s only in Southern Africa where we think we have to do our theatre in English … we owe it to our audiences to start doing our theatre in local languages,” affirms Guzha.
The belief is that anything done in English is easy to export but for Guzha any good work in any language can be exported. Guzha upholds that good theatre speaks for itself.
On Theatre spaces that have been taken by other organisations among them churches Guzha hit home when he mentioned that the problem was not with those who have occupied those spaces but it was with theatre markers.
“We have ourselves to blame. We have not been using those spaces. Nature abounds at vacuum. When a space is not being utilised other people are likely to step in and take the place,” realises Guzha.
For Guzha one can make a living out of theatre and he is a testimony to that. His advice for theatre actors is that they should work with each and every director who gives them an opportunity. Our sector today is characterised by practitioners who take their work half-heartedly and that has to change.
