Woza Albert’s Director reveals all

25 Jan 2012 in Uncategorised

Article

By Prince Lamla

I was born in Pietermaritzburg. Then few years later we relocated to Qwaqwa in the Free State. I trained at the Market Theatre Laboratory in 2001 and 2002. After I’ve graduated at the Lab, I wanted to be an actor. I found an agent, went to auditions, found auditions very boring and full of false hope. I felt I was wasting my time.  I remembered that the reason why I went to train at the Lab was to learn as much as I can and then go back home to plough back to my community. But I felt I was not ready yet. I thought about fieldworking at the Lab, approached the Lab and unfortunately I couldn’t find work at the Lab. But Mr Oscar Motsikoe (now Senior Administrator at the Lab) advised me to go back home and work with groups over there. I took his advise and went back home. Fortunately my friends Mr Ohentse Bodibe and Mr Ntsane Mopeli were busy working with Community Theatre groups in Qwaqwa. So Ohentse and I started to devise a number of plays with different groups. And then Coal Yard was born. Coal Yard went on to win the Market Theatre Laboratory’s Zwakala Festival in 2005 and also premiered at the Market Theatre. It had a successful ran at the Market, received rave reviews and was nominated for Best Cutting Edge Production at the Naledi Awards. In 2006 Ohentse and I got an opportunity from the Market Theatre to work as director assistants in Austria (Vienna) at Schauspielhaus. Later that year I joined the Market Theatre’s Writers’ Forum under the guidance of Mr Craig Higginson (Literary Manager of the Market Theatre). Having mentioned Mr Higginson, him and Professor Malcolm Purckey played a vital role in my life and I’m so grateful. Another opportunity came up in 2007 from the Market Theatre to go work as assistant director at the Live Theatre in the UK (Newcastle). I directed two plays at Sibikwa Arts Centre in 2007 and 2008. In 2008 I directed a staged reading of the play as part of PANSA Festivals of Contemporary Readings Competition. I worked at Unplugged Communications under the Artistic Department. In the very same year I was given an opportunity by Fresco Theatre Company to work as assistant director. I then shifted my focus back to Coal Yard in 2010 by doing schools tour in Qwaqwa. And finally in 2011 the Lab employed me to work as a Fieldworker. I’ve mentored student directors at GOMACC and ran theatre workshops for Grahamstown Foundation (The Sasol Gauteng Schools Festival) and also ran theatre workshops for the Department of Education’s educators in Qwaqwa. It has been quite a humble journey for me.  Through my journey so far I’ve learned the best lesson and that is when a door closes another one opens and also patience. Just keep on walking with your head held up high, humble, honest, respect others and clear vision. Know what you need and want. And lastly only God knows what’s next for you. He is the main driver. The only thing one can do is listening to His guidance and you will never go wrong.

I firstly saw Woza Albert! at the Market Theatre in 2002. The story line and its physicality made me to love it dearly. Story wise I was touched by the ordinary people on the streets who were just asking for simple things in their lives and not luxurious things by then. The human element in the story is sound. I could see myself in those characters. The element of the Bible in the story is something out of this world. Powerful. And also how cleverly the story is written. The story was relevant by then and still rings true even today. Look at South Africa now. Food for thought: Is our government achieving its goals? The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer every single day. We are all gifted but not the same. Some people are oppressing and suppressing others. Jealousy and sabotage destroys the future. We cannot be leaders at the same time. We should remember or learn the meaning of humanity. If we see talent in someone, lets nature it and support that person. Every single artist deserves and is entitled to work. It shouldn’t be a struggle to find work. But all the artists must be HONEST. HONESTY, HONESTY, HONESTY!!! Each artist knows his/her own strengths and weaknesses. Do not say you are an actor but knowing very well you are not an actor. Stick to what you know best, channel all your energy into it wholeheartedly and then we will start seeing quality. God knows why we here. I strongly believe that art is a calling. I think South Africa can be a better country. We are a loving society at heart. I wanted to direct Woza Albert! some years ago. But I realised it was going to be difficult for me. I felt I had to establish myself as a director. Woza Albert! had a huge impact on all the plays I directed and especially stylistically. A good reference is Coal Yard. So at some point in my life I had to make peace with myself by directing Woza Albert!.

I realised that this beautiful craft is really special, unique and big. You can tell by the way the spectators have received it. Playing to full houses every day tells us that Woza Albert! is quality and we should embrace it. I feel it has made me a better director. We learn every day in our lives. God also blessed me with special actors. He chose Mncedisi Shabangu and Hamilton Dlamini for me. He knew very well that they are the best actors who can tell this story extremely well. They are humble, full of respect, generous, funny and can be very crazy sometimes. I enjoyed working with this two talented gentleman. I learned a lot from them. I call them my angels. So Woza Albert! means a lot to me. I can never finish writing this article if I were to write everything. And I am so grateful for the opportunity given to me by the Market Theatre to direct Woza Albert!.

All the scenes had their own challenges. So I’m a type of a director who strongly believes in team work. I’m not a dictator. I do not impose ideas on the actors. We work together intensively. We all have to grow in the process. My vision was clear. Stay true to the story, make it look and sound fresh. The biggest challenge for me was the blackouts between scenes. I wanted to get rid of them. But it became very difficult because the play dictates everything. We finally agreed that Woza Albert! won the debate and we settled for blackouts.   

It’s important for me to also acknowledge Mbogeni Ngema, Percy Mtwa and the late Barney Simon for the legacy that keeps on taking the country by storm. THANK YOU.

The main thing that I want Woza Albert! to achieve is create a healthy dialogue in the country. I wish the civil society can come in big numbers to see this art. And I also wish all the politicians from different political parties can come see Woza Albert! Woza Albert! is for every single citizen of this country, South Africa. We did it for them