Theatre in Vanuatu

I popped over to the Pacific nation of Vanuatu last week for a spot of sun (my God it is freezing here in winter in Melbourne at about 13 C during the day). Happy to report the temperature was twice what I was experiencing back home (though you’ll see from one of the photos below, that with my skin pigment, I will only ever get a darker shade of pale!).

But while I was there, I tried to discover if the performing arts of any kind are taught in schools on any of the many islands that make up this beautiful country?

Well, the answer is most likely no, but you’ll see below an image of a theatre building for youth. This was effectively a youth centre of sorts, with privately funded training programs for disadvantaged and/or unemployed youth. The workers were proud to show me around the centre and I discovered one of several programs included teenagers rehearsing and performing plays on a simple stage.

I also passed another building (unfortunately closed at the time) for the Vanuatu Amateur Theatrical Society.

So even though acting is not formally taught in the schools of Vanuatu, my travels indicated at least a presence of theatre performances of some kind in the capital Port Vila.