AS I illustrated last week, the four-day National Schools Arts  Association of Zambia (NASAAZ) festival held at Mansa College of Education in Mansa, Luapula Province, was a loud and thunderous success. Today and next week I will argue the various viewpoints, and mainly utter salient outcomes of this event, and heartily share my  new stand of low pinion over the absence of ZNBC at the festival.
Since I was engaged to focus on drama and poetry, and not traditional dance and harmonic singing or fine arts – I will religiously give out my views essentially in those areas though I am averse to giving results as this has already been done; of course I will make remarks on performances.
The Copperbelt Province (CB) primarily scooped the overall awards in the various art exhibitions from drawing and other fine arts to dramatic performances. CB was intimately trailed by Southern, North-Western then Lusaka Province in that order.
To start with, I will journal the performances of secondary schools; From Northern Province, Mpika Secondary with Amos Mulenga’s play Unconditional Love, with boys meaningfully playing girls’ roles with a story about an orphaned girl who is made to go and live with an uncle.
Though it was not a spirited performance, the energy exerted by the actors was full of lots of talent. In reverse, St Theresa Girls Secondary of Northern Province staged When the Sun Sets by Mulenga Simwinga;the cast depicted a Catholic dais with the girls playing boys’ roles with similar gusto and skill as though they were boys.
Highly pitted and decidedly competitive perhaps, was the battle between Lusaka’s David Kaunda Technical Secondary School’s Time Bomb by Eric Kasomo which ended up as one of my favorites against Lee Augustine Karim’s The Pastor and the Runaway Bride (Chingola Secondary School) which came first and second in that order in terms of results.
The two performances brought out good creative dramas in which seemingly the multiple-stage sets and decor were well done – it is the 12 year-old Annie Bwalya in The Pastor and the Runaway Bride that reduced marks as she was caught up staring at a scene when there should have been a probable divider.
I know why these two schools outlandishly drew daggers at each other; they seemingly emerged to have been similar, with a similar following, and indeed well deserved performances; Eric Kasomo (David Kaunda) and Lee Augustine Karim(Chingola Secondary), the two who are not teachers or patrons, are presumed experienced community theatre artists – their handling and management of their adopted casts was prime, and well done.
This is the partnership many schools should be encouraged to have as is another case of Kabundi Primary school (Chingola) is team-working with ABET Arts Promoters. According to ABET Arts director Ackson Tembo, this is intended to enhance school drama. The Pastor and the Runaway Bride brought out Agnes Ponda as best leading actress,while the supporting best lead actor John Phiri from Time Bomb deserved his highly side-splitting and humorous acts.
John Phiri laughably enlivened Time Bomb such that in reality he was one of the most mature actors overly (I had watched him before) as an actor with a community theatre group in Lusaka.
But that’s what we want of these boys and girls, besides in school, they should twin with theatre groups outside and learn from them for their extra-mural activities.
In Central Province, Serenje Secondary’s play Stolen Days by F J Zimba, with a story bordering on a disturbed marital affair,remained alarming with the use of a live television set on stage, and then there came A
Thorn in the Flesh by Hillcrest Technical Secondary school (Livingstone) with a tale that centered on a disabled child disowned by her mother. Blood Spilt is Never Recovered by Mwense Secondary of Luapula Province – with a live television set too, budding playwright Elvis Mulenga spoiled the story when the orphaned boy because of his troubles ends up killing his sister when he joins the Satanists’ regime.
Though the main actor is later haunted, the story line did not justify his wayward behaviour. One fascinating playwright Zhize Tengwe  from North-Western Province with his When it Breaks staged by  Solwezi Technical Secondary – a couple is reflected to live childless for many years so the husband finds an excuse to flirt, embarrassingly, he brings in a young girl who later turns out to be a daughter from a troubled family – where the father is equally sharing out his regrets for the ‘bad family!’
Zhizeis a potential writer who should strictly observe his themes, story lines and flow by ensuring credible and convincing sceneries.
A good play in my view should be simply a culture of contemporary theme, artistic structure, story line, beginning, middle and conflict and finally resolution;not necessarily that the end should please every spectator, but it should be believable and share reality.
In the poetry segment, from the Copperbelt, Kantanshi Secondary School’s breezy recital Black and White by Richard Simpemba went ahead of the serene Livingstone’s St Maria’s How Long can we Go by Andrew Bagabo the two schools in addition to Mukingi Girls Secondary of Northwestern province performances were attractive recitals I must gladly confess.
We watched many other rousing recitals; I respected Livingstone’s St Maria’s Secondary School’s The Test by Milimo Chinimbwa, St Clement Secondary (Luapula Province) with D Mwelwa’s My Africa Your Africa Our Africa is Love,North-Western Province’s Symphony of Tears (Solwezi Technical Secondary School), Central Province’s Sanje Secondary School with In Africa We are, therefore I am and Michael Mwalula’s Cry for the Lost Land (Northern Province.)
The best poetess role went to Evelyn Kunda of Copperbelt’s Kantanshi in Black and White for which Richard Simpemba scooped the best director award while the best poet award went to John Zulu of Luapula Province’s St Clements Secondary in the poem My Africa Your Africa Our Africa is Love.
The best script was The Test and won by the writer Milimo Chinimbwa.  With poetry, the disappointing dynamic was how directors allowed drama in their recitals; perhaps, the matrons and patrons should take keen interest in my colleague, Wampembe Lukonde’s analysis of poetry in his column in this paper;poetry is the beauty and vibrancy of language.
Poetry should not be conventional and dramatic on stage with actors moving about with all the conversations of a play, hence it turns out to be mere drama, and this makes it lose the touch associated to recitals.
Poetry is less of props other than simple costume and make-up. The imageries, lines, music, aesthetics, rhymes and rhythms call for greater importance in poetry, and these school performances should be inspired to create such.
Poetry should not be written as sentences, but lines with creatively imagined stimulation and themes. Before I close up for next week when I look at  another area of the festival, let me not forget the impression I got from the Provincial Minister of Luapula Lt Gen Benson Kapaya who originally missed the official opening, but turned up on the last day,  and threw a come-together party with all the officials including head teachers and teachers.
I found this attribute colourfully interesting, not that I was to enjoy the free meals and beverages, and there was too much to take, but by the fact that the Minister wanted to mingle and dance with all those people who had travelled from across the country to his province!
It is at this time that Lt Gen Kapaya thanked the teachers countrywide for their roles in shaping young people saying that perhaps if there had been such artistic festivals in his time; he might not have joined the military as he was more of an artist.
Personally, I feel the Minister deservedly should be admired; he simply brought himself to lower ranks to mingle with everybody regardless of rank; if only other ministers can take such a leaf.
Well,like I partly illustrated last week, the absence of ZNBC at this national event has been disconcerting for me, and surely I would want to hear from those responsible – otherwise, I am told the staff from ZNBC easily turned up for the party probably to hear speeches from the Provincial Minister. Are speeches certainly dramatic?

John.kapesa818@yahoo.co.uk – 0955-0967-0977-710975