Is TV robbing drama of audience?

rama shows have always been a popular form of family entertainment, especially during weekends, giving both the young and old an opportunity to wind down after a hectic week.

But while stage drama remains a family entertainment, the coming in of other forms of entertainment on satellite and digital television has made local drama an endangered species as families have taken advantage of this new trend to be entertained in the comfort of their homes.

Nanzikambe Arts managing director Chris Nditani said drama shows in the country face emerging competition from various entertainment platforms such as satellite television and online entertainment, but was quick to say that it all dwells on

the quality of production.

“The coming in of movies on satellite and digital television really has an impact on patronage at drama shows, but for us at Nanzikambe Arts, we just make sure our productions are good enough to coerce the people to be part of our audience each time we have staged drama,” he said.

Nditani said there is a need for theatre groups to have productions that are up to standards and can stand the test of time if they are still to be relevant.

He argued that people nowadays cannot be compelled to leave the comfort of their homes to watch a performance that is not up to standard.

“There is a need for artists to come up with professionally done pieces of drama. Other elements such as stage setting, lighting and costume also add value to the quality of drama because no matter how good a piece is, if the stage was not set in a good way, patrons are sent off,” he added.

Kwathu Drama Group’s Eric Mabedi said drama shows do not only face competition from movie channels on DStv such as African Magic but also from popular sports channels as people have to decide whether to watch drama shows or watch a football match or a movie on television.

Mabedi said Kwathu realised that local drama faces competition; hence, the group came up with strategies a long time ago and they do not face competition with the famous “Barclays Premier League or any other movie channel” anymore.

“Whether the coming in of movies has any impact on patronage at drama shows depends on the quality of production.

If artists are always giving out the best to their audience, there is no way they [the audience] would opt for movies when they can watch a staged events by their local artists,” said Mabedi.

Former National Theatre Association of Malawi (Ntam) president Ian Chitsekula was skeptical whether drama patronage is affected by the coming in of digital television.

He said most drama events are poorly patronised because of poor advertising stemming from lack of funds and expensive venues.

Chitsekula said the theatre groups in the country invest a lot of money to conduct shows but they end up incurring unnecessary costs because they get peanuts from shows.

Associate professor at the Fine and Performing Arts Department at Chancellor College Dr Mufunanji Magalasi in an earlier interview with Society said there is no research on whether drama patronage is going down due to the coming in of digital television.

He, however, agreed that drama might be competing with other forms of entertainment such as those offered by satellite and digital television.

“Instead of watching a drama performance, someone might opt to watch Comedy Central or some other channel on TV than physically go to a live drama performance. That, in a way, might affect patronage of drama,” he said.

Magalasi said with time, just like in all art forms, people tend to lose interest in conventional art forms and it is the duty of Malawian dramatists to invent new forms of drama to appeal to their audiences.