It has been 10 years since Aubrey Sekhabi started at the State Theatre as artistic director, a building he used to drive past as a youngster on his way to Wits or The Market Theatre, but he wasn’t allowed to enter.
Much has changed and, especially along those lines, transformation was high on his priority list. It needed to be because when he took over, the State Theatre – from the working component to the audiences – was represented by a minority.
It was a major challenge that was further hampered by a lack of funds as well as a mandate to operate as a venue for hire. “We would simply have managed as caretakers,” said Sekhabi, who was determined to fight for the mandate to produce. “We had to create an identity, to change it into a place where all artists could feel comfortable and audiences across the board would take ownership.
“They had to feel at home,” said the artistic director, who also managed as caretaker CEO for a while, before Xoliswa Nduneni-Ngema was appointed. (She has resigned after a few years and the search is on again.)
Sekhabi is excited about 2012. One of the strongest components at the State Theatre has been its development arm.
It has been a priority for Sekhabi and his team to develop not only performers but also young directors, storytellers, musicians, poets – and anyone who can slide into the performance ambit.
The Rendezvous Theatre has been established as the enter-tainment space and the poetry evenings, jazz nights, comedy season and the hip hop kids who brought in their own audience are all successes – and growing.
“Everyone always says Pretoria is the jazz capital, but that hasn’t been happening. With our jazz nights, we haven’t only welcomed the established musicians, we’ve also created a platform for young artists,” said Sekhabi.
Another accomplishment that has pleased him is the reintroduction of contemporary dance, with four individual programmes last year.
“The audiences reached across the board and I know we just have to keep going to establish that as a strong component again,” he said.
With that in mind, Esther Nasser’s Tshwane Dance Theatre will be presenting 15 Minutes Of Fame, with four choreographers given 15 minutes each to choreograph the work.
One of these is Dada Masilo, whose dance work will be showcased at the State Theatre for the first time. She has been involved as choreographer in some drama productions. There is also a production titled Modjadji, The Rain Queen being considered.
Sekhabi has persuaded young Cape director Nicola Hanekom, who has been showered with festival awards, to bring her trilogy (the final one in this series is to be staged at this year’s Klein Karoo Festival).
They kick off with the extraordinary Bethesda, which is performed in and around a swimming pool; Lot, which involves cars and horses; and finally Babel, which is being created for the ucoming festival before travelling to Pretoria.
This will be the theatre’s first attempt to engage audiences with site-specific work and is a brilliant, if brave, move.
“I’m hoping to attract and excite audiences from across the board,” said Sekhabi.
Hanekom, also known as an amazing actress, has been hailed as one of our brightest young stars, and to introduce her to Gauteng audiences in this fashion is a thrill for local theatre.
And then to take these audiences outside is unheard of. Site-specific work is usually done as an individual production or at festivals.
Another star from the Cape theatre landscape is producer Hennie van Greunen, who will be staging his Janneman starring Sandra Prinsloo, Franci Swanepoel and Hannah Borthwick, followed by his latest translation, Educating Rita – smartly titled Griet Kry Geleerdheid, which also travels here from the festivals.
Other theatre productions that raise a smile from Sekhabi is the return of fantastic director Yael Faber. It’s a co-production with The Baxter titled Kleinmies based on Strindberg’s Miss Julie, featuring the Ngqoko cultural group – which Faber used with such amazing effect in Malora. The stage notes suggest that the play deals with a world we no longer know, but try to live in. The play attempts to reach for a new way of seeing our lives.
Also high on his list is Ngugi wa Thiongo’s The Black Hermit,which will be directed by young talent Diamond Mokoape. It’s a story that will be adapted to present times, as the director believes the tale that deals with the struggle between traditions and contemporary society is as relevant today as in the past. “Many youngsters are turning their backs on their roots once they move to the cities,”said Mokoape.
This is a production that emerges from the theatre’s development work, and Sekhabi cherishes the talent emerging from these productions. “If you watch today’s soapies, many of those young actors started at the State Theatre,” he said.
Anyone who has spoken to Sekhabi in the past few years will know that local musicals are a particular aspiration and 2012 is the year they are going big.
First off, there is Sello Maake kaNcube’s Drama Queen: The Lebo Mathosa Musical, which should be a blast. The musical is titled from her long-awaited second and last album and chronicles the life of the dynamic and controversial singer, from her teenage years to her coming-of-age as part of the ensemble Boom Shaka, followed by her solo career. This is slated for October.
But top priority for this artistic director is his and long-time cohort Paul Mpumelelo Grootboom’s attempt at their first big musical, titled Freedom.
“I’m always going on about indigenous musicals and it’s time to do the walk,” he said.
Because of a lack of funding, they have to come up with creative ideas to make this as big as possible.
Part of the plan is to assemble a young and inexperienced cast, but they will be brought on board and trained from April for the production, which will happen much later in the year.
“That’s what they will be eating, sleeping and breathing,” said Sekhabi. “It’s a bit like (the way) Bongani Ngema used to work with productions like Sarafina.”
Freedom is the story of the miracle that happened in this country in the early 1990s. “If you look at the Arab Spring and other countries around the world, it’s amazing what happened here,” said Sekhabi. “We want to show how proud we are to be part of the country - without politicking.”
He is determined to lead by example. “We need to tell our stories, to capture the time and we need to do things that appeal to audiences across the board.”
Sekhabi and his team are also looking for a spot to present his and Grootboom’s latest co-production Rhetorical, which had a mini-showing at The Market Theatre last year.
Theatre should be fun again, Sekhabi says, and with the end of year Mzanzi Fela festival, which attracted a crowd of 3 000 for their annual march, he knows that people have finally become part of the State Theatre.
Now he wants to establish all the genres, develop more young directors and actors, discover new plays with a national playwriting competition, as well as nurture work that has had to go on the backburner because of funds. But he’s holding thumbs for the Lotto.
That’s the way it all turns, but Sekhabi has learnt and understood that you have to make your own magic. “We simply have to be creative with the way we stage work,” he said.
That’s exactly what they’re doing this year and what we have here is just a teaser. Watch this space.