Spirit of resistance

Controversial artistic director at Hillbrow’s Windybrow Centre for the Arts Walter Chakela doesn’t lay his hands on any old play. His taste is simple: the work has to be purely African and intellectually engaging.

Unfortunately, this is where he falls out with many theatre patrons. This, plus the crime in Hillbrow, has reduced audience turnout. With the revival of Chakela’s adaptation of Bessie Head’s Maru, he hopes to put the spotlight on the theatre’s stage once more.

As a youth Chakela was thrashed in Vryburg by a white man and his two sons. He says it was then that he developed his resilient spirit of resistance, which now helps him battle his adversaries at the Windybrow.

With low attendance and financial worries, one wonders how the theatre manages to survive. The fact is the National Arts Council pumps in half a million rand a year while the Ministry of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology also injects R3-million. The theatre has also submitted proposals to the national lottery to fund some of its programmes, and it has begun to engage black businesses.

Critics have asked why so much money should be put into an apparently counterproductive theatre. Chakela insists the theatre is productive and that there is a need to turn the Windybrow environment into a cultural precinct, similar to that being developed in Newtown, Johannesburg.

There seems to be an interesting union between the play Maru and the Windybrow. What binds this marriage?

I love the writings of the play’s author, Bessie Head. The play is intellectually and authentically African and it addresses racism, xenophobia and self-hate, issues not only prevalent in the society we live in today but [ones that] are always sidelined. I hope to pick up the debate once more and, through the play, raise awareness of these issues.

The play seems to be recycled yearly by the Windybrow. Has the theatre run short of ideas?

The play is not constantly recycled. I had it a few years ago for the adult audience and it achieved its aims. This time around, the play is put forward for the youth.

Have you done the production because Head’s book is prescribed for matriculants?

Absolutely. This is also one of the reasons I decided to turn the book into a play, to enable those going for matric to properly understand it.

How difficult was it to turn the book into a play?

I was very mindful of the fact that I was adapting a novel. I had to pay particular attention and respect to the book’s content, style and structure and made sure everything comes nout in its original nmanner.

Head was a victim of senseless racism. Have you ever been involved in a racial incident?

When I was growing up in Vryburg, my father sent me on an errand and on the way I was confronted by a white man and his two sons who jointly assaulted me. Since then I’ve looked for opportunities to address racism.

These days, one no longer hears about the Windybrow. What is happening?

The theatre, and myself, have been victims of false accusations of financial mismanagements that were not true. This somehow affected the theatre’s reputation. However, everything is back on track again.

How has Hillbrow’s crime affected the theatre’s attendance?

Crime is not the issue. There is crime everywhere. I think many do not want to come to the theatre because of the African nature of the plays the theatre offers. Why should the Windybrow serve white communities when it is situated in an entirely black neighbourhood? There’s a need for black plays in theatres countrywide and the Windybrow should be seen as a trailblazer. Black actors are suffering to get a play in theatres and we at the Windybrow are creating that space for them.

Does it mean the Windybrow is stubborn to transformation?

No, we do have white actors in some of our plays and our attendance is about 70% black and 30% white. However, the theatre and its play should be seen as the perfect embodiments of the spirits of the African renaissance, the New Partnership for African Development and the African Union.

Critics have called the Windybrow a counterproductive theatre. How true is this?

Our theatre is productive in that there is a need to turn it into a cultural precinct like the one in Newtown. We’ve produced works that are intellectually artistic. Two of our plays, Thokoza and Blue Monk, were nominated for the Vita Awards and were regarded as some of the best plays produced in the country. There is a need for a theatre that articulates African issues and we see this as our responsibility. We continue to open doors for African writers and poets and that we’ll do at all cost.

Will the Windybrow ever get back to its former glory?

Yes, but this would not be done through innuendos and malicious bad-mouthing. We will make our case through the work we do such as youth development, cultural exchange programmes, exposing new talents and by encouraging intellectual African works.