By Sam Banda Jnr:
The fifth edition of the three-day Easter Theatre Festival driven by Solomonic Peacocks starts the 22nd of March and ends on Sunday at Jacaranda Cultural Centre (JCC) in Blantyre.
Festival Coordinator McArthur Matukuta, who is also Solomonic Peacocks Director, said they were 100 percent set for the festival that he said was a “family gathering”.
“We cannot wait to start because everything is in place. We have worked had putting it together and now it is time to give people maximum entertainment. We have performances as well as workshops,” Matukuta said of the festival that will bring on board acts from close to 12 countries.
The official opening ceremony is this afternoon and according to a schedule, apart from speeches, there will be a ballet performance and poetry to be served by Baba Ngoni and Sylvester Kalizang’oma.
The other performances today will come from poet Yona Mlakatuli, storyteller Tadja Nkhonjera, comedian Ching’aning’ani and drama from Alex Theatre from South Africa and Chinsapo Arts Theatre from Lilongwe in Malawi.
There will also be a workshop and performances from schools.
The fifth edition of the festival is special in that it will also run together with the 25th anniversary celebration of Solomonic Peacocks.
“There is more that people will see. We have acts from Germany, Portugal, South Africa and eSwatini. Local acts have also been rehearsing,” Matukuta said.
The festival is running under the theme ‘Your talent matters, create, inspire, enjoy towards 2063.
The French Embassy to South Africa, Lesotho and Malawi has also supported French theatre group Compagne Du Hasard.
The French group which has been in existence for more than 40 years arrived in the country last Friday and went straight into rehearsals with Solomonic Peacocks.
The two groups have partnered to stage a play titled Odyssey.
The performance by the two groups starts at Easter Theatre Festival tomorrow and then at the same venue on Monday before moving to Zomba on March 26 and then March 28 they will be at Chingalire Cultural Centre in Lilongwe.
“We are looking forward to a performance at the Easter Theatre Festival for the first time. We hope to also watch more acts and learn from them,” Compagne Du Hasard actress Sarah Glond said.
Tomorrow there will be puppet, creative entrepreneurship and experimental theatre workshops before getting down to performances from Balaka School, New Beginning Youth Trust, Rhomia, Young Travellers, Chichiri Cultural Troupe, Catarina Mota from Portugal and Bukhosi Ginindza from eSwatini.
On Sunday, the festival will open with dance and media workshops and then performances by among others, Siegmar from Germany, Women in Theatre, Dikamawoko, YDC, Logas and Kwathu Drama Group.
