Drama met music as Kwathu Drama Group shared the stage with Lawi and Faith Mussa at Robin’s Park in Blantyre on Sunday.
Kwathu did not deviate from their moral themes as they staged Mwala—which resonated with the gospel audience.
Laughter and spectacle could not erode Mwala, which is centred on scriptures drawn from Matthew 21 verse 42.
In Mwala, the protagonist, who is a very short person, gets rejected by the family after asking for a hand in marriage from the girl of his dream.
The family rejects him because he is very short, but they have a bitter awakening discovering the short reject was a doctor who is going to help them in the end.
Adding to the spectacle of the event was Faith, whose build-up from low to high tempo was amazing. Performing Nditumeni, Pamudzi Pano, Desperate and Amakunamiza, Faith proved what the hype about him is all about.
Lawi, on the other hand, failed to perform to the expectations of the audience.
The audience, mostly used to popular gospel music performers such as Grace Chinga, Thoko Katimba and Ethel Kamwendo, found it hard to adjust to a sit-and-listen music experience regardless of the high quality of sound.
Lawi took much time performing slow songs to a dance hungry audience to the point that when he was performing Amati Andikawe and Amaona Kuchedwe, he had lost more than half the audience.
Perhaps the audience ‘amaona kuchedwa’.
The fans flocked closer to the stage as soon as he played Amati Andikawe where they danced as if their lives depended on it.
Lawi interacted with this loyal legion that had stayed on until the end by performing from within the audience.
