19 December 2008
Windhoek — The first-ever self-written theatre book by the Namibian youth has just been published and will be formally launched early next year, the chairperson of Assitej-Namibia (Organisation of Theatre for Children and Young People), David Ndjavera, announced.
The book is the final product of four years of hard and consistent creative work among the youth by the organisation and contains 14 self-written contemporary plays under the creative guidance of a facilitator.
"The book, 'Namibian Youth Theatre', we consider as our humble, but important contribution towards national and holistic education in our country, an unmatched collective literature achievement in Southern Africa," said a proud Ndjavera.
According to him the 142-page book will be submitted in the new year to NIED for consideration as a set book in secondary schools under the Ministry of Education.
"Due to the unique creative onslaught of the book, we are confident that it will make the ultimate difference in teaching drama and theatre in our schools that have been struggling due to a lack of such material since independence. We, as adults, have grown up in the previous education system without any such material. Today's youth can now enjoy their own creative work on a very high level," he said.
Hundreds of enthusiastic youths at 17 centres around the country collectively took part in the writing process with the financial assistance of the Finnish Embassy in Windhoek.
"This anthology is the result of hard work, dedication and a strong vision for a national youth theatre movement in Namibia by Assitej-Namibia. The book undoubtedly forms the foundation for educational youth theatre in this country," says the former Chargé d'Affaires of the Finnish embassy, Seija Kinni-Huttunen, in a foreword to the book.
In her view the Finnish government and the embassy are proud to be associated with this anthology that was written at a specific time and period in the history of Namibia.
"The publication re-emphasises the good art and culture relationship Finland and Namibia have maintained over the years. These easy-to-perform plays have been painstakingly created by school-going youth and documented for generations to come under the guidance of the youth theatre organisation. The content of the plays depict various relevant cultural and social issues within the Namibian society," she said.
The facilitator of the creative process to create the book only has appreciation and admiration for the hard work done on the book by the youth participants all over the country.
"What struck me most is that prior to the start of the project of writing the book and expanding our operations into the rural areas, 80 percent of people had a wrong perception of what youth theatre really is. After three years the situation has dramatically changed," said facilitator, Richard Swartz.
In his opinion, the Namibian youth has never been so stimulatingly confronted with a creative process he and his organisation have completed.
"The many ideas on playwriting by the participants really astounded me. They only lacked the skills, knowledge and creative prowess to transform the ideas into proper plays. Working with different cultures and social structures gave me the ultimate satisfaction for what I was doing, teaching the country's youth acting, directing and writing," he concluded.
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