National Theatre Association of Malawi (Ntam) has embarked on a K15 million crowdfunding drive that is aimed at financing its national theatre competition set for Blantyre in November this year.
Crowdfunding is a way of raising money to finance projects and it enables fundraisers to collect money from a large number of people via different ways including online.
“We know this is not a common concept in Malawi but we thought we should bring it up looking at the initiative we have brought. This is all for the good of theatre and people can contribute from as low as K1,000. We will be transparent in everything,” Ntam President Maxwell Chiphinga popularly known as Max DC, said during a press conference in Blantyre Monday.
He said crowdfunding which other creative players have used in the country to raise funds has come about following their unveiling of a national theatre competition.
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“We need K15 million for the national competition, we have started on our own but we need to raise this money with support from theatre lovers to be involved. People have said theatre is dead, but it is not, what we need is support,” Chiphinga said calling for support from the President, cabinet ministers, legislators and well-wishers.
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Meanwhile, Chiphinga has said the national competition running in three categories of theatre, stand-up comedy and traditional dance, will start at regional level in September.
“At regional level we will have as many contestants as possible but two from each category will be selected for the national contest. We already have the resources for the regional contests but we need to more during the national contest,” he said.
Chiphinga said the theatre sector suffered greatly during Covid times and that they had no activity.
“There have been other challenges such as cyclone but now that things have normalised, we have decided to come back with a competition to propel theatre,” he said.
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The Ntam leader said the national theatre competition will be live on television and online and that people will be asked to vote besides having judges, who will be transparent in their doings.
The winner in the theatre category will receive K2 million, with the top winner in traditional dance pocketing K1 million with stand-up comedy receiving K750,000.
