Towards sustainability in the Theatre: a look at the Company@Maitisong in Gaborone

Abstract

In 2012 Gao Lemmenyane revived The Company@Maitisong (The Company), a theatre company previously formed in 2002 by a group of Drama students at Maru-a-Pula Secondary School, a private school in Gaborone. A number of the same students who initially formed The Company some years earlier joinedLemmenyane in an effort to develop a professional Theatre industry in Botswana. In so doing, The Company has faced a number of challenges such as lack of an adequate audience, lack of training of personnel, unavailability of theatre spaces around the country as well as lack of funding. As such it has been a part of their strategy to engage in projects that can address these challenges in order to create sustainability in the industry. This paper refl ects on The Company’s first production since its revival, Pula! Money Matters as a process of creating longevity in what is currently a fl edgling industry.