By Frederick Philander KEETMANSHOOP The fourth rural theatre town-based centre was this week completed in the South at Keetmanshoop by Assitej-Namibia at P.K. De Villiers Secondary School. This is the tenth such centre that had been established as part of a national youth theatre structure in the country. Theatre facilitators have been working tirelessly with the Keetmanshoop youth for the past month and created a social issue-related play about the local community. “All Namibian towns have similar – but different – problems they are struggling with. Many times the youth are not really aware of the problems in their towns and learn about it when the plays are being created, a good exercise for all. The problems the play in this town reflected on specifically include truckport prostitution, unemployment and land ownership,” said facilitator, Richard Swartz, in an Art/Life interview on Wednesday at the town. A management structure has been elected to run the affairs of the new town-based centre. “I am really impressed with the commitment and dedication of the young and inexperienced leadership. I believe they have strong possibilities and abilities to promote theatre among the youth are very encouraging and give me hope for rural theatre. The positive involvement of the school shows that Assitej-Namibia has found a dependable partner,” he said. The youth’s understanding and creative interpretation of the work done was, in Swartz’s opinion, above average and therefore made the process run smoothly. “This is what we are constantly looking for when working with rural youth, in whom we believe lies a lot of latent talent that needs to be tapped and developed as part of our educational outreach programme. I am also very pleased and satisfied with the cooperation we have received from the office of the local regional councillor. This shows that human resources development also plays an equally important part in the town,” he said. P.K. De Villiers Secondary School has been identified as the venue for Assitej-Namibia’s second school festival in June this year. “The six Southern centres will participate in the festival that was started last year. Independent judges will adjudicate during the six-play festival that will be presented as a culture day at the school. I expect a high level of competitiveness among the groups who will, for the first time, compete on the same platform. This is done to promote friendships and networking among the Southern youth, something much needed,” Swart, a playwright and actor, concluded.