By Frederick Philander WINDHOEK A four-month theatre season in the second half of this year is one of the big cultural events planned by Committed Artists of Namibia as a contribution towards the country’s theatre development programme. This comprehensive and exciting venture, organized to celebrate Namibia’s oldest surviving community theatre group’s 28th year, was this week announced by CAN’s Organizing Secretary, actress Felicity Celento. “It is imperative that we pay tribute and homage to all the actors, today forming the nucleus of the Namibian performing arts fraternity, who had their debuts with Committed Artists of Namibia as writers and first-time actors all those years ago. I think it is a fitting way to honour these outstanding and unique creative people,” said Celento in a press statement on behalf of the executive committee of the theatre organization. Except for the great number of contemporary plays CAN has produced over many years, the group has also been responsible for the staging of the annual Youth Theatre Festival, which will be held this year in June for the 24th time. “Most worthy Namibian actors who started their acting and writing careers in CAN’s fold as amateurs, went on to conquer the Namibian theatre, television and movie world as accomplished and recognized performing artists of which the nation can be proud,” said Celento who announced the four plays that will form the four-month theatre season. The four 90-minute CAN plays by playwright, Frederick B. Philander, are: Katutura ’59, The Mole People, Election Fever and Papland. “All these plays will be staged in chronological order, one per month, as from August until November 2007. The four plays depict the historic development of Namibia as a nation at specific times of its history such as the start of the liberation struggle in the Old Location in 1959, the treatment of freedom fighters in exile, the first democratic election in the country and the present political, social, cultural and economic situation in the country,” said Celento, who has been active in CAN for the past 21 years as organizing secretary and actress. CAN is known for its consistency in staging and promoting contemporary Namibian, African and world theatre for almost three decades. The one-off theatre project is titled: “The Namibian Stage Chronicles: 1959 to Date” and, by Namibian theatre standards, it will be the biggest ever attempted theatre project by any Namibian theatre body. “All indications are that CAN will receive the necessary funding from its regular and longstanding local donor partners such as banks, cultural bodies and individuals to stage these selected works by a formidable Namibian, African and world theatre playwright. CAN’s regular theatre members will be eligible for a reduction on all season tickets bought in advance from the executive committee,” Celento said. According to her, advance tickets for the theatre season will be sold to the public as from next month. “A N$200 special fee for a four-play season theatre ticket might sound a high price to pay, but for the serious-minded theatregoer and enthusiast it is a small price to pay for unmatched high-quality Namibian theatre. The ticket income will be used to stage more CAN contemporary theatre productions in the country,” she asserted. For this specific project, more than 30 actors will be employed on a part-time basis for seven months, until the end of the season. “These actors need to be enumerated for their creative services and transported back and forth to rehearsals, a very difficult part of theatre production in this Namibia, taking into account that CAN is a totally independent theatre company depending on the goodwill of the country’s business sector. For the initial phasing-in of the project, CAN needs about N$170ÃÆ’Æ‘ÀÃ…ÃÆ”šÃ‚ 000, an amount we hope to raise from a number of willing donor partners we have already formally approached,” Celento said, further mentioning that her organization has also entered a play, The Bigamist, for this year’s two-yearly Theatre Zone playwriting competition of the National Theatre of Namibia. The planned venues for the plays include the National Theatre of Namibia, The Space Theatre at UNAM and the Boiler Theatre at the Katutura Community Arts Centre. “Negotiations are also presently under way with a local private television station to record and broadcast the four-play series locally and internationally as a contribution from CAN to world theatre,” Celento concluded. A four-play anthology of the plays are considered by CAN for 2008. “These plays give important insight and information on and into the development of the country with regard to nation-building, and it is therefore essential the works be published to contribute towards Namibia’s growing literature since Independence. Future generations will be able to do research on the history of the country,” Celento said. The statement also urged all former CAN actors to contact the organization at (061) 25-3332 to be auditioned for the plays.