Tis no secret that most young people don't read anymore. For the thirty of us that do, there are at least six hundred that don't read at all. This is part of the reason why students fail exams, why young adults fail to pass English classes and why some individuals have bad vocabulary and communication skills. Back when Alfred Sears was Minister of Education he instituted a 'Let's Read Bahamas' campaign. Sears got Chapter One Bookstore, The Guardian and many others to help him help children love to read. Sears realized that high school students and adults alike, had trouble reading – sorry they still have trouble reading. In the end I think most people forgot about this movement that Sears fought for and we're the poorer for it.
As a teacher in training I saw grade twelve students struggle to read a B.J.C. level English paper. I saw freshly graduated grade ten students study nouns – they weren't ready for adjectives yet. I saw teachers – some good, some terribly absurd – deteriorate as they taught primary school lessons in senior high school. Needless to say, I left teaching.
In COB most students either fail English 119 or pass with a C – because these same students never actually studied grade twelve English. The rest of us that got lucky – those that love reading, writing, thinking – we got B's, A's, we got something. There are two majors in COB that strike fear in the hearts of the average student – English and Math – but that's a different story. My point is Sears was trying to prevent the average student from becoming content with just a C.
Now, why are reading and writing so damn important – besides school and occasionally needing to read a document or two? Well firstly in a country with few writers and less readers we kill our culture industry – which could be BIG. We damn our theatre – because in essence words drive theatre and not everyone writes a Madea, some of us write a Hamlet or two. Audiences want action, they want violence, they want bang, bang and when they can't get it, well you know the rest. This is not to say that we don't have a theatre audience – we do – we could have more is what I'm saying. In the end, literacy drives our written culture and that is no jest. So let's read again Bahamas, let's read world, let's read a book!
Can you though, combine the two?
ReplyDeleteShakespeare was writing for a popular audience. And perhaps I am stretching it to say that his work represents the commercial theatre of his day. (If I am stretching, it is not by much). And we have the same issues today. 'Commercial' and 'junk' don't have to be synonymous. They tend to be, but they don't have to be.
See, I am trying to stop blaming the Bahamian audience for what it is that they like, (it is far too easy an excuse) but instead I want to work with them and make something out of that. What is a playwright without an audience anyway?
It is not merely 'either / or,' it can also be 'and'. So don't think Madea 'or' Hamlet, but think Madea 'and' Hamlet.
See what I mean?
I think you have point there. What is a playwright with an audience? Nothing much, I'd say. I can't help but blame an Bahamian audiences though. I mean personally I felt that District 9 was one of THE best movies this summer. If not, it deserved some credit for what it did. More people however, saw Transformers 2 and agree that it stole the summer season. This is not true for every single person, but the majority tend to agree on T2. I thought T2 sucked. I mean it was flashy and whatever, but it sucked major donkey balls.
ReplyDeleteHowever, when it comes to theatre Bahamians tend to have a different love affair going on. Watching something onstage that is about Bahamians for Bahamians is the point of interest for most.
So yea, (awkward pause) there can be a Madea and a Hamlet - glad you posted that. Thanks.