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| Entertainment |
| Nanzikambe returns |
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by
Our Reporter, 28 June 2004
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08:58:35
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After a successful time with African Macbeth, Nanzikambe, Malawi’s arts theatre group, is set for a new production for the country’s theatre-lovers.
The new play, Eating to Live, is about the food crisis which hit Malawi in 2001 and 2002, and will start touring Malawi in October and November this year.
Describing it controversial, Nanzikambe’s Development Director Melissa Eveleigh, says the play is a family story set to the backdrop of events leading up to, during and following the ‘state of disaster’ which the former President Bakili Muluzi announced early February 2002 — a disaster which went almost unnoticed and in which thousands died.
Eating to Live is a comically-dark tale about betrayal and death, that brings the personal and the political together, with an air of the macabre, a healthy injection of humour, and haunting visual imagery.
It was born of two of Eveleigh’s previous productions, the first being the political satire Chilly Heart and the second A Garden of Plenty which investigated the meaning of food both in Malawi and the UK.
The play looks at food, hunger and poverty in Malawi with fresh eyes. It aims to project a life-affirming vision of rural Malawi, while scrutinising the actions of decision makers.
The director says the production is part of Nanzikambe’s artistic endevour to contribute to the growing culture of criticism of decision makers, necessary for a healthy democracy to blossom in Malawi.
“We are still in a process of consulting key stakeholders and folk on the ground. We intend to gather as many perspectives as possible,” says Eveleigh, adding that like their name Nanzikambe (chameleon), their productions keep changing.
Nanzikambe has interviewed former agricultural minister Aleke Banda among many others to try and get a clear picture of what happened in 2001/02.
“The purpose of the production is to tell a story that has been more or less hidden and forgotten, but still holds biting relevance to the public and to policy makers,” Eveleigh says, adding the target audience is both average Malawians and decision makers who were directly involved in events surrounding the food crisis.
Eating to Live was first at the Harare International Festival of Arts (HIFA) in May and features three of Malawi’s top performing artists Baba Twaya Sanudi, Thlupego Chisiza, Angella Ching’amba. |
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