It is an obvious fact that there is a damaging absence of performing spaces and movie houses outside of what were ‘white’ areas under apartheid. This emerged particularly clearly at the two izimbizo held in the Western Cape in April – in Khayelitsha for musicians, crafters and heritage workers and at the Baxter for theatre and film makers.
Our theatres and movie houses are not situated where ironically the majority of people live. The costs and difficulties of simply traveling to the major theatres and cinema complexes at night make them inaccessible to many. I have heard black actors complain that it is a problem even getting to these venues for auditions.
Without significant local audience figures, South African filmmakers (who seem to favour premiering their movies overseas!) will be hard pressed to make a case for their films to international distributors further down the line.
What a joy then to see an excellent double-bill production by Cape Town Opera of – Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana and Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi – at the Joseph Stone Theatre in Athlone last month. Beautifully staged, wonderfully sung. Nkosazana Dimande, in her final year of her Performer’s Diploma in Opera at UCT, is a name to watch. She is clearly star talent. The orchestra sounded sharper and the acoustics seem better at the Joseph Stone Theatre than at Artscape.
Which brings me to the point of this entry. The poor old Joseph Stone Theatre. Everytime, I enter its safe parking – a gravelly, uneven and potholed surface surrounded by chicken wire – and step into its dilapidated foyer – I am overcome by two emotions – sadness and anger. It is a building crying out for care. In a country desperately short of performance facilities – criminally short of them in areas outside of the city centres – how can it be allowed to sit and rot?
Run by the Eoan Group the Joseph Stone has some workshops and cultural activities and only on a handful of days in the year performances. Especially of the caliber I saw a week ago. Cape Town Opera and the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra are to be applauded for taking the initiative to perform there. But the venue is disgracefully neglected. I should also point out that as neglected as it is it is functional. The costs of doing it up may be high, but are certainly not prohibitive, and nothing compared to building a new theatre. Given its location it should be one of our major theatres. I have spoken to numerous artists and they would all love to perform there. However, when you suggest it, they go silent. Prod them a bit, and the answer has been the same – difficulties working with the Eoan Group. I do not know what the problem is, nor have I personally engaged with that theatre’s management, but this is the response I get on the ground.
On the night I was there, I recognised most of the audience. We had simply transferred the traditional Artscape opera audience to the Joseph Stone. Of course this is good, and valuable, and important – those that went (under 10 minutes drive from the city) were also richly rewarded by the quality of the productions – but we need to develop new audiences. The story of Cavalleria Rusticana – which does not need any adaptation – is as easily at home in Siciliy as it is in Athlone. It was an excellent choice by Angelo Gobbato.
