The National Theatre Company was, as its name suggests, a State-funded

theatre company Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

. It was directed by

William Takaku William Takaku (died 3 January 2011) was a Papua New Guinean film, television and theatre actor. He was also a screenwriter and a former theatre director. Career In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he travelled far from his birthplace on the isla ...

and administered by the government's National Cultural Commission. Its ambitious aim, as described by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

, was "to create a Papua New Guinea

cultural identity Cultural identity is a part of a person's identity, or their self-conception and self-perception, and is related to nationality, ethnicity, religion, social class, generation, locality or any kind of social group that has its own distinct cultur ...

, mainly through dance and drama". The Company toured the country and staged plays in remote rural areas. While stopping in a village for an open-air performance, it would also hold theatrical workshops, to assist local theatre groups, and learn dances and legends from elderly villagers. A number of performances were "based on local folklore, music nddance". Its plays, set both in rural and in urban areas, explored environmental themes as well as problems related to life in the city. Performances were "liberally laced with music, dancing and comedy", but aimed to address serious issues. Plays were produced in the

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...

and in

Tok Pisin Tok Pisin (,Laurie Bauer, 2007, ''The Linguistics Student’s Handbook'', Edinburgh ; Tok Pisin ), often referred to by English speakers as "New Guinea Pidgin" or simply Pidgin, is a creole language spoken throughout Papua New Guinea. It is an ...

. According to the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

, the Company eventually "f llinto a state of disarray as a result of inadequate funding"."Warriors in Transit: Theatre in Papua New Guinea"
Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 18 October 2000

References

{{reflist Papua New Guinean culture

See also

References