Shakespeare o a tshela ends
Correspondent | Tuesday April 19, 2016 15:34
The Showcase was part of the global GREAT Britain Campaign/British Council ‘Shakespeare Lives’ project celebrating Shakespeare’s work upon the occasion of the 400th anniversary of his death.
The Showcase featured performances by students from Maru-a-Pula School, Naledi Senior Secondary School, St Joseph’s College, Kagiso Senior Secondary School, Moeding College, Ledumang Senior Secondary School, the University of Botswana, AFDA, the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Culture, and The Company@Maitisong (please see sample of photos attached - more are available upon request).
Government school students performed scenes from their set text of ‘Twelfth Night’; the other performers presented selected moments from Shakespeare’s work in dynamic and innovative new interpretations of his plays and poetry.
Batswana poets Barolong Seboni, Moroka Moreri and Mandisa Mabuthoe, and musician Zeus, performed newly-commissioned work written especially for the event.
All the MaP, government school and UB students involved had the opportunity to work with one or more of the UK and South Africa theatre practitioners who recently visited Botswana as part of the project:
Gregory Thompson (UK, Artist in Residence and Creative Entrepreneur at University College London), Natalie Ibu (UK, Artistic Director of The Tiata Fahodzi Theatre Company), Ben Spiller (UK, Artistic Director of the 1623 Theatre Company), ShakeXperience Practitioners from South Africa, Nobulali Dangazele and Greg Homann, and Fiona Drummond (UK, actor and Shakespeare’s Globe Education Practitioner).
Project Director Alastair Hagger said: “We are overjoyed to have completed this project in the company of a full house at Maitisong, who were able to see over 100 young people from Botswana performing Shakespeare’s work. Since its first event in October, our film festival for schools, through to our free film screenings to the public, our workshops for teachers and students in Gaborone and Maun, our free outdoor Maun film screening of ‘Twelfth Night’, and April 13th’s spectacular Showcase event, the ‘Shakespeare o a Tshela’ project has reached thousands of people in Botswana, and planted the seeds of a an enduring love for Shakespeare in the young people of this country.
We are immensely proud of all the artists, students and teachers who participated, and hugely grateful to all of our generous sponsors and partners, without which the project would not have been possible.”
Alastair Hagger
Project Director