Windhoek
What does it mean to be a modern African youth without shying away from current affairs and dealing with problems such as gender-based violence (GBV)?
The theatre play, Remote, Control, which stages at the Theatre School tomorrow and Friday, intends to answer this question. The play, initiated by the Goethe-Institut Namibia, depicts the lives of students and examines the challenges they face on a daily basis of having to either conform to gender roles or rebel in search of freedom.
Four young actors, Anne Hambuda, Beau Boois, Dafe Disi and Ashwyn Mberi, perform the play about four college students trying to find their way in today’s society. Mberi, who also writes poetry, directs the play.
The cultural programmes coordinator of the Goethe-Institut, Ruth Suermann, says the play is part of their six-week project, Mindset Dialogues: Questioning Gender Stereotypes, which is designed to question the various gender stereotypes. She adds that the aim of the project is to stimulate discussion on gender in the Namibian context through art and to emanate impulses, create dialogue and question gender binaries through various art mediums.
“The play fits into all these challenges because it deals with the everyday problems of being a man or a woman, especially in young people’s lives, with a focus on students,” says Suermann.
Most young people do not reflect (or deliberate) on the expectations and rules they follow, the way they have been raised by their parents and teachers and the way society deals with different issues, Suermann points out, adding: “Students can come and watch, reflect, laugh and discuss what they have seen on stage.”
The play will stage at seven o’clock in the evening (19h00) and entrance is free of charge.