Nelson Mapako, the competition adjudicator, said the standards had dropped during the qualifiers of the two-day event. This year’s drama competition will be held under the theme, “Too Young to Marry,” highlighting the problem of child marriages in the country.
The competition will run concurrently with the annual Intwasa Arts Festival. “With the high standard of plays presented at Intwasa Arts Festival koBulawayo 2012 still lingering in our minds, the biggest challenge for schools in 2013 was going to be a competition not against each other but against the standard which they set for themselves last year. Partners in the project as well as the audience that follow the schools drama competition were expecting nothing below the standard of previous editions. Disappointingly most schools in the 2013 preliminaries were found wanting,” said Mapako.
“While one can write home about the presentation of a handful of schools, the rest of the presentation was average. Most plays lacked depth in terms of plot development as well as treatment of the theme. Most of the issues which the schools chose to address were not relevant to current urban lifestyles. The stories were ancient, influenced by traditional and cultural norms on arranged child marriages. We were all expecting to see a depiction of urban life as we live in a city but most schools chose a rural setup, but failed to conduct detailed research into it.”
Plan International has been holding preliminary competitions ahead of the finals. Ten schools from around the country are scheduled to compete in the finals.
Post published in: Entertainment