The Sunday Mail
Takudzwa Chihambakwe
We need to bring back the folklores and the folk-songs of old. It is until we are proud of our own stories, songs and languages that an outsider can find pride in what and who we are.” Actor and artistic director at Charles Austin Theatre in Masvingo, Khetani Banda, who was recently in Greece for the Dodona International Collaborative Project, says the experience made him discover more ways to develop local theatre.
Banda was selected to represent the country by the International Theatre Institute of Zimbabwe, alongside actors from Chile, France, Germany, Sweden, Egypt, Nigeria, and Greece, to perform scenes from classic Greek tragedies written by Sophocles, Euripides and Aeschylus.
The two-hour production directed by Vasilis Kontaxis was performed at the 2 500-year-old Dodona amphitheatre and was attended by 2 000 people. “I learnt that acting is not an on and off thing. It’s not like switching on a light bulb,” said Banda.
“The artiste’s life is ever-moving, a continuous shape changing form with each experience. Every event and emotion lived in life should be taken seriously and stored away as ammunition for the moment when it’s expected to be unveiled on stage and since we were performing in our native languages, which some of the audience were not acquainted with, it dawned on me that an actor’s greatest weapon isn’t language but the truth of emotion, which anyone from anywhere can understand.
“As artistic director at Charles Austin Theatre the most important aspect of the project was establishing international connections with those I worked with, it became clear that each participant could actually be brought back to Zimbabwe to take part in a similar project or another of its kind — and each collaborator had a vast knowledge of theatre and the arts in general which I believe could be useful if imparted here,” said Banda.
“I was also there in my capacity as an ambassador of the Charles Austin Theatre and I’m looking forward to seeing the young people I work with participating in international theatre projects as well. Already I’m in talks with some of the actors whom I worked with to have plays written by the Charles Austin Theatre’s playwrights and performed in each actor’s respective country.”
Banda said the visit to Greece made him realise how well-positioned Zimbabwe was in the dramatic arts though there was need to work more in some areas.
“Zimbabwe is in a very good place in the dramatic arts. It should be pointed out that though every actor relies on technique to a degree, the technical aspect of acting in the project wasn’t really encouraged or visible. What was most important was a sharing of pain, joy and confusion amongst many other emotions, in manner that we express them in our day to day lives and from different cultural backgrounds.
“However, the appreciation of theatre and arts in Greece in general is very high as culture and art there have a very special relationship in the people’s lives. I became more conscious of the fact that our culture and art in Zimbabwe has been rotting under the rubble of colonialism and other unmentionable present factors. We need to bring back the folklores and the folk-songs of old. It is until we are proud of our own stories, songs and languages that an outsider can find pride in what and who we are.”
Banda is currently drafting programmes to share the things he learnt in Greece with his team in Masvingo.
“We will be introducing acting, playwriting and directing labs at the Charles Austin Theatre to nurture a young generation of actors, playwrights and directors.
“A theatre project that will take advantage of my trip to Greece is in the making. My hope is to bring some, if not all the actors and actresses I worked with over there to perform here and around the country,” he said.
