YDC Theatre returned to the stage on Saturday night, premiering a musical production titled Djembe the Spirit of Rhythm at Apollo Auditorium in Blantyre.
This was the first time for the youthful theatre outfit to stage the play, which blends theatre, music and dance, at Apollo Auditorium, a venue that reopened recently following its closure in the 1990s.
Written and directed by Fumbani Phiri, who is the director of YDC, Djembe the Spirit of Rhythm tells stories from the community’s perspective.
This is a play whose journey started in 2023 and, with support from Africa Culture Fund, YDC staged five extracts before its premiere at Apollo Auditorium.
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Featuring a cast of Ellastas Msiska, who plays Vimbuzga, Nicholas Thombozi (Vyezgu), Zoe Somba (Ndaziona), Vanessa Malinda (Lonjezo) and Thapelo Bwanali (Masugho), the production voyaged with the not-so-huge audience on mental health issues, zeroing in on love, cyber bullying and culture, among others.
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Phiri said, inspired by the healing dance Vimbuza, he decided to connect the dots by using his own style in creating something that could help heal people who are going through mental health issues through storytelling.
“Vimbuza is a traditional dance that has been instrumental when it comes to healing and I thought we should utilise it but, in this case, talking about theatre,” he said.
It is not an easy to unite music, dance and theatre in a combo as there are a lot of demands and YDC Theatre did that well.
“This is the beginning of more musical productions and it is time we shifted from the traditional way of doing theatre. Times have changed; art needs to tell stories in a creative and deeper way,” he said.
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The actor and playwright revealed plans for them to take the production to Lilongwe and Zomba next year before moving to Germany.
Miss UMP 2025 Yemis Mzoma hailed YDC Theatre for the production, saying it was timely as it tackles mental health issues.
“I am happy that YDC Theatre has come out to use theatre to tell stories of what young people are going through. Mental health is real and we need to seriously tackle using art as well,” she said.
Meanwhile, YDC Theatre has said it will hold Udolo Wanga Festival next year, with both local and international acts set to perform.
