Brink Scholtz has returned from Belgium and Holland with a fresh perspective on international theatre trends and how much South Africa has to offer the theatre world.
The resident director of Ubom! Eastern Cape Drama Company, Scholtz was one of the recipients of last year’s National Arts Festival programme: Writing Beyond the Fringe.
Brink Scholtz has returned from Belgium and Holland with a fresh perspective on international theatre trends and how much South Africa has to offer the theatre world.
The resident director of Ubom! Eastern Cape Drama Company, Scholtz was one of the recipients of last year’s National Arts Festival programme: Writing Beyond the Fringe.
She headed overseas in March this year, spending five weeks in Belgium at the Passaporta Literature Festival and three weeks in Holland focussing on nurturing her writing.
She also spent time observing theatre. “The programme gives a sense of European theatre to draw inspiration from,” she explains.
Financial and technical support in Europe “makes you aware of how much of a challenge it is to work here,” Scholtz said. “They rehearse in a fully-kitted theatre, with lighting it’s all state-of-the-art.
In South Africa, we make a piece in a month. There is less space for testing, and we need to make decisions faster.”
Lots of space to experiment can also mean making a lot of mistakes, and Scholtz emphasises finding a middle ground. “It’s nice to explore for the sake of art,” she said.
“But maybe it’s good that we’re forced to test our work against judging audiences.” Still, she believes that audiences “must be challenged, and not given what they’re used to”.
There has been a shift towards work that is focused on social issues and the role art can play in society. “Resources are scarce because of the impact of the financial crisis,” Scholtz explained.
“Now we want investment in things that are actually part of our lives.” Storytelling is one way of helping people reconnect.
She found the shift towards addressing one’s own community first as very interesting. “Young theatre makers are encouraged to interact with their immediate environment.
“This is what Ubom! does – speaking about issues,” Scholtz emphasises. “That’s what they’re trying to rediscover in Europe, this exploration between the audience and actors.
Seeing it overseas was quite a revelation for me,” Scholtz added. “We don’t have to feel inadequate here.” Yet Scholtz believes that the relationship between the audience and actors is not always explored creatively in South Africa.
“Not enough attention is given to this relationship,” she said. “There are interesting dynamics between the audience and actors, especially in South Africa’s socially diverse society.”
Theatre everywhere experiences the same problems of drawing in audiences, and segregation. Scholtz noticed the majority of audiences in Belgium and Holland were white and middleclass, even though “both those countries are multi-cultural”.
Segregation is often a question of affordability. “We are stuck with a practical problem how do we make people pay for theatre?”
She mentions making theatre a part of street life, with music and food. “But in South Africa there is also the issue of crime.” Another issue is encouraging people to become interested in theatre.
Ubom!’s aim is to provide children with the chance to make theatre part of their lives. ”It will work,” she said.
“But it will take at least one generation.” Part of the challenge is finding the social experience that people want. “Theatre needs to live.”
