The Sunday News
Raisedon Baya Arts Focus
ONCE upon a time a writer, director and actor started an argument about who was more important than the other. Each one had his/her own valid arguments. Each one thought they were better than the other. Though the argument started as a joke it went on and on and on until emotions rose and reached boiling point. The argument was then abandoned without the three reaching an agreement.
Today I take this opportunity to throw back the question at you, dear reader, more so if you are a creative person or are part of the Zimbabwean creative sector. Who is more important between the writer, director and actor? This might sound like a trivial question but it has split many community theatre groups and destroyed many artistes that could have gone on to conquer the arts sector not only locally but beyond Zimbabwean borders. I could give you countless names of artistes that failed to properly deal with the question and ended up leaving the sector completely. I could also give you names of groups that could have gone far but were tripped by their failure to address that question.
Who is bigger in status an actor, director and writer?
The National Arts Merit Awards (Nama) theatre categories recognise the director and actor and ignore the writer. This has caused some tension between writers and directors. I know organisers of Nama have come out very clear that their categories are in no way an attempt to lift one creative role and ignore the others. Their reasoning has been hugely influenced by resources. However, this has not stopped fuelling the debate around the statuses of the actor, director, and writer. An actor with a Nama award on his/her profile feels better than a writer who can’t put the “award winning writer” tag before his name or on his curriculum vitae.
Long back, playwrights were given the highest status and this was because they came with the story. The performance text then always represented the playwright’s ideas and intentions. Back then people went to theatre to see a story and as a result the playwright’s status was raised to the roof — much higher than that of other players in the creative process. More importantly it was the product of the playwright, the manuscript that got published and became the point of reference for that particular performance or creative piece. This is perhaps why even up to today we remember more vividly great playwrights like Shakespeare, Bernard Shaw, and others who were immortalised by the publication of their plays. In most cases playwrights became the faces of theatre globally.
In Africa we remember more the likes of Wole Soyinka, Zakes Mda, Ngugi, Mbongeni Ngema and others because their published scripts have travelled beyond the originally performances. In most cases the written script has outlived initial performances and gone on to become a record that lives longer than the creators of the performances themselves. Who remembers the people that acted in Shakespeare’s plays? Who remembers the directors that breathed life in Shakespeare’s first productions or the great Greek tragedies? No one. But we know of Shakespeare, Marlowe and great Greek playwrights like Sophocles. However, that was then. Now things have changed.
Yes. Things have changed. A performance is now viewed as a collaborative work. Everyone’s input is more recognised now. Today actors and directors have stood up to claim their stake in the creative process and they are getting due recognition. The advent of film changed the way we viewed actors and directors. The modern-day tradition of directing is greatly influenced by the rise of the status of directors in film. When we talk of film these days we talk of who directs the film or who stars in it. Thus great film directors like Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Philip Nois, Spike Lee, Michael Bay, and The Cohen Brothers come to mind.
Most people are drawn to a movie because of who is in it. Brad Pitt, Denzel Washington, Robert DeNiro, George Clooney, Angela Basset, Michelle Pfeiffer and others. These are some of the great names that have drawn millions of people to the movies? Who remembers who wrote Jurassic Park? Who remembers who wrote that special movie, one of my all-time favourites As Good as It Gets staring Jack Nicholson? I don’t remember the writer at all. I only remember Mario Puzzo as the writer of The Godfather because I read the book before I saw the movie. But I’m not even sure who wrote the screenplay. We all remember Sean Connery for his brilliant portrayal of 007. But when talking about James Bond movies we hardly refer to Ian Fleming.
I believe this debate is like the chicken and egg issue. It can never be resolved. What is more important is for everyone to realise and respect the role played by others. Theatre is not an individual activity. It is teamwork. Everyone plays a crucial role. The director is as important as the set and costume designer. The writer is also as important as the actor or stage manager. Once everyone gets their due recognition then all the tensions we hear and experience in theatre circles will be a thing of the past.
