A line must be drawn between art and sociopolitical activism: Percy Mtwa

"The theatre is a spiritual and social X-ray of its time. The theatre was created to tell people the truth about life and the social situation."

So said the actress and acting coach Stella Adler when describing theatre.

So what does it say about SA, when support for theatre has dwindled so much that the State Theatre has been forced to collaborate with cinema chain Ster-Kinekor as a way of piquing people's interest in the performing arts, by taking plays to the big screen.

"What our theatre suffers from now is the fact that it exists in a vacuum. Back in the day, theatre was judged against the backdrop of the anti-apartheid movement, which was global," says playwright Percy Mtwa.

A genuine elder of the arts, who's been practising his craft for over 40 years as an actor, singer and dancer, Mtwa believes the fall of apartheid signalled the fall of the immediacy and urgency of local theatre.

"Theatre is regarded as the most effective tool by which man seeks to understand himself and the world around him. It cannot be emulated by film and television. It has a psychological immediacy," he says.

According to the 68-year-old, the first sign that theatre had a bleak future in a
new SA was when politicians infiltrated the space.

"Around '93 or '94, shortly before the transition, I saw how theatre was invaded by political forces. I saw Al Gore from America come into the country and the first speech he made was at the Market Theatre, before he proceeded to the Union Buildings."

Right after warning his wife of this political invasion, Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk had a debate at the Joburg Theatre. "I think they were recognising the impact that theatre had in influencing change in this country."

Mtwa's standpoint may come across as a conspiracy theory, but it's plausible. He points to how the culture of theatre in the West is still thriving and how we've lost it here. He wonders if artists can change this by starting movements.

Mtwa's youthful exuberance, fuelled by his devotion to the performing arts, is endearing. A few months ago I was with him, occupying two front seats of an empty Arena Theatre at the State Theatre in Pretoria. Bopha!, a play he wrote and directed, was being restaged and had a three-week run in June. He was forced to be on stage as Njandini after Bheki Mkhwane fell ill.

Bopha! premiered at the Market Theatre in 1985, but Mtwa conceived it in 1984 while in Los Angeles, "following the tricameral parliament and the formation of the UDF, which was in protest against the tricameral parliament that excluded black people. It was the first time physical attacks were made on policemen.

"I saw the dilemma that black policemen were caught in, particularly having to enforce apartheid laws against their own people and while they were staying in the township among those same people. And, most importantly, even my father was a policeman."

Bopha! is the story of a schoolboy who takes up political activism in an endeavour to protect himself and his policeman father from being targeted by angry black people
in the community. International audiences were gripped by the story, which led to tours in Europe and the US.

"I was surprised by the impact that it made," says Mtwa. "The content has universal appeal because communities internationally bear the burden of police brutality, so I think for that reason it had an impact."

After a performance at the National Theatre in London, one reviewer said Bopha! was a slap in the face of Shakespeare. "Now that write-up I didn't understand, but that performance got us an invitation to go play at the Emilyn Williams Theatre in Wales where, until my play, only Shakespearean works were performed," say Mtwa.

"Of course, we'd contend with a few people who'd come on a night to stage a walkout, but after that we'd get standing ovations."

FIGHTING WITH HOLLYWOOD

Hollywood also became infatuated with Bopha! and Mtwa was approached through his agent in London. Paramount Pictures turned it into a film in 1993. It was Morgan Freeman's directorial debut, and starred fellow African-American actors such as Danny Glover and Alfre Woodard.

This seemed like a romantic transition into film for Mtwa, but it left him disenchanted.

"They kinda mutilated the text. We had a big fight with Hollywood, it wasn't easy. I didn't agree at all with the story they were telling — they were supposed to consult me and they didn't. I found it to be quite sectarian and my piece isn't. Because the PAC was in exile in America, it became easy for the producers to consult them, and its ideology reflects in the story. As a result some people would ask 'Are you PAC?' I'm not."

Mtwa insisted on defending his artistic independence. "Of course there was a big price to pay. As they say, 'principles don't feed you' and it's true, but I had to defend my views. I mean, that's Hollywood. They're the custodians of world culture and they've got many movies about police and gangsters. I come with a unique story that examines the plight of policemen themselves — something that hasn't been done. Besides the issues though, it was good they made the movie. That tells me the content is good as to be taken seriously in Hollywood — that inspired me a great deal."

Jobs for Mtwa were few and far between in the mid-1990s. He went through a systematic isolation within the industry. "I did things here and there, but it was tough," he says.

"If you don't fight to maintain your independence you can easily be captured by cultural or sociopolitical activity. And I believe there's a line that needs to be drawn between art and sociopolitical activism."

Mtwa credits Gibson Kente for introducing him to yoga in the 1970s, which he says has kept him youthful.

"It's a very important technique. In those days you'd find artists on the floor meditating, but it doesn't happen anymore, and the consciousness of artists is not released but locked in."