Theatre Production and Artistic Directing:

Transcription

1 Anne Tanyi-Tang Theatre Production and Artistic Directing: Lessons from Bubbles Theatre Troupe

2 Theatre Production and Artistic Directing: Lessons from Bubbles Theatre Troupe

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4 Anne Tanyi-Tang Theate Production and Artistic Directing: Lessons from Bubbles Theatre Troupe Preface from Maxime Meto o

5 Also by Anne Tanyi-Tang Ewa and Other Plays, Yaoundé, Editions Cle, 2000 Eneta vs Elimo, Yaoundé, Editions Cle, 2001 Two Plays: Down the hill, Chief Ayito, Yaoundé, Editions Sherpa, 2004 Two Plays: Visiting America, Marinuelle, Yaoundé, Editions Sherpa, 2005 Three Plays: The Heiress, The Song of Ayanta and Obsession, Yaoundé, Africana Publications, 2010 Down the Hill, Yaoundé, Eagle Publishing, 2013 Three Plays (Ngore, When We Get There, Roommates), Yaoundé, Eagle Publishing, 2014 Chief Ayito & Other Plays (King Essapa, Chief Ayito, Tu As Vu?), Yaoundé, Eagle Publishing, 2014 L Harmattan, , rue de l Ecole-Polytechnique, Paris diffusion.harmattan@wanadoo.fr harmattan1@wanadoo.fr ISBN : EAN :

6 To Almighty God for His gifts to me

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8 Preface Written in a succinct and lucid style, Anne Tanyi- Tang s Theatre Production and Artistic Directing: Lessons from Bubbles Theatre Troupe, takes the reader to the professional world of theatre production and directing and leaves him or her pondering over the prospects of Cameroon theatre. Tested on Bubbles Theatre Troupe coupled with professionals responses to questionnaire to prime players in the profession, the book focuses on the processes and challenges of producing theatre and directing plays in Cameroon. It is a critique of Cameroon theatre and reflects on the near-total disregard of theatre in Cameroon and why theatre that blossomed and thrived in the late 70s and 80s suffered grievously and came so close to despair in the late 90s and thereafter. Cameroon theatre is spoken of only in pessimistic terms. Notwithstanding the ups and downs surrounding theatre, the stoical professionals have not given up. For as they put it, today s prospects are bleak but the future will be bright. The book has filled the lacuna in the history of theatre production and directing in Cameroon. It is an excellent reference book for theatre professionals given its tested views and authenticity. Prof. Maxime Meto o Professor of French Literature. 7

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10 Acknowledgements I am immensely indebted to Madam Andree Johnson former Director of Cultural Affairs, American Embassy, Yaoundé, who brought me to the limelight from , and 2004 and to members of Bubbles Theatre Troupe. Working with this troupe has been exciting, enriching, challenging and a learning process. Gratitude also goes to the staff of Cameroon Radio and Television (CRTV) who publicized my theatrical performances as well as the embassies, ministries and organizations which sponsored some of the productions of Bubbles Theatre Troupe. In no way can I forget Professor Louis James (the supervisor of my MA thesis) and Professor Roy Dilley (the supervisor of my Ph. D thesis) who upheld and assured me of what I could do. Chief Professor Samson Negbo Abangma, Professor Bole Butake, Professor Atangana-Bolo, Marthe-Isabelle, Professor George Echu, Professor Mateteyou Emmanuel, Professor Jacques Raymond Fofie as a team came up with variant critiques to enhance the quality of this book. They are the light and ambience of the work. To the Cameroon Government, whose consistent financial support throughout my education has contributed immensely in making me what I am today, I submit my grateful service. And to Dr. Tar Moses who has always been so supportive, I say thank you, son. 9

11 Above all, I awe so much to the great many renowned English-speaking theatre practitioners who responded to my questionnaire. Their responses are invaluable to the quality of this book. My hope is that all these and those immediate or remote help I have not mentioned will appreciate these findings. 10

12 Chapter one Theatre production The Bubbles Theatre Troupe offers a platform of theatre production through which to observe and define a theatre producer. It offers a valid analytical premise from which, informed by theoretical perspectives of reader response, psychoanalysis and Marxism, theatre can be defined and various stages of productions analyzed. 1. a (i). The Definition of Theatre Langley Stephen holds that theatre is fundamentally a simple process with only four elements necessary for performance to occur. In Theatre Management and Production in America ( ), he lists the four points: 1. Creative raw material (an idea, a scenario, a script) 2. A person to interpret the material (an actor, a dancer, a singer ) 3. A place to present the material (a theatre, a Church, a barn, a street, a clearing in the woods) 4. An audience to witness the performance. Langley s definition includes the drama script, dance or the song which are themselves messages. These messages are transmitted to an audience by 11

13 actors/actresses or performers in a given place. The definition lacks one vital point of theatre, which is time. George Atabong in his unpublished Panorama of Greek Drama states that theatre includes actors transmitting messages to spectators at a given place. Like Langley, Atabong omits the important component of theatre time. On his part, Siga Assanga in African Theatre Review ( ) states that theatre is essentially an art of witnessing people in action, and for such action to be meaningful it must take place in a specific place and time. Asanga s definition highlights the vital element of time. Yet it limps. For the audience does not witness people in action; the audience watches actors/actresses or performers acting on stage. A working definition of theatre in the context of this study, therefore, refers to actors/actresses acting on stage and transmitting messages in a drama script to an audience at a given time and in a specific place. The messages should be accompanied by technical effects, such as lighting effects, sound effects, and music. 1. a. (ii) The Definition of Theatre Producer Each English-speaking theatre practitioner in Cameroon who responded to my questionnaire has his/her own definition for a theatre producer. Thus, Tafaw Ateh producer and artistic director of the IDIOT Theatre maintains that a producer is The person who organizes a production. This curt definition leaves out other roles of a producer beyond 12

14 organizing a production. Visi Sumbom Tubuo, who has produced, directed and acted sketches for Cameroon Radio and Television (CRTV) asserts that a producer is someone who is engaged in bringing together artists and backstage technicians in a theatre production. Again, this leaves out much and limits the theater producer to merely bringing the artists and backstage managers together. It is the same rather glossy skim over the definition we witness in Toh Raphael, a lecturer in the Performing Arts Section of the University of Buea, for whom A theatre producer is any person involved in producing plays by financing and coordinating all the activities of production. By the sweeping term all, he avoids the insider inclusion of particulars in the activities of a theatre producer. Zigoto Tchaya Tchameni, renowned theatre producer and filmmaker in Cameroon, maintains that a theatre producer is someone who puts in money for the production of a stage play from conception to performance. This definition implicitly limits the producer s function to financing the production of drama scripts whereas a theatre producer is also the overseer of a theatrical production. Apparently, the above theatre producers leave out details and are concerned with the production of a drama script, and not with the production of music, dance, mime, choreography et cetera. (See appendix ix). Langley Stephen ( ) enumerates many of the functions of a theatre producer: 13

15 a producer initiates a process that is intended to result in public theatre performance and bears the final responsibility for the activities he/she initiates. [He continues] He/she is also involved in such fundamental functions such as planning, organizing, staffing, supervising and controlling. In the more comprehensive perspective adopted in the context of this book, a theatre producer is the person who initiates the idea of producing theatre, be it a song, dance or a drama script. In the case of a drama script, the producer selects the drama text, draws up a budget, supplies funds or applies for financial assistance to cover the cost of production, and ensures that the artistic director, actors/actresses, backstage directors and theatre administrators maximize their respective potentials for the purpose of satisfying the audience. The producer is also the overall owner of a theatre project, being the only one responsible for remunerations to the entire cast as well as purchasing and hiring of all requirements for the theatre production until the last run. The theatre producer, of course, operates in a context. In this study that context primarily spins out from the troupe through which various stages bring a drama text to the stage; the example of Bubbles Theatre Troupe bears analysis. 1. b. Description and Analysis of the Different Stages of Theatre Production The different stages of producing a play include: initiating the idea of producing a play, theatre production as a collective activity, choosing a drama 14