By Sam Banda Jnr and George Gausi:
The fifth edition of the Easter Theatre Festival ended on a high on Sunday at Jacaranda Cultural Centre with the audience being treated to a number of performances with Kwathu Drama Group among the acts.
Packaged with not only performances but also workshops, the festival this year attracted performers from among other hosts Malawi, Portugal, France and Germany with special collaborations coming from among others, Solomonic Peacocks from Malawi and Compagne Du Hasard with a play titled Odyssey.
The three-day festival was officially opened on Friday by Principal Cultural Standards Officer Victor Kajiso Gondwe, who represented Minister of Local Government, Unity and Culture Richard Chimwendo Banda.
Gondwe applauded organisers of the festival – Solomonic Peacocks, which also celebrated its 25th anniversary on the day-for upholding the steam of the event whose main focus is theatre spiced up by other artistic disciplines such as poetry and dance.
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“Theatre has a unique ability to transform us to a different world, to evoke emotions. Through the magic of stage theatre, we laugh and listen to stories that make us connect in terms of culture.
“We are happy to see creatives working towards the government’s vision of 2063,” Gondwe, said having been impressed by performances that included poetry from Babangoni Chisale and Sylvester Kalizang’oma, who served his epic piece ‘Unkalindanji Moyo’.
There was also another exciting performance that was served by learners from Jacaranda School for Orphans, who staged a production that spoke tomes of girl empowerment and a ballet act.
Solomonic Peacocks Director McArthur Matukuta broke down into tears of joy during the launch after seeing his daughter perform ballet for the first time.
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“I am a trained medical personnel but because of my passion for art, I left it to pursue theatre and today, I am I have shed tears because I have seen my daughter perform for the first time,” he said.
During the celebration of the 25th anniversary, Matukuta made a wish that they would want to have their own offices as a theatre group and at the same time building more connections with international partners.
The second day on Saturday was eventful starting off with workshops and then following up with other performances including Chichiri Prison Cultural Troupe and Kwathu Drama Group featuring an artist from Germany.
And on Sunday, the festival also opened with workshops before the performances that included a dance spearheaded by Sigmer from Germany and featured local dancers such as Robert Magasa, Women in Theatre featuring the likes of Linda Chatha and Enifa Chiwaya, traditional dances from Dikamawoko and YDC Theatre which served a play titled Journey to Lampedusa.
Sigmer later donated a console to Easter Theatre Festival and promised more equipment as part of building the creative industry in the country.
As we went to press yesterday, Kwathu Drama Group featuring the likes of Bon Kalindo popularly known as Winiko was set to close off the festival.
The festival run under the theme ‘Your talent matters, create, inspire, enjoy towards 2063.
