A one-act play titled State of the Ape Address starring actor, filmmaker and playwright Tawonga Taddja Nkhonjera has kicked off its tour in South Africa.
This is a physical monologue adapted from Franz Kafka’s A Report to the Academy which is being staged by Mwezi Arts in association with TX Theatre, Windybrow Arts Centre, Theatre Arts, Jika Performing Arts College, Alex Theatre and Azande Theatre Village.
Since its premiere and run at Madsoc Theatre in Lilongwe in March last year, the production directed by Stanley Mambo and produced by Hazel Musochera, has existed beyond the Madsoc Theatre season with performances already in five countries namely Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya and South Africa featuring in different festivals.
Now the production is back in Mzansi and Nkhonjera, who has starred in a number of productions, said yesterday that the response has been overwhelming to this far.
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“We have already had a performance at Windybrow Arts Centre for the Open Theatre Programme students. We also had a workshop after the performance with the students under the title ‘Demystifying Myths’,” he said.
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Nkhonjera said as an actor, performing in South Africa is a multi-layered experience.
“There is a respect for theatre in the rainbow nation and a dedicated audience. This challenges an actor to present their best work,” he said.
He said touring with State of the Ape Address means a lot for Malawi as a country.
“Our theatre is not well known in many countries, even neighbouring countries like Mozambique, Tanzania etc. This is not good in terms of business; it shows that, just as is the case with many other productions in the country, we import theatre more than we export,” the actor said.
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Nkhonjera said they sold themselves well during their previous outing and that the results are the fresh bookings from venues and schools in South Africa.
“What Malawian theatre practitioners need to know in Malawi is that theatre is a business. And the beauty of the business is that it is international in nature.
“We need not look at one or two venues only in Blantyre, Lilongwe and Mzuzu. If you have a good theatre production, the entire continent of Africa is your market. Indeed the entire globe is your market. The catch is quality,” Nkhonjera said.
