The latest contemporary socio-political one-man play by Committed Artists of Namibia, the longest surviving community theatre group in the country, will be staged on 23 and 24 April at the Theatre School in Windhoek.
The bilingual play, Pandemic Effekte and Defects, was written, acted, directed and produced by internationally acclaimed Namibian playwright, Frederick B. Philander!
This stage work depicts the life of an elderly man, living in isolation under self-quarantine in a broken-down squatter camp shack and how he overcame a mild bout of the coronavirus with traditional medicines (folk remedies) with the help of God. This is the fifth hard-hitting socio-political one-person play by Philander, a New York Radio play winner of 1996 with King of the Dump that was recorded on location by the BBC that broadcasted the work to 120 million of its African listeners.
Four other one-person winning and acclaimed plays by the same playwright include: The Railway Man (with which he toured in 1997 to 11 British universities); Will of a Die-hard Soldier (performed successfully in Belgium and at the Grahams Town Arts Festival); The Teacher (depicting the weaknesses of the Namibian education system); and The Street Vendor, a female one-person play dealing with political harassment and economic survival after Independence!
The four performances have been partially sponsored by the Namibia National Arts Council, the College of the Arts and private companies.
Another of Philander’s multi-character critical play was, I am NOT corrupt…!, a revealing court case drama in which former minister of education, Katrina Hanse-Himarwa, had been found guilty in the High Court of Namibia on charges of corruption two years ago. The stage work was selected for performances by the National Theatre of Namibia.
A limited number of tickets are on sale. Government Covid-19 rules and regulations will be strictly observed and adhered to at all times before and during all performances.