World Theatre Day was celebrated on 27 March. Paul Kammies, one of the participants of the LitNet STAND theatre review writing workshop, talks to Naomi Meyer about the significance of the day.
We recently celebrated World Theatre Day. What does this mean to you? What do you think it means to the people you know (and to other South Africans)?
Something like World Theatre Day to me is an opportunity to celebrate the hard work of theatremakers globally and recognise the positive impact that theatre, dance and performance has.
What is the meaning of live theatre in this modern world? Why even bother with theatre? It is so expensive, why not simply spend money on other things? Is theatre important at all?
I won’t forget how in my first year my lecturer kept emphasising that theatre is "a slice of life", and over time I discovered different meanings of his adage. Live theatre is a moment to become silent and reflect on life; it’s a moment to peek into something you might not know; it’s a moment to relieve yourself from something that’s causing adversity, or even to confront it creatively. In general, though, live theatre asks you to connect with a performance in real time; it allows you to exist with the performance, almost.
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Live theatre is a moment to become silent and reflect on life; it’s a moment to peek into something you might not know; it’s a moment to relieve yourself from something that’s causing adversity, or even to confront it creatively. In general, though, live theatre asks you to connect with a performance in real time; it allows you to exist with the performance, almost.
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What do you think about the position of South African theatre? Anything you want to say about productions created, about festivals, anything you’d like to write about regarding this topic?
There’s a lot I have to say. I think I’m quite irresponsible by leaving the comments in my conversations, DMs and side-eyes, because South African theatre is changing, but some people and theatremakers haven’t realised that it is changing. As we saunter away from the ghosts of a political existence, I think theatre now is starting to question what it means to live without the politic that we are so used to. It goes beyond decolonialisation, reclamation, intertextuality and breaking stereotypes. We are still questioning who is controlling everything, if our perceptions of the world are correct, if the changes we’ve been promised or given are yielding as they should.
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I think it’s becoming a space to discuss the condition of melancholy imposed by the New South Africa. Nevertheless, the theatre is able to cast a spotlight on these issues, which creates awareness and powerful conversations.
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I think it’s becoming a space to discuss the condition of melancholy imposed by the New South Africa. Nevertheless, the theatre is able to cast a spotlight on these issues, which creates awareness and powerful conversations.
Also read:
LitNet | STAND: Teaterresensieslypskool 2023 | Theatre review workshop 2023
LitNet | STAND-teaterresensieslypskool: Paul Kammies se resensie van Tsekmate (finale weergawe)