The St Stephens Anglican Church Hall in New Brighton, known as the home of protest theatre in the apartheid era, is now fertile ground for the next generation of performing artists.
Renowned names in theatre including late artists such Dr Athol Fugard, Dr Winston Ntshona, Nomhle Nkonyenia and Welcome Duru, and Dr John Kani, have all taken to its stage as part of the Serpent Players.
Now a partnership between the Mandela Bay Theatre Complex (MBTC) and the St Stephens Church through the MBTC Children Performing Arts Programme launched on Wednesday will create another platform to elevate the area’s aspiring thespians.
MBTC acting marketing and brand manager Kent Cairncross said the purpose of the programme was to expose children to the performing arts.
He said programme funding was received from the municipality’s department of sport, recreation, arts and culture.
“We want to give children a behind-the-scenes look into the industry as well as the necessary skills, mindset and attitude that you need to have to be a performing artist.
“The age group is 10-15 years old, from grade 5-9.
“This is a partnership with St Stephens Anglican Church, because of the cultural history of the venue and its significance in the performing arts in the Eastern Cape.
“It will do workshops, skills-based training, focusing on scriptwriting, character development and acting methodology, and we are hoping to grow the performing arts from a grassroots level,” Cairncross said.
The church grounds were buzzing with excited pupils from Imbasa, Vezubuhle and Mngcunube primary schools, Zanolwazi, St Thomas and Cowan high schools as well as Khanyisa school for the blind, who will all benefit from the programme.
Khanyisa school for the blind pupil Lukhanyo Abenta said he was grateful for the opportunity to be part of the performing art space.
“I have not been able to do any extramural activities.
“But I am determined to be an actor, one day I hope to be on par with actor Wiseman Ncube and performing in some of SA’s biggest shows,” Lukhanyo said.
Khanyisa school for the blind skills teacher Zikhona Mqorwana said they were excited to be included in the performing arts programme.
“We want our children to feel free when participating with other children in the different programmes that are being run in the community.
“Now they are going to see that they can stand on stages, in front of other youths that do not have disabilities,” Mqorwana said.
St Thomas Senior Secondary School pupil Jordan Stuart, an avid freestyle dancer from the age of five, said he was hoping to learn more about theatre production from the programme.
St Thomas teacher Earl Abrahams said arts and culture was taken seriously in their school and they served as a cultural hub for the northern areas.
“We are trying to bring back the ethos of that culture to the school again, that is why we are attending programmes like this.
“Affiliating ourselves with people that are trying to bring the arts back into the Bay area.”
Isakhono Performing Arts Awards 2024 recipient in the community arts development category, Lungelwa Magqamfana, from Motherwell, said there were many children in Motherwell who wanted to be in the performing arts sector.
“The youth are hungry for the arts, there are not a lot of opportunities for children to perform on stage, being on stage is how they grow and [have] a different direction,” Magqamfana said.
Former Gqeberha: The Empire actress and Cultural and Creative Industries Federation of SA Nelson Mandela Bay regional chair Zukiswa Cakucaku said she was excited that they would get to work from the St Stephens Church Hall.
“This building to us as artists is where we come to regain our strength because this is where things happened during the period of oppression,” Cakucaku said.
The Herald
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