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Lebo M slams SA theatre sector
04/03/2008 21:28 - (SA)
Johannesburg - The South African theatre industry needs transformation, the co-producer of the musical The Lion King, Lebo M, said on Tuesday.
He expressed this feeling following The Naledi Awards in Johannesburg on Tuesday.
"I felt strongly that nominations for the award was not representative of the social and moral fibre of South Africa and the African continent," Lebo Morake told AFP, a day after storming off stage at the Naledi Theatre Awards in Pretoria.
"I felt uncomfortable receiving such an award in which out of 23 categories listed, none of them had a black director as nominees. I also felt that The Lion King and its cast were not treated with the respect they deserve at the award event.
'Too few black people'
"It is unacceptable that so few black people feature in this important event that recognises excellence in a critical industry," he said.
"The reasons behind this poor showing should be probed and action must be taken to ensure that black people increase their significance in the industry.
"This is too important an issue to keep quiet about and we cannot allow business in the industry to continue as is.
"To pretend we have a healthy fully representative industry is a fallacy and we will only be fooling ourselves. All stakeholders, such as producers, theatre owners, artists, practitioners, and audiences must do something about it," he said.
'Little recognition'
Lebo pointed out that it was a pity that The Lion King did not win more awards.
"The Lion King is hailed in all other territories it plays and the South African public have voted for it by attending in record numbers, and selling over 550 000 tickets. It is a pity the South African awards did not give it the same recognition."
Morake, who is better known as Lebo M, also complained about being seated in the last row, denying reports that he was given a backrow seat after arriving late.
"That is a lie. I walked into the hall with the chairman of the award," he said.
"My cast, who were also in the hall, were also not given the respect that they deserved as world class artistes."
Naledi Theatre Awards executive director Dawn Lindberg insisted that the independent panel of judges based its decisions purely on merit, the SABC reported.
- SAPA
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South Africa
