Ahead of its debut three-day festival this weekend in Zomba, University of Malawi, through the School of Arts, Communication and Design, has reduced the number of performers due to budget limitations.
The development comes barely five days after Associate Professor of Drama in the School of Arts, Communication and Design, Zindaba Chisiza, engaged theatre practitioners where they charted out some of the challenges including contract fees.
During the meeting held in Blantyre, theatre players expressed concern with the low fees and, after discussions, it was agreed to raise the sums, which ended up ballooning the festival’s budget.
Chisiza said they would have loved to have all the acts on the list they released recently but have been forced to trim it.
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The development has not gone down well with some acts such as YDC Theatre who in their statement, allege that they feel being used.
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“We are sad that we have not been included on the list, having spent so much on rehearsals. We feel being used and exploited, their clarifications on not being part of the list of performers is not convincing at all,” YDC’s playwright Fumbani Phiri claimed.
But Chisiza insisted that they had no choice to but cut the number so as to execute the festival perfectly, adding that they have been running around searching for more support but had got nothing.
“This is just the beginning and all we want is to give theatre a platform. We know theatre practitioners spend a lot on rehearsals to come up with a production but where the budget does not permit, we could not accommodate other groups. In fact, there are other acts that will perform without even being paid,” he said.
Chisiza also zeroed in on the outcries of some players, who have queried the use of musicians as headliners for a theatre festival.
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“The use of musicians does not mean that they are headliners. Theatre remains the main focus but we had to include them as part of wooing more people to patronise the festival,” he said.
Trending musicians Eli Njuchi, Zeze Kingston and Driemo will spice up the festival, which starts tomorrow and ends on Sunday.
Some of the groups set to perform at the festival include Kwathu, Young Travellers, Migrants Arts, Solomonic Peacocks, Upile Drama Group and Emancipation Theatrical Ensemble.
There will also be performances by university theatre groups such as Cunima Travelling Theatre, B2B, Unima Travelling Theatre and Thespian Troupe.
The festival has partnered a number of players ahead of the event and they include Tilitonse Foundation, which donated K15 million recently through the Shifting the Power Programme funded by Comic Relief, and inq Digital, which will provide free Wi-Fi.
