Malawi theatre under scrutiny
Blantyre Arts Festival held from September 4 to 6 showcased a number of art forms—theatre inclusive. Solomonic Theatre, comedians Izeki ndi Jakobo, and Nanzikambe from Malawi shared the stage with Napsa Theatre and Savannah Trust Theatre from Zambia and Zimbabwe respectively.
However, a revelation came at the end of the festival, most Malawian theatre groups concentrate on realism in staging their plays. Realism is the kind of drama where characters are portrayed on stage close to real life, with realistic settings and staging.
However, the audience got a taste of new kind of theatre when Zimbabwe’s Savannah Trust Theatre heated the stage with their play Half Full Half Man which used the concept of poor theatre. As poor theatre demands a few props, only two props were on set—wooden boxes which could be turned into anything ranging from a bag, chair bed to car.
Tafadzwa Hananda who performed in Savannah Trust’s Half Full Half Man said he feels Malawian theatre has a lot of potential to grow. He, however, said that Malawians are mostly playing it safe by concentrating on realistic theatre—simplest way to tell stories through theatre.
“Problem is that the audience keeps changing so do people’s needs and theatrical productions should reflect those dynamics,” said Hananda.
He further said that most of Malawian plays fall in the category of white theatre as such they do not appeal to the taste of Africans. He said it is high time Malawians explored more Black theatre to retain the theatre culture he claimed he noticed lacked in the country.
Chris Nditani of Nanzikambe Arts told The Nation that their arts theatre tries as much as they can to come up with theatre pieces that are relevant to the times and those that can mirror their audience.
Nditani concurred with Hananda saying that Malawian theatre practitioners are really playing it safe by not taking their time to explore other methods of delivering theatre pieces.
In a questionnaire through email, Mufunanji Magalasi Associate professor of Fine and Performing Arts department at Chancellor College differed with Nditani and Hananda arguing that performance is a cultural thing and one develops a style based on exposure.
Magalasi refuted the allegation that Malawians are performing in their comfort zone and further backed the Malawian performers saying that they are giving the audience what they know best.
“Take South Africa, for example, there are dance schools, dance houses, theatre companies supported by their economy which lets them meet other performers internationally. They are also trained in this area hence their ability to perform particular styles of performances,” said Magalasi.
He further added that every place has its own performance style it does so you cannot say because this kind of theatre is performed in Harare then you should see it in Malawi.
“It is about what the place offers and that should be respected, outside that then those who are making the statements are ignorant about the way cultural practice comes about,” said Magalasi adding that performance evolves, given several factors that make a cultural activity take place: economics, politics, education, culture and nature.
“You cannot wish for something in a particular environment without the different underlying factors determining it,” he said.
He recommended that Malawians should work more on festivals with different international counterparts so that a dynamic exchange of knowledge, practice, and appreciation can take place.
