Organisers of the Easter Theatre Festival on Thursday announced that the sixth edition will be held from April 25 through to April 27 2024.
Led by Solomonic Peacocks, the festival which has taken a drive in propelling theatre in the country is next year setting its sights at holding its activities at two venues compared to one last year.
The festival’s coordinator McArthur Matukuta, who is also Solomonic Peacocks Director, said on Thursday during a press briefing at Alliance Francaise de Blantyre, that they would want to continue from where they left off last year.
“Next year we are looking at having Blantyre Cultural Centre, which is currently undergoing renovations as the main venue. We are currently in discussion with the Ministry of Local Government, Unity and Culture. Alliance Francaise de Blantyre formerly Jacaranda Cultural Centre, will also remain our venue,” Matukuta said.
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The actor and playwright, flanked by Alliance Francaise de Blantyre Director Luc Deschamps and his assistant Mercy Chirwa, said the sixth edition will attract 30 performers from Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, South Africa, France, Germany, Portugal, Spain and Norway.
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“The theme for this year is ‘Celebrate Culture through Theatre,’ through the project titled ‘Enhancing Sustainable Theatre Development’ supported by Copyright Society of Malawi (Cosoma) through Copyright Fund and other partners,” Matukuta said.
He said this also marks the official launch of the Global Theatre Market Connection project with the support of the Copyright Fund to the tune of K10 million.
“So there are a number of activities that we will be running ahead of the festival and they include directing and script writing workshops for artists and then thereafter, we shall have a community interaction performance in the area of Traditional Authority Nsomba,” Matukuta said.
He also said that in the festival’s programming next year, they will have standup comedy delight show with comedians from South Africa, Zambia and Malawi.
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“We also have collaborated with Mikozi Network and Poetry by Braille led by poet Luckier Chikopa. All we can say is that theatre lovers should watch the space for more information,” Matukuta said.
Deschamps said they were happy to play a role in growing the Easter Theatre Festival.
“This is a unique festival that has opened up opportunities for theatre players to showcase their works. As Alliance Francaise de Blantyre, we are eager to see talents develop hence coming in to support Easter Theatre Festival,” he said.
