“An auditorium is urgently needed so that theater in Sal can flourish”, says theater activist

Victor Silva, actor and director, leader of the group Dja D´Sal, spoke to Inforpress in the wake of the celebration of World Theater Day, which is celebrated annually on March 27th.

As he explained, if it is already difficult to do theater where there are conditions and tradition, in Sal, where theater culture is almost unknown, it becomes even more difficult.

“Doing theater in Cape Verde, especially on the island of Sal, is not easy and even if we think about professionalizing theater here on the island, the population still does not have the theater culture, even though after Sal Encena things have changed a bit. little, there is still a lot to do for the theater to gain space”, he considered.

As for the challenges, Victor Silva listed that the main difficulties begin with putting together a cast of actors on the island, as they give up for work reasons, or the younger ones leave the group to continue their studies in other islands or countries.

“We always have to renew the team due to various issues, which, perhaps, are one of the reasons why there is only one group on the island, but we have been encouraging younger people to take responsibility for the groups”, he highlighted.

In fact, he recalled the work that he carries out every year with the national theater festival Sal EnCena, with the partnership of the Ministry of Culture and Sal City Council, “with some success”, but reaffirms that it has not been easy to do and encourage other initiatives related to theater on the island.

In view of this, the same source highlights that the group he leads and which is already heading towards its 20th anniversary has been going from school to school, providing training, but which starts with around 20 students and in the end there are only two or three left. , he lamented, stating that perhaps not having an auditorium, which allows giving “more dignity” to the actors, is one of the reasons for their discouragement.

Every year the group organizes the national theater festival Sal EnCena, aiming to diversify the island’s cultural agenda, and this year, from the 13th to the 16th of June, once again the theater festival returns to the island.

Six national groups and one international group have already confirmed their presence at the festival, which also includes the well-known “Dja d’Sal Storia”, which is a project to tell stories on doorsteps, in schools and kindergartens.

Inforpress