OHPS! The past two weeks have been a hectic schedule for me, a time of outstanding theatrical events that nearly left me unwell.
Unwell indeed as I was briefly harassed by a bout of malaria, after which I took coartem and immediately surmounted the tropical plague such that I am already up and about, fit as a fiddle! I can gobble up an elephant.
The other week I attended the Copperbelt Provincial Schools’ Performing Arts Festival (C0PSPAF) hosted by Kalulushi Secondary School in Kalulushi, and then later went for the Yezi Arts promoted April International Theatre Festival in the subsequent one – exhilarating and electrifying experiences, which I have always took pride in.
First things first; the COPSPAF attended by the Copperbelt Provincial Education Officer (PEO) Paul Ngoma who urged schools to remain nascent and embryonic institutions where future musicians, dancers, scriptwriters, actors, actresses and other artists should breed from.
Ngoma, thunderously lamented this when he presided at the four-day schools’ festival.
Trust me, I do not want to delude Ngoma’s assertion that the Copperbelt like other provinces was richly swallowed up with brilliantly artistic and gifted youths whose future promise is brighter and greater.
The film and theatre, music and the dance industries have as a result, a vivid outlook if only our teachers and stakeholders including parents can take time off to reflect upon the best way to go!
Admittedly, Ngoma said head teachers and teachers were the invisible and indistinguishable custodians of the talent these learners in schools posses as the educators need to discover, enthuse, arouse, inspire and nurture or festivals of this nature would be a sheer waste of time.
Teachers should critically look at their commitment for co-curricular and creative activities.
For the most part, the Kalulushi festival has been distinguished as illustrious and celebrated with improved standards.
An excited Provincial Schools’ Arts committee chairperson Nkandu Chilufya hinted that the measure in performance were waking up as both teachers and pupils were taking experiences of the annual festivals as a learning process.
He noted that newly established districts like Masaiti, Lufwanyama and Mpongwe were working harder to jack up the benchmarks.
Other districts like Chililabombwe, Luanshya and Kalulushi have presently conjoined the dramatically active towns of Ndola, Mufulira, Chingola and Kitwe with average measure.
Nkandu further observed that theatre clinics for the teachers would go a long way in harnessing artistic and orthodox traditions in the directors and teachers – creative, resourceful and ingenious skills in script writing, directing, stage use and movement, and vocal usage, glaringly were absent in nearly all the school performances.
From my point of view; play scripts which are usually staged by schools are of poor quality.
These school plays and poems largely lack the inventive and imaginative twists, and I sincerely propose that come 2015 let good scripts be sourced, or and good script writers be engaged or be commissioned to either conduct workshops or schools contest by merely performing the same plays so that lessons, categorically, can be derived from the differences in acting and directing.
I watched a couple of plays, among which some were not worth, and performances generally lacked common stage rudiments; actors spoke from any point, walked about  with less directions yet the stage is one venue requiring order, clarity and discipline.
Again on my mind, I note that these young people involved in acting, singing and traditional dances are generally alive with inborn abilities which merely need cultivating and fostering.
Look at the general flaws in Mpongwe’s St Theresa Primary school’s play ‘Ignorance’!
Curtain usage, short scenes, scene changes, the play’s storyline needed strengthening like all the others.
In Kabundi Primary School’s play ‘The Bible’ by Darius Lombe, directed by Angel Chanda, lessons should be learnt that acting should be realistic – this was absent in majority of plays.
Certainly, some of the young actors and actresses were invariably; naturally so tranquil and poised, one is made to believe these had more than one experience. So teachers; inspire and stir these young performers from the class.
Notably other exhibitions were the children with special needs such as Annie Mweshi’s Mano Primary School pupils who recited Sam Musunga’s poem ‘Circles of Fire.’ Under teacher Emily Mutobe, the hearing impaired (HI) who included Gideon Chikwanda, Jackson Kalilombe, Florence Kombe, John Chifunda and Clive Sichula put up a performance even though they came second in position to Maccurtina Kaoonde’s HI children with ‘The Voice of the Voiceless’ featuring Henry Mwewa, Chipulu Mukabe, Florence Sweli, Dennis Katongo, Roydha Mulenga and Bertha Musonda.
Others, who silently recited the poem included Muchaka Chiyesa, Levina Kunda, Brian Njovu and Plus Sakala.
Adjudicators in drama and poetry Barney Kanjela and Gethsemane Mwizabi, who I believe found it outlandishly thrilling with what they saw; abundant talents, but not very well steered and guided.
Barney, a veteran actor, director and script writer whispered to me he had found it difficult to understand why actors were doing the wrong things when teachers could have funneled them on stage and mannerisms.
Author of the celebrated play ‘Socks and Toothpaste,’ Barney intimated that there was need for intensive surgery of scripts if criterion in performances was to rise.
The choral and traditional dance adjudicators were Phinot Mulela alias Ntambo in the comedy circles and Moses Teeba.
Results: in drama; Hellen Kaunda secondary of Kitwe was first with Chingola’s Kabundi Primary school with ‘The Bible’ by Darius Lombe and directed by Angel Chanda. In poetry; the winners Kantanshi secondary of Mufulira with Richard Simpemba’s ‘The Fog’ took first slot while Mitobo Primary of Kitwe led in that category.
In traditional dance; Kitwe Boys Secondary came victorious with their counterparts Masaiti Primary school from Masaiti.
Chingola Secondary school choral team reclaimed their long-lost glory in music while their primary partners were town-mates Kasompe.
The forthcoming event, the national schools performing arts festival takes place in Solwezi, North-western Province during the term’s recess in August 2014.
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I am loosely withholding onto the Yezi Arts’ April International Theatre festival’s intrinsic details until next week, and will allow contributions from the organisers, and festival participants, however, here were the results for the festival; the best overall production went to the Zimbabwe-New York collaborated play by Edzai Isuu ‘She and He’ walking away with K7, 500.00.
I was generally impressed to learn that efforts of writers was on test and that Henry Joe Sakala’s ‘Town Boy’ performed by Matero, was voted the best script going with a prize of K2,500.
Best leading actor and actress were Leo Dauty Simukoko as Jack in ‘Married Virgin’ and Solomonic Peacock of Malawi’s Regina Chitsanzo Kaiya as Pamela in ‘Beyond the Horizons’ – both walked away with K1000 each.
As Tiger in Botswana’s ‘Strong Women,’ Kwenze Poelo Mguni and Susan Mumba as Bianca in ‘Married Virgin’ by Bantu theatre took best supporting male and female actors, respectively while Michael Kamunda who played instruments in ‘She and He’ took the best sound award.
The best director award went to Tafadzwa Muzondo and Joy Leigh Wrolson for the play ‘She and He’ while the debatable cameo award went to Miriam Kanganjo as Nana in African Directions’ play ‘The Will’ by Erick Kasomo.
Debatable indeed as the subject of cameo should deeply be discussed if the Zambia Adjudicators’ Panel is walk away without bias-inner-talk.
Let them enlighten, put in the picture and notify the public who claims the cameo before I say that most adjudication have done it all wrong.
John.kapesa818@yahoo.co.uk – 0955-0967-0977-710975