By Rachelle Metzler
WINDHOEK
I have been fortunate to be part of a theatre first for Namibia, a four-month non-stop contemporary theatre festival.
Freddy Philander, renowned Namibian playwright, brought us a visual depiction of Namibian history covering a period of nearly 50 years.
While I am in no way an expert as far as the theatre scene in Namibia is concerned, these plays gave me an insight into Namibian history from an angle that I never thought was possible.
The entire sequence consisted of four plays, performed over a period of four months, from August until November this year. The plays were staged in the Boiler Theatre in Katutura, the perfect backdrop for the eras in Namibian history, which were depicted. The rugged walls of the Boiler Theatre, coupled with the protruding boiler pipes created the perfect atmosphere for the audience to really be part of the different eras.
The theatre season started with Katutura ’59 dealing with the issue of the forced removal of people from the Old location and being relocated to Katutura. The cast’s acting abilities were of outstanding quality.
I was truly amazed by the talent that we have in Namibia. Each individual cast member performed brilliantly and it would be both unfair and impossible for me to mention specific individuals. Each cast member was a star in his or her own right.
The second play, The Mole People, dealt with the issue of the Lubango dungeons and the barbaric treatment that these people were subjected to. In this play, the viciousness of the powers-to-be was perfectly depicted with a hard-liner sergeant’s making life unbearable for the dungeon victims.
Election Fever, the third play in the series, dealt with the first independent elections in Namibia during 1989 and the concomitant commotion. While all the plays were performed in a satirical and in some instances comical way, the message of each play came out clearly.
What was particularly stunning about this play was the fact that, even if the audience were not physically part of the first democratic elections in the late eighties, the performance gave them a solid understanding of the issues at play at that time.
Philander brilliantly displayed the “auctioning” of key individuals after the elections. The auction scene, in my view at least, was brilliant and something that only a master in the likes of Philander could come up with. After each auction the successful bidder gave a reason as to why he/she has put in a bid for that particular “human” item. The reasons advanced had the audience in stitches. Brilliant!
Also, the scenes depicting each party’s television slot and their speeches to the Nation on national television were hysterical and would be remembered for a very long time.
The last play within this series was Papland and depicted present-day Namibia. It dealt with the daily struggles of ordinary Namibians and the street porridge vendor, Handjievol, was perfectly portrayed by actress Felicity
Celento.
Handjievol gave us a glimpse into the life of a typical street vendor, who still cannot fathom the so-called gains brought about by independence. Her life and that of her fellow street vendors is still a struggle for survival, literally taking it one day at a time.
Congratulations to the entire cast of the series, because without them, the plays would not have been the success that it indeed was. Finally, I salute you, Philander, for sharing your insight in Namibian history with us ordinary folk.