Easter Theatre Festival returns for sixth edition

A: The festival is happening from March 27 to 28 at Portuguese Club, next to Wanderers Football Club House in Chichiri, Blantyre. This year, the festival is being held under the theme ‘Theatre, a voice of the voiceless’. Q: How many groups are going to perform at the festival?

A: Actually, the festival comprises of performances from three countries, Scotland, Malawi and Germany. We were supposed to have about seven countries but we have been affected by the Iran war which also involves Israel and USA. We were expecting actors from the US, but they have failed to come due to high costs of flights.

We were also expecting some from Portugal, but they were affected by climate issues. But all in all, we have got a good number of groups participating and we expect 12 theatre performances from Malawi and outside. The other important aspect of the festival are workshops.

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Easter Theatre Festival does not go without workshops. We are going to have different kinds of workshops. We will have workshops hosted by artists from Germany and others hosted by University of Malawi’s (Unima)Drama and Theatre Studies Department.

This is a new chapter in Malawi because there is a special course in theatre and drama now at Unima. If I am not mistaken, students are in second year now. Q: Tell us some of the groups that are expected to perform at the festival?

A: We have established artists such as Upile Drama Group, Logos Drama Group, YDC Theatre Group, Nzeka Arts and Women in Theatre. Women in Theatre is a grouping of women in theatre artists, so it comprises veterans, upcoming and inter-mediaries. We have got collaboration groups of Malawian and Germany artists.

Then we have dance troupes such as Judges Cultural Troupes, Chichiri Prison Cultural Troupe and Unima Theatre Society who will perform at the festival as well. Our headliner is Kate Stafford, founder of Nanzikambe Arts and she is coming with Chameleon from Scotland. Q: How important is this festival to the development of theatre in Malawi and to Malawians in general?

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