LIVING IN A BOX
Location: Bulawayo - Zimbabwe - Africa
In the politically unstable Zimbabwe, Wanda Meeuws began a project with the theme "Living within the borders of a failing system". The improvement of acting techniques and didactical skills was on the program for our partner Amakhosi.
Wanda began her work period at Amakhosi by giving workshops. They worked mostly on ‘free improvisation'. The goal of this was to get to know each other better, to feel free to try things out and to dare to make mistakes. From there, she worked on ‘natural acting'. It struck her that their acting style was quite grotesque and therefore not vulnerable. Through personal stories and small acts that were close to the actors themselves, she worked on daring to be vulnerable in front of a group. Lastly, she began working on didactical skills such as "How do you stand in front of a group and how do you motivate a group?" and "What does a good workshop look like?".
After the workshops, Wanda began with rehearsals for the performance Living in a Box. Because of the political situation in Zimbabwe and for security reasons, Wanda was not able to finish the performance.
Cont Mhlanga, artistic leader of Amakhosi, wrote to Wanda after she had returned to the Netherlands:
"Please share [...your experiences] with other people especially those who have an interest with what is happening in my country, Amakhosi, Bulawayo and about what we do. Remember that one of the reasons we engage in such exchange programs is to inspire those who visit us to become ambassadors of our work, culture, life, conditions and environment back where they come from."
