The Sunday Mail
Takudzwa Chihambakwe
IN the past six years, Savanna Trust has scooped top accolades in the theatre category at the National Arts Merit Awards (NAMA), a level of consistency rivalled by no other production house.
To prove that they are indeed the cream of the crop, Savanna Trust took home all the awards in the theatre category at the recently held Nama awards with their play, “Liberation”.
Savanna Trust director, Daniel Maphosa, said he was “chuffed” to see his team win.
“I am happy for the cast and crew for the recognition of their hard work. But more so, for the validation of the dramatic trajectory we want for our sector, theatre that speaks to the aspirations of our people — theatre that takes a significant role in the conversation about our country,” said Maphosa.
“Savanna Trust has in the past six years won the best theatrical production award three times. It has won awards for ‘Madam Speaker Sir’; ‘Half Empty, Half Full’ and ‘Liberation’. We also won best actor and best actress on all the three occasions and in another play ‘Pub Stories’ in 2012.”
On how they managed to produce a top class production in an environment that saw many theatre practitioners failing to even stage a one-man show he said, “2016 was a tough year, not only for Savanna Trust but for the whole arts sector and the nation at large. However, we managed to show some resilience and invested in producing cutting edge and exciting artistic products.
“This resilience paid off as can be seen by the recognition that we got through winning the three theatre awards at Nama. The awards, therefore, are proof that despite the toughness of times, hard work and resilience is important.”
However, “Liberation” might not have seen the light of day had it not been for Savanna Trust’s partnerships with other organisations.
This has become a common trend in local theatre circles and it has helped to keep many production houses alive.
“‘Liberation’ is a product of a partnership between civic society and the arts. To a very large extent, civic society have sustained the theatre sector together with the donor community. Our people’s pockets are fatigued and if we are to bring theatre to the people in their numbers, someone must pick up the tab.
“The idea then is for theatre organisations to find partnerships whose values resonate with theirs. Collaborations are the way to go in this economy. We are happy that there are some organisations that shared the same vision with us and are committed to the idea of promoting theatre in the country,” revealed Maphosa.
Responding to whether dependency on these hand-outs from donors is the way to go, Maphosa said arts organisations need to have proper structures in place to sustain themselves.
“It is our belief that for theatre to survive, there are a lot of things that need to be in place. Internally, organisations must be able to effectively plan, practice good corporate governance, and produce relevant and exciting artistic products. Arts organisations must also be able to collaborate among themselves, academia, civil society and other stakeholders so that their revenue is derived from different sources.
“External factors that need to be dealt with include support from Government, corporates and other stakeholders. It is vital for the Government to expedite the implementation of an arts and culture policy that creates a friendly environment for the operations of the sector, encourage funding and sponsorship of arts and culture.”
Maphosa revealed that they will be touring the region with the play “Liberation” and are bringing back the radio dramas and discussions.
“This year, Savanna Trust will be bringing back the popular theatre radio dramas and discussions. We shall be touring the region with ‘Liberation’, but we hope to identify support to take this production around the country.
“Our theatre for development programme, where we engage citizens on issues that are pertinent to them through theatre programmes, will again continue from where we left last year.
“Above all this, we would like to produce another theatre production such as ‘Liberation’ for export. But of course, our local audiences will be the first to sample it.”
