A Bit of Culture

Tonight the LAC is co-sponsoring a play at the National Theatre of Namibia and apparently it is "mandatory" for us interns to go. Yay! This is my kind of working late.

A bit of info about the play:

“The Show Isn’t Over, Until.."
June 17- National Theatre of Namibia - 19h00- Free

This political satire was an instant hit when it took the stage in 1998. Noted as “probably the best play ever written in and about Namibia,” the issues of democracy, political intolerance and fair elections in this updated version of the play are still relevant today, if not more than they were ten years ago. Be sure you don't miss this one-time only theatrical masterpiece.

With an election around the corner, “The Show Isn’t Over, Until… 10 Years On” returns to the stage with a fresh new insight into Namibian politics.

The Legal Assistance Centre, the National Theatre of Namibia and Home Brewed Production are proud to invite you and 25 of your students to the upcoming theatre performance of “The Show Isn’t Over, Until..”

Ten years ago, then 29 years old playwright and director Vickson Hangula was suddenly propelled into instant fame and notoriety when he wrote a political satire on the plight of the then demonstrating former freedom fighters.

“The Show Isn’t Over, Until…” was first performed at the College of the Arts hall in October 1998. It proved to be an instant hit, with a word of mouth immediately spreading for people to come see “probably the best play ever written in and about Namibia.”

What was fresh about this political satire is the bravery of the playwright and actors to literally tell it as it was during the war for Namibia’s liberation, as well as how it is, nearly 10 years into independence.

In the play, a group of former fighters in the armed wing of a political party, have turned up to be employed at one of the companies started specifically for them. However, the Head of the company has other ideas about how he would make his selections. It is during the interviews and selection process as depicted in the play that the thorny issues of sexual harassment, nepotism and other examples of abuse of power as happened during that period, come to light.

But the highlight of the issues raised in the play would happen months later in the following year.

As fate would have it, the time that this play was being written also saw another interesting development taking place on Namibia’s political stage. It was the birth of what was then considered a serious challenge to the governing party’s political dominance in the political arena. This was the arrival of the new party, heralded the beginning of political intolerance and character assassination in an independent Namibia.

And now, ten years later, history repeats itself again. Another group of former top leaders have broken away to form an opposition political party. Ordinary Namibians are also once more bracing themselves for another heated political showdown, with tempers likely to flare in homes, neighbourhoods and villages.

And now, ten years on, the very same issues dealt with in “The Show Isn’t Over, Until… “ are still relevant today, if not more than they were ten years ago.

The updated play, now titled “The Show Isn’t Over, Until… 10 Years On”, has been revised to include current developments like the advent of the new political party on the political arena, the jobs for comrades issue, the different cliques and loyalties, etc.