Why Tanzania has no Theatre Houses?

By Erick Kabendera

It’s Friday in Dar es Salaam.
You have a date with a friend of a friend who just flew in to Tanzania. She is the type that likes a bit of Shakespeare…so where do you take her?
Fumbling for an answer? It could be ‘why, to the National Theatre House of course!’ but in the absence of such a place, its more likely to be ‘if anything is on at the Little Theatre…’
Oh sure, there is theatre everywhere; you get those characters all dressed up in makeshift costumes walking down the streets and ready to make you laugh for what, Sh200 or Sh300 but a staged play? Regularly?
Please.
In Kenya, the National Theatre has been very active and performing arts fans have been enjoying various performances and shows there for several years. Another Nairobi based theatre known as the Courtyard Theatre, has also been providing a space for similar activity.
In Uganda as well, you hear of the Ugandan National Theatre and Cultural Centre (UNCC) and there are other privately owned and run theatre houses which altogether contribute to the growth of the local performing arts industry.
So, what is the problem with Tanzania – no public interest or too few professional thespians and play wrights to make investment in national theatre meaningful, because not having anything close to national theatre house means just that. Or is it vice versa – no national theatre house, no meaningful development of theatre in Tanzania?
If there were no hospitals
Parapanda Arts group executive director and University of Dar es Salaam graduate in the theatre arts, Mgunga Mwa Mnyenyelwa is as concerned about this as a doctor with no hospital to practice at is.
As a performer, Mnyenyelwa says not having a national theatre house anywhere in Tanzania is contributing to the absence of serious professionals who consider performing arts and other forms of theatre something from which they could earn a living.
“It gets to the point that some artists like me who are doing theatre on a full time basis and giving serious performances are so regularly seen by performing arts fans that eventually, they lose interest,” he says.
According to statute number 23 of 1984, the National Arts Council (abbreviated to Basata from Baraza ya Sanaa Tanzania) is mandated to address the problems of all artists as well as to train them on issues related to art in Tanzania. Mnyenyelwa doesn’t see the council doing much of that. In his opinion, it has degenerated to the point of becoming an organ that is in competition with the artists it should be representing, especially when a tender or something similar related to art is announced.
But what does Basata have to say for itself?
As you would expect, Rajabu Zumbwa, the head of Basata’s Performing Arts Department thinks the council, especially his department, is doing commendable work.
“We’ve trained many artists on how to administer their groups, things like copyright, writing proposals and on some of the other skills they need to develop their professionalism,” Zumbwa says.
Even so, he agrees with Mnyenyelwa’s thinking; no national theatre house and there goes the standard of performing arts in Tanzania.
With no big theatre in the major cities across the country, artists have taken to performing ‘street theatre’ or in pubs and clubs.
You might sometimes see a group of people collected at a point along the road that becomes a makeshift stage as one, two, three people act out a skit.
But for all its originality and richness, this just means the theatre artists don’t get familiar with the kind of equipment that is standard fare in regular theatre halls and may fail to use it when representing Tanzania in other countries, as happens when groups are invited to international cultural festivals.
Raising the standard
The Eastern Africa Theatre Institute was established in 1999, with one of its aims being to bring together artists from member countries and let them learn from each other. Its director, Chonche Materego says that all four member countries (that is Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia) have national chapters through which the institute works. “We have more than 600 members from across our chapter [in Tanzania] with one mission of strengthening arts across the regions.
Our main mission is not to point out the position of Tanzania compared to those countries but rather to develop arts here,” Materego says.
He says during the latest festivals held on rotational basis in the member countries, in Uganda the theme was corruption, in Kenya it was Aids, in Ethiopia it was Female Genital Mutilation and in Tanzania it was Kiswahili development.
In that way, theatre plays a valuable role in national education and in getting knowledge to the public so surely a few theatre houses here and there would help, right?
Materego thinks so, saying that in the past there used to be a theatre house of note at Bagamoyo Arts College but that has since burnt down. There is the Culture Policy, which is meant to address this kind of thing and make sure of the growth of theatre in Tanzania.
“The policy isn’t enough, the government should invest in its implementation,” says Materego adding that he feels professional performing arts can’t be practiced under the trees or in the pubs.
It does look as if this is being addressed.
“Basata has seen the problem and is now looking for sponsors to build a modern theatre within its premises. The city municipal council has approved our feasibility study. The theatre is going to have all the important facilities - lights and sound control, changing rooms and it will accommodate an audience of up to 2500 people at a go,” says Zumbwa.
As Zumbwa says, most of the halls and places currently used in the country to stage shows cannot be compared to what you would find in countries which are giving this art form due consideration. “Even the government hasn’t considered the possible economic benefits if only it injects enough resources into the industry. Art shouldn’t be regarded as for entertainment only, but as a source of national income,” he says.
The House of Culture Project under the National Museum of Tanzania also sounds like good news to arts lovers. The National Museum’s Acting Director, Emanuel Lucas says it is being constructed in Dar es Salaam and will contain amongst other things, theatres (yes, more than one) and a recording studio.
Lucas says the facility is in recognition of the role played by the local artists in the development of theatre in the country. “We want to strengthen Tanzanian culture and upcoming artists will be among those prioritised in the move to attain that mission. Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) has already funded seven billion for the project and they are still waiting for more people to sponsor the project,” he says.

Meanwhile, arguably more initiative should be coming from the government, local performing arts associations, non-governmental organisations and the artists themselves who would benefit from any positive changes made in this sector. The latter have sometimes been accused of being shortsighted.
“Most artists think that being talented, even without knowledge can take them to higher levels of artistic success,” Zumbwa says.
A performing artist, currently appearing in one of the Swahili television dramas was questioned about this and said the same thing. Requesting anonymity, he says that most of the members of the performing arts group he is a part of seek popularity at the expense of artistic growth.
“We still have a long way to go and most of us like to have our faces shown on screen but are not bothered about the quality of what we are performing,” he says. He adds that he believes changes need to start at a lower level if live acting is to gain due respect. He for instance has not had any training and so decided to register for performing arts studies at the Bagamoyo College.
At the University of Dar es Salaam’s Department of Fine and Performing Arts, Dr Herbert Makoye thinks before getting into a discussion on the whole issue of the theatre development in Tanzania, a distinction ought to be made between the types of performing arts in urban centres and that done in villages. Theatre, he says, is very much a part of rural life but in cities is where the art form really needs direction.
He also feels that the absence of the national theatre in Tanzania isn’t as big a problem as the artists themselves.
In his opinion, theatre can be done anywhere.
“When people watch a group performing at an Aids campaign, they don’t regard that as theatre because they think theatre must happen in a national theatre house or somewhere else and audiences should pay an entrance fee to watch the performance. That’s wrong,” Makoye says.
The University of Dar es Salaam has its own small theatre where, several times in a year, performances are conducted by students of the Theatre Arts, but because of its location, it is difficult for most people to make their way there. “You can’t get a commuter bus from the university at nine p.m. when the shows end and this stops people from coming for them,” Makoye says.
The University lecturer says although graduates may not end up performing, many go into other areas related to the same field – as teachers and playwrights for instance.
So, there is continued interest and there are pockets of committed participants - groups like Parapanda, individuals who belong to collectives that are on TV, academicians and NGOs and government backed efforts like Basata, to name but a few.
What is missing it seems, is cohesion. All stakeholders have role to play to develop performing arts in Tanzania – the people who want to see more theatre houses and those who want to have more places to perform. They just need to find a way to unite their efforts…and you and I will have a wide choice of places for Friday night’s entertainment.