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Does drama make an impact?

Africa HYS team|12:16 UK time, Thursday, 13 January 2011

The deadline is approaching for BBC listeners to enter the 2011 African Performance playwriting competition but what impact do you think drama has in Africa?

South African actors (BBC)

What kind of drama do you enjoy, be it on radio, film or on television?

Have you ever seen or heard drama that made you stop and think, or even changed your attitude towards something?

Can a writer say something through drama that is too difficult to express in real life?

Do you have ambitions to be a playwright? If so what topic would you like to write about?

If you would like to debate this topic LIVE on air on Thursday 13 January at 1600 GMT, please include a telephone number. It will not be published.

Comments

  • Comment number 1.

    WHAT CAN BE TOO DIFFICULT TO EXPRESS CAN BE TOO EASY TROUGH DRAMA BUT I HAVE A QUESTION HOW COME AFRICANS CANNOT PARTICIPATE IN BBC DRAMA COMPETITION AND LETS US THINK ABOUT A POEM COMPETION

  • Comment number 2.

    Live performance thrill alot, a live drama is fun, just as the saying "iife itself is a drama" it is little wonder we can replay our daily happenings on a stage and still feel the same thing we felt when a particular thing happens to us. I remember watching the play 'Trading places' at open air theatre of the university of jos,Nigeria, it was then i fell for live performance.

  • Comment number 3.

    Have you ever seen or heard drama that made you stop and think, or even changed your attitude towards something? - From above.
    Quotes from "Inherit The Wind" - 1960.
    “An idea is a greater monument than a cathedral.”
    “He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind.”
    “How can you bring up a holy war against something that you don’t know anything about?”
    “I don’t think about things that I don’t think about.” “Yes, but do you ever think about things that you do think about?”
    “It’s the duty of a newspaper to comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable.”
    “Progress has never been a bargain, you have to pay for it. Mister, you can conquer the air, but the birds will lose their wonder and the clouds will be full of gasoline.”
    “Religion is supposed to comfort people, not frighten them to death.”
    “You can not administer a wicked law impartially.”
    “You have no meaning. You’re like a ghost pointing an empty sleeve.”


  • Comment number 4.


    Drama has the same impact as reality itself when done well and of subjects that are true. I do not think it has a different effect on Africans than on any one else as long they are involved. A playwright can say in a play things obliquely, things that may cause offence when said in person. I have written film scripts though none of them have ever been completed or produced.

  • Comment number 5.

    Dramaturgical expression is so significant in passing information to the public in which such important message would have been very complicated to be understood if channelled through other means.Satirical drama plays a vital role in a corrective measure aiming at the authority or individual in place of power within a corrupt or sick society.Every spectator tries to be loyal to any drama in anticipation of viewing it real.That is why you see spectator crying,laughing and feeling sober as the occasion warants.
    Drama send sends a very significant messages to the society members.It may directly or indirectly tell us what is expected of individual,subjects and leaders in the society[Personal details removed by Moderator]

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