Theatre festival for cultural exchange

National Theatre Association of Malawi (Ntam) has organised an international theatre festival to  create a platform for cultural exchange between local and international theatre players.

Ntam president Maxwell Chiphinga said the Malawi International Theatre Festival, scheduled for December 2 to 4, will bring together actors and cultural experiences from various countries.

“Our actors lack exposure. They hardly attend international festivals due to financial constraints. This platform will be unique for them to meet, interact and appreciate how other theatre players handle stage drama,” he said.

Chiphinga said the festival will also offer workshops to actors and other theatre players on general theatre knowledge and arts marketing.

“What we have noted is that most of our actors locally partake in theatre as a hobby. They do not look at it with an entrepreneurial eye. The workshops will open their eyes on how they can embrace this route,” he said.

Chiphinga said they will have 10 theatre groups from countries such as Nigeria, South Africa, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

“They will face off against 15 local theatre groups during the three-day festival,” he said.

Chiphinga, widely known as Max DC in the entertainment circles, said the festival’s budget is pegged at K50 million.

Reacting to the development, Blantyre-based Solomonic Peacock director Arthur Matukuta said the he was delighted with the development.

“I am pleased that we will have this festival as theatre players. This will afford us an opportunity to showcase our talent,” he said.

Matukuta said the theatre sector is set to develop further due to what he called support from the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Wildlife.

“I call upon fellow theatre players to look at the festival as a platform to grow. Let us put the monetary aspect aside and look at the bigger picture,” he said.

Chiphinga was noncommittal if the festival will be an annual fixture.