Remembering Frederick B Philander

A memory that remains with those who knew celebrated theatremaker Frederick B Philander is the boom and brilliance of his voice. “You’d hear him before you saw him,” say so many, recalling the sound and fury of an artist who refused to be silenced as he boldly shaped the contours and conscience of Namibian theatre.

Born at Beaufort West in South Africa in November 1949, Philander moved to then South West Africa (Namibia) in 1979 and died of heart failure in a Windhoek hospital last Saturday.

Forty-six years ago, as an ambitious arts and political journalist, fresh from the newsrooms of apartheid-era Cape Town, Philander set to work founding Committed Artists of Namibia (CAN). In the years that followed, Philander’s theatre company, known for its unapologetically political and protest theatre, staged scores of productions, festivals, radio plays and workshops.

From his critically acclaimed ‘King of the Dump’, produced by the BBC and honoured at the New York Radio Festival in 1996, to the political satire of ‘Katutura ’59’ and the controversies of ‘The Beauty Contest’, Philander was a prolific playwright who held a mirror to society. Through his activist stage work, he gave voice to those relegated to the city’s rubbish dumps, forcibly relocated through the inhumanity of apartheid and to those exploited by the shiny lures of the beauty queen machine.

A champion of the marginalised, a cultural activist who spoke truth to power as well as a consummate stage actor, educator, writer, playwright, filmmaker and mentor, Philander is also remembered as a passionate community leader, a beloved teacher at Jan Jonker Afrikaner Secondary School – and the love of his wife Felicity Celento’s life.

“We were soulmates,” says Celento, who met Philander when she auditioned for the female lead in ‘King of the Dump’, the playwright’s favourite work, in 1988.

“As theatre activists and partners, we dedicated our time and money to plan and stage theatre workshops, festivals and tours locally and abroad. We were friends, co-actors, director and actor, and finally husband and wife parenting two daughters”.

Celento calls Philander ‘The Father of Theatre in Namibia’ and many would agree. A mentor to actors as iconic as the late David Ndjavera as well as to contemporary film and theatre star Adriano Visagie, Philander’s Afrikaans and English productions have won numerous best actor and overall awards across the world, including in South Africa, Finland and the United States. Philander was honoured with the Namibian Theatre Award’s Lifetime Achievement accolade in 2007.

“Working with Uncle Freddy was a dream come true,” says Visagie, who was directed by Philander in his adaptation of ‘One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ in 2017. Visagie won the best male actor award for this role in that year’s Namibian Theatre and Film Awards.

“Uncle Freddy was tough, but he had his reasons. He said something the way it is. If it’s wrong, it’s wrong. If it’s right, it’s right. And that taught me to stand in my truth, not just as a thespian but as a human being.”

Visagie describes Philander’s work as revolutionary, challenging of the status quo post-independence and the epitome of theatre.

“I believe many great Namibian actors are able to attest to how Uncle Freddy played a role in their careers,” says Visagie. “I’d love to see his books become part of the Namibian curriculum and not just books in the library archives.”

Though Philander is no longer with us, his work lives on in his sixteen published stage works, many of them collected in ‘King of the Dump and other Plays’ (2005) and ‘The Namibian Stage Chronicles’ (2010). The playwright’s tremendous contribution to Namibian theatre has also been documented in masters and doctorate theses by Errikson Shilemba, Melgisedek Nehemia and Laurinda Olivier-Sampson.

“For me, Freddie was an industry elder. I always considered him to be one of my cheerleaders,” says University of Namibia performing arts lecturer and theatremaker Nashilongweshipwe Mushaandja.

“But, yoh, Freddie used to complain a lot!” says Mushaandja with a laugh.

“He complained about everything that did not work, in theatre, in the country, in the world. I found Freddie to resonate deeply with the issues that I was angry about as a young person,” Mushaandja says.

“I considered Freddie a mentor in the sense that not all senior theatremakers were like him. He listened to us and stood with us. He was one of the few.”

Considering Philander’s particular contribution to Namibian theatre, Mushaandja says he gave theatremakers language.

“Freddie’s legacy is that he is a pioneer in shaping the language of Namibian theatre. When protest theatre died out, he was one of the few who was consistent and that’s why he’s studied,” says Mushaandja, who recently presented a scriptwriting lab to his students featuring Philander’s ‘Katutura ’59’.

“He was, I think, the first black director to stage a play at the National Theatre of Namibia. As a theatre critic, as a theatremaker and a writer, he contributed immensely to the language and vocabulary of Namibian theatre.”

The outpouring of love and appreciation since Philander’s death has been extraordinary. Memories pour in from every corner of the country, recalling Philander in his various creative and instructive guises while lamenting the loss of such a vital and fearless voice in the arts.

Philander dedicated his final years to revisiting his scripts and writing an autobiography. The last chapter will be completed by Celento and Philander’s daughters, Zenlia and Zabeth.

The playwright had also begun to document significant milestones and memories on Facebook, a personal archive made all the more poignant by his passing. An articulate archivist of his own life and forever alive in his art, Philander will be remembered not only in his own words but also in the various ways the industry he so loved chooses to honour him.

“The duty of honouring Freddie’s legacy rests upon the shoulders of everybody involved in theatre and the ministry responsible for arts and culture,” says Celento.

“Freddie’s dream was the establishment of a cultural centre for the less privileged in the township of Khomasdal. The location, an existing building, layout and architectural plan with envisaged facilities has been drawn and identified. This project should be fully developed and the centre named after him.”

For Mushaandja, honouring Philander’s legacy means teaching his work, documenting his contributions and encouraging people to stage the playwright’s work.

“We can mentor others the way he did and keep our theatre spaces vibrant with passion,” says National Theatre of Namibia (NTN) public relations officer Desiree Mentor.

Mentor met Philander when she was a young student selling tickets at the NTN. As Mentor rose through the professional ranks, Philander became a familiar and friendly face.

“I still see him striding in, full of noise and purpose. I’ll miss his random popping into my office, bold and yelling: ‘Desiree, I come for a cup of coffee!’.”

As the National Theatre of Namibia readies for the rare treat of a large-scale production today, Philander, a lifelong and passionate patron of the arts, will be missed.

He rarely skipped a show – arriving larger than life, and with his entire family in tow.

“Freddy told me once that his real legacy was that he considers himself a master playwright before being considered as a director. But he will never be forgotten as a master playwright and a master director,” says veteran theatremaker Sandy Rudd, whose retrospective premieres at the NTN this evening. “He was feared, revered and loved by many.”

Tonight, as we file into the national theatre, Philander’s absence will be profound, a gaping hole and a deep quiet where once there was steadfast presence and the bellow of an intrepid voice.

It’s a loss the industry will fully feel in stages, and in silences.

A father of Namibian theatre’s show is over.

The house lights go up, and the audience roars with applause.

– martha@namibian.com.na; Martha Mukaiwa on Twitter and Instagram; marthamukaiwa.com

In an age of information overload, Sunrise is The Namibian’s morning briefing, delivered at 6h00 from Monday to Friday. It offers a curated rundown of the most important stories from the past 24 hours – occasionally with a light, witty touch. It’s an essential way to stay informed. Subscribe and join our newsletter community.