PERFECTION IS A PROCESS

This is a commentary on the rehearsal process as a whole. Producing a radio drama requires patience and understanding. What I have observed so far is that as a producer you have to have a plan B. It is advisable that you cast more than the expected number of actors so that when one of the actors cannot make it one of them can because the thought of losing a character is scary. I have previously pointed out that I am working with a group of great actresses. This has been the advantage of this whole process because as much as there are delays, they are able to make up for the time lost. Yes, I cannot deny the fact that the time lost never returns but what is important is to use the available time wisely. We started last week with the rehearsal. The first day as expected did not go smoothly but this was due to the fact that the actresses were still familiarizing themselves with working together.

We all gathered in the studio and all the actors had their scripts as I had emailed it to them two weeks in advanced. When we met for the first time in the studio we decided on the positions, for instance who must stand where and who comes after who and so forth. This is very important because there are scenes where the other characters must move off mic and give others a chance. We also had to decide on the positions because the mics in the studio are not enough for three people, there is only two of them. Those are the kinds of things that we were still trying to figure out. I must say these this was not difficult to do. Two of my actors have done radio and are aware of the rules of radio, for instance mic distance, popping and so forth which makes things easier.

Moving on, the second day showed lot of improvement, the actresses came prepared because I noticed that they did not stumble over words as they did the last time we rehearsed. This was a sign of improvement. So far we have met three times which I still think is not enough but there’s nothing we can do because they are also busy. I want the actors to sound as fluent as possible because at the end I want the story to be believable and most importantly to be listenable. I want to produce something that I will be proud of and this is only possible when we make time to meet and rehearse.

I chose to work with them knowing that they are busy people but I trusted that they will give me what I want and they are. That is, a good interpretation of the script and a great portrayal of the characters in the story. For instance I want Pumelela Nqelenga who plays maDlamini to represent the following character: a 65-year old woman. Her husband passed away 15 years back. She lives in Joza with her grandchild. She has a daughter, Nobantu who is Namhla’s mother. She is a pensioner. She cannot speak English properly but she is not that bad because at least she reached standard 6. I want Avuyile Maselwa who plays Namhla to represent a 16 year-old, who is doing grade 10 at Nyaluza High School. She lives in Joza Township, Grahamstown. She stays with her grandmother because her mother spends most of her time at work.  Lastly I want Anelisa Mente who plays Nobantu to represent a 35-year old woman. Nobantu is Namhla’s mother, Madlamini’s daughter. She is also from Joza but she does not live here. Nobantu passed grade 12 but could not further her studies due to financial reasons. She works very hard to provide for her family. She stays in a flat and she has a car.

At the end this radio drama tries to show the generation gap that exists between the old and the new generation. It seeks to show the challenges and the clashes that exist and these clashes are shown through the above mentioned characters, maDlamini and Namhla. The tradition vs. modernity idea becomes visible through interaction and conversation between these two characters. They are different and therefore have different ways of doing things.

We are slowly but surely getting there. The story is coming together pretty well because they are really getting to understand their roles and what is expected of each character. It is now the matter of getting used to pronouncing some of the words because one of the characters did not do isiXhosa at school. She is the one who needs practice and the one that I’m working closely with. I always ask her to read to me before we start just to get used to the words and so far it is working pretty well. We also need to work on improving things like projection and tone. Once they get this right then we will be ready to record the final take. The final recording is this week and the post-production as well. This is going to be one hell of a week but I’m looking forward to it anyways. I am training myself for days like these that are yet to come in the not so far future where I will be working under pressure. We are now trying to perfect this and as you might know, perfection is a process.

On that note, what I have noticed about the actresses is that they enjoy what they are doing, they are having fun. We all are, we laugh together and we help each other out. We are working together as a team which I find great. I am crossing fingers that things come together perfectly.  I must confess that even though there are challenges and problems that arise during this process, I’m still excited to hear the final product. I still have the drive, nothing has changed and the struggle continues. It shall be well. Catch my next update on post-production.

Ciao!