by Chipo Basopo | Mar 23, 2018 | News
By Robert McLaren CHIPAWO’s professional youth theatre company, New Horizon, has been invited to do a presentation at the prestigious International Ibsen Conference in Skien, Norway, Ibsen’s birthplace. Henrik Ibsen, the Norwegian playwright, is one of the most famous and influential writers in world theatre. The conference is an annual event organized by the Centre for Ibsen Studies at the University of Oslo. In the official invitation they wrote that they would like: To invite Robert Mshengu Kavanagh, Memory Zidaka and Tinevimbo Chimbetete give a keynote presentation at the Conference… The Conference Theme is “Ibsen and Power” and the participants will be interested in hearing how CHIPAWO artists have been using Ibsen’s dramaturgy to empower young Zimbabwean people through the production “Wonderful”. In 2010 the New Horizon Theatre Company created an adaptation of Ibsen’s play about women’s rights, A Doll’s House, called The Most Wonderful Thing of All, in which they explored the situation depicted in the play in the context of Zimbabwean society and culture. The Most Wonderful Thing of All takes the situation and the issues raised in Ibsen’s play, A Doll’s House, and examines them in the context of Zimbabwean social and cultural realities. The play depicts a woman who discovers that society and her husband treat her as a doll. All her ideas and actions, including her role at home, her values, religion, the law and even culture, are simply prescribed to her and she feels she has no mind or will of her own. As a result of certain actions on the part of her husband, she decides to leave home and go out...
by Chipo Basopo | Mar 23, 2018 | News
20th of March is World Theatre day for children and young people and is celebrated in more than 80 countries which are members of the International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People (ASSITEJ). As CHIPAWO continues to strive in elevating the position of children’s theatre, it celebrates the day under the theme, “Take a Child to the Theatre”. The day has been set as a National Theatre week by National Arts Council of Zimbabwe from the 20th – 27th of March 2018 with many theatre events organized all around Zimbabwe by different theatre organizations. In Harare the week is being celebrated in collaboration with CHIPAWO, ITI Zimbabwe, Theatre in the park, University of Zimbabwe and ASSITEJ Zimbabwe. The National Arts Council of Zimbabwe facilitated the creation of a taskforce which has been working towards the celebrations with Wadzanai Chiuriri leading the World Poetry Day which is on the 21st of March 2018, Chipo Basopo CHIPAWO- World theatre day for children and young people and Lloyd Nyikadzino working with University of Zimbabwe working for world theatre day for professionals. 24th of March the children from various schools and CHIPAWO centers will gather at Theatre in the park, Harare Gardens from 9am to 3pm presenting 20 organizations/ schools/clubs with 20 theatre productions by children and young people. One this day the children will show their love for theatre as well as how organizations, drama clubs are acquiring different theatre skills. Having children engage in theatre is a good way of enabling the children to communicate with each, to exchange views and experiences. The world theatre day for children and...
by Chipo Basopo | Mar 23, 2018 | News
“Take a child to the theatre today! Or Take theatre to the child? Are they equally valid? This year we have two world day message writers – one from the USA and one from Syria – which represents these two points of view speaking from starkly different realities. #Take a child to the theatre has been our rallying cry since 2012 as we celebrate the World Day of Theatre for Children and Young People every 20th March and reaffirm our commitment to every child’s right to artistic experiences created especially for them. This year I would like to argue that it’s reverse is often more justified and equally as important. When we consider the millions of children who do not live within the easy reach of a theatre building (especially one designed for them and their needs), we must as artists expand our notions of what theatre can be if we truly believe in the arts as a basic human right. Of course this idea is not new in the history of theatre, but somehow the distinctions of formal vs. informal still seems to pervade our value systems and our notions of quality when we talk about theatre for young audiences. The rough magic that can transform a dusty playground, or a township hall, a school classroom, or a refugee compound, is often what is most needed – not just because it is more practical and economical to meet children in their everyday circumstances, but also, more profoundly, because it IS magic. Theatre is always about transformation. Its capacity to transform a space of ordinariness and even crisis, into...
Recent Comments