BY CHIEDZA MAZHANGARA LOCAL theatre-based organisation, Savanna Trust says one of its main areas of focus is developing the capacity of theatre groups and artists in marginalised areas and small towns.
Currently, some Trust members are in Mutoko for a mentoring, skills and capacity-building programme.
Trust director Daniel Maposa said their passion lies in being able to use art to bring about social change and development.
“The programme entails a lot of artistic components like acting, directing, monitoring and evaluation as well as arts management. All these components brought together will enable mid-career theatre practitioners to enhance their skills through producing human interest narratives,” said Maposa in a recent interview with NewsDay Life & Style.
Maposa believes the programme is going to positively assist community theatres in a number of ways. He pointed out that arts administration, for instance, will teach them how to professionally run a theatre organisation.
“I think our core mandate is to make them understand the potent power theatre has to be an agent of change. As an organisation, we try to run away from the mentality which says everything good comes from Harare. We want to empower them to make localised productions that are related to their societies and can even compete at global level,” he said.
Over the years, Savanna Trust has been able to train several theatre groups on script writing, acting, theatre directing, arts management, human rights and good governance, among others.
Maposa also said theatre can be used as a communication tool and is one of the greatest agents for change.
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“The form of theatre we are looking at is called ‘theatre for development and theatre in education’. Even as suggested by the names, you would find that this form of art centres on education and development.
“Theatre comes in to fill the void of an existing knowledge gap by bringing to stage things we interact and converse with on a daily basis. This is when issues are brought out, discussed and solutions are mapped,” he said, adding that theatre artistes have the ability to deal with complex issues even in closed spaces regardless of their social status and background.
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