Theatre beyond borders by Compagnie La Seringu’arts

Lubumbashi >> Harare

Theater beyond spoken language, is a project that aims, on the one hand, to create a space for research into an action theater, a theater that offers to develop physical and vocal availability with the body at the center of dramatic action. On the other hand, this project seeks a theater that speaks beyond voice and sound, a theater of action. A theater of speech as action, of gestures to reveal passions, to express feelings. A gesture that captures the essence of comedy as an inversion of the serious, even tragic.

Geographically, Lubumbashi is the second largest city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is located in the south-east of the country on the border of English-speaking countries Zambia, Tanzania, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique, Angola, Botswana This geographical position is detrimental to local artists because it is an enclave. This isolation is a real obstacle to artistic exchanges within the country on the one hand because of the expense of air transport, the inaccessibility of certain corners of the country by road, rail and seaway. And outside the country, on the other hand, by the language barrier with neighboring countries (English-speaking neighboring countries) and the long distance that separates it from French-speaking countries (Central and West Africa). Beyond isolation, there is also a problem of broadcasting programmes.

Through this project, we hope to establish a bridge between the city of Lubumbashi and the countries of southern Africa. The idea for us is to facilitate the circulation of shows in the SADC sub-region, to create a documentation archive to increase the lifespan of our shows. We also hope to open the Lushois theater by transcending the language barrier and the limits of the borders which have always been an obstacle to cultural and artistic exchanges across our countries