Valencia Govindasamy
THE need for English literature is more important than ever before. Not only does literature form part of our cultural heritage, the works can deepen our understanding of our history and society.
A festival that shares these views and aims to promote the performance skills of pupils while empowering them to fully under-stand English literature from an early age is The Shakespeare Schools Festival. Now in its fifth season, the Durban leg is in its third run and takes place at The Playhouse from September 3 to 5.
Talking to Tonight, Managing Director of the fest in South Africa, Kseniya Filinova Bruton, reveals the skills that are imparted to pupils who participate: “Learners… would develop and improve on number of skills, from acting, public speaking, role playing, even dancing and playing musical instruments; depending on the… production.
“We also have seen some of the learners taking on directing roles, and this required the ability to conceptualise the play, leadership, commitment to task, as well as practical skills when it comes to making props, costumes and sets. And one more aspect I would mention is how learners improve their academic achievements in English and drama subjects.”
The festival which has reached over 1 000 high school pupils and educators in the Western Cape, Gauteng and Kwa-Zulu Natal, encourages schools to perform 30-minute versions of Shakespeare plays in local professional theatres.
Basically, the fest is open to any primary and high school with no boundaries for participation.
“Theatres offer great experience for the learners. For some, it’s the first time they get to be exposed to the theatre space in such a way,” shares Bruton.
The director says funding is their biggest challenge: “Introducing The Shakespeare Festival as a concept to our potential funders is not an easy one. We are still learning the art of fund raising activities. A fee of R2 000 to participate is quite high for many schools, so we have been offering discounts. In some cases, we managed to find sponsors to cover these fees for some schools. We also offer intellectual support to schools by giving them tools to fund raise the fee themselves.
“As we enter a year for the Bard’s 400-year anniversary, we are working on translations of some of our scripts into few of the South African languages, such as Zulu, Xhosa and Afrikaans, as well as Sign Language. The fest is a great opportunity to experience the thrill of mastering Shakespeare.”
l The fest runs Sept 3 to 5 at The Playhouse. Book at Computicket.