Frederick Philander
4 July 2008
Windhoek — Last week the local youth theatre organisation established its 16th town-based community centre among secondary school learners in the country at Rundu in the Kavango region.
Assitej-Namibia's theatre facilitator, Richard Swartz, had been working with a group of enthusiastic learners at the Rundu Secondary School for a month, teaching them the ropes of stage acting, directing and play writing.
The workshop has been presented with the financial support of the Finnish Embassy over the past three years in towns in the south, the east, the west and the north.
"We are now fast-nearing the end of the project to form a truly national organisation of theatre for children and young people," said an enthusiastic Swartz, who had been keeping the flame of youth theatre in the country burning for the past few years.
Swartz leaves on Monday for Katima Mulilo to establish the last centre in that north-eastern town.
"I am also happy to say that the northern regions, generally considered to be isolated as far as theatre is concerned, are just as 'in touch' with the realities of stage acting as any other region. In fact, the learners I have worked with until now have excelled in the field with the natural acting abilities as well as writing a play to be published in an anthology of youth plays," he said.
He praised the school principal, Lorraine Kroeser, and her staff for the good cooperation they showed towards Assitej-Namibia during the one-month workshop after school.
"From this creative exercise a theatre centre was established as well as a play written by the participants. We now have a fully fledged youth theatre branch operating at the school," Swartz concluded.
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