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Intwasa newsletter - August 2012
Intwasa
August 22, 2012

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Adjudicator's Desk

For the second year running Plan Zimbabwe and Intwasa Arts Festival have partnered in presenting the High Schools Drama Competitions in Bulawayo and Kwewke. The campaign dubbed "Because I am Girl" initiated in 2011 is this year focusing on tackling the barriers affecting the girl child in the education sector.

All partners involved in this project should be commended for bringing forth issues that have discriminatory effects on the girl child. So far in Bulawayo three preliminaries were held. The finals will be in September during the festival. The event had more than thirty secondary schools taking part. In Bulawayo alone the participation rate was 80%, a significant achievement for the organisers and the participating schools. The participation rate was far much high compared to other secondary and high schools drama events.

All participating schools should be commended for the passion and commitment to the theatre arts exhibited in all pools. I should reckon to say that the standard of theatrical expression displayed by some of the schools left a number of professional theatre practitioners green with envy. On average the standard was a gear up when compared to the 2011 competitions.

However, there is still a visible gap on the level of plot development, acting, and directing among the schools. A number of schools presentations were mediocre. The factors contributing to these poor presentations varied from one school to another. While on one hand a particular school would struggle with the plot another would be let down by poor characterisation. In Pool A held at Mpopoma High most schools had good plots but the developments of the plots were rather too slow. Actors wasted a lot of time on scenes that did not contribute to the development of the plot. When you have only twenty minutes to tell a story do not waste time as every second counts in determining the pace, conflict build up and the resolution of the story. The dramatic engine needs to be kept alive all the time.

A significant number of schools displayed good acting skills and techniques. Students were able to manipulate their bodies in interpreting different characters. A number of them were however made to play adult characters which is usually too demanding for the children. As a result over acting was visibly in some of the plays.

In Pool B which was at Gifford High School the standard was a bit lower than that exhibited at Mpopoma. Poor blocking was the order of the day with most plays. Students were not adequately trained in stage movement and management, voice projection and variation. Diction seemed to be asking too much from the kids. Play directors lost it in setting their stage too deep and allowing much of the action to happen at the centre back stage as opposed to the hot spot. The fusion of different art forms was in most cases out of context with regards to plot. Every art form one so decides to use in a particular play should help in moving the plot forward. However, good dancing skills and melodious music was noted among the students.

Of all the pools the Townsend Girls High preliminaries were lukewarm. Most of the schools lacked in putting up convincing presentations. Most of the plots lacked direction, characters were exaggerated, and the theme not well interpreted, save for one or two schools. Some of the presentations were disjointed and lacked the edutainment value. I reckon that even if you took the world's greatest actors and gave them a mediocre plot, the outcome would be disaster.

A lot of work still needs to be done in schools in the area of skills training and development. Schools need to seek assistance from tried and tested theatre practitioners. The talent is abundant in kids. The passion for theatre and commitment to its development is very much alive in schools. With willing partners such as Plan Zimbabwe and Intwasa Arts Festival koBulawayo the theatre void that was slowly creeping into the country can be eliminated. Zimbabwe can claim back its status of being a theatre power.

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