Artists have commended University of Malawi (Unima) for giving them a platform to perform during this year’s Unima Theatre Festival.
Blantyre-based Scar of Life Youth Organisation director Valentino Moloseni whose team performed a play Family Tree said their inclusion in this year’s festival has boosted their skills.
“We are happy to have shared the stage with other talented theatre players at the festival. This has boosted our morale,” he said.
The play involves Duwa, a woman married to Mtengo, but was impregnated by her husband’s brother Mphepo after Mtengo had trekked to South Africa in search of a job.
When Mtengo left the country for South Africa, Mphepo and her other in-laws lied to her that Mtengo was killed in that country.
The play’s themes include harmful and unrevised cultural practices, youth resistance and generational conflict, economic stagnation and migration, political frustration and societal fatigue and identity.
Another play by Sir Harry Johnston International High School titled Men also Matter, depicted the mood of sorrow.
Unima’s bachelor of science geology student Aufa Chimgoga, who is also a fine art student said through the festival, she connected and shared a sense of unity and purpose with fellow artists and the audience.
“Artists inclusivity has provided opportunities to be seen and gain confidence while audiences gained new perspectives and deeper appreciation,” she said.
Unima’s associate professor Zindaba Chisiza, who was also the festival’s organising chairperson, said theatre festivals offer extensive benefits such as the development of essential theatre skills, enhanced academic performance and career advancement opportunities through networking and professional feedback.
He said inclusion of non-Unima students promoted a strong sense of community and cultural understanding as well as the students cultivated crucial life skills that are highly valued in any profession.
Chisiza said access to workshops during the festival led by experienced actors, playwrights, and technicians allowed the students to refine their craft and learn new techniques.
“Collaborative theatre festival seeks to contribute to the Malawi 2063 enabler of vibrant creative sector that might lead to economic independence,” he said.
The festival was sponsored by Standard Bank Malawi with K25 million under their Joy of the Arts initiative, marking a second year of partnership between the bank and Unima.
Standard Bank Malawi head of marketing Tamanda Ng’ombe said their partnership is an investment in the talent, stories and future of Malawi and it underlines the bank’s recognition of the power of the arts.
“Art is not just fun or pleasure. It is a way of life. It’s an industry, painted with vibrant colours of the Warm Heart of Africa, radiating with smiles of joy and reflective of our national character as a resilient yet peaceful country,” she said.
