A play titled Lobola that explores the matter of cultural clashes, turned out to be the ‘best’ among other productions and won Young Travellers Theatre top position during the National Theatre Association of Malawi (Ntam) regional competition held at Jacaranda Cultural Centre (JCC) in Blantyre on Sunday.
The regional competition (South), which featured a feast of performances from the categories of drama, comedy and traditional dances, kick-started the journey for the national competition slated for November 5 2023 at a venue yet to be announced.
In the drama category, which had more contestants compared to comedy and traditional dances, Young Travellers Theatre carried the day and won the hearts of the judges, scooping position one, outclassing other well-known outfits including old-timers Kwathu Drama Group.
And as if this was not enough, Young Travellers also collected the Best Play accolade, Best Director, which went to Imran Shaban, and Best Actor which went to Abdullah Lifa.
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For coming out top, Young Travellers has qualified for the national final, with Emancipation Theatrical Ensemble and YDC which came second and third, respectively, joining them.
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Regina Kaiya collected the Best Actress accolade whereas Ferguson Magona, who starred in Kwathu Drama Group’s play Nazimbiri, scooped the Best Supporting Actor accolade.
In the traditional dances category, only two groups participated, with Dikamawoko coming top whereas Judges was second. The two have all qualified for the national final.
The category of comedy was the worst in terms of performances, according to the judges. Sauzande came first with Maxwell Chiphinga aka Max DC and Louis Masamba coming second and third, respectively.
Chiphinga, who is Ntam President, hailed theatre players for participating in the competition.
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“The competition in the South was being handled by the chapter and the same with the central and north. So, the best three in each category will participate in the national final,” Chiphinga, who starred for Emancipation Theatrical Ensemble with Flora Suya in the play, Mabanja Alero, said.
As president, Chiphinga was exemplary as he participated in comedy where he came second whereas in drama he also came second.
The regional contest goes to the Central Region this coming weekend to take place at Madsoc Theatre in Lilongwe.
The competition, to be held on Sunday, will feature Paragon Arts, Rise Arts, Friends for Benefits, Pamodzi Travelling Theatre, Zamzam Arts and New Beginning in the drama category whereas the traditional dance category has City Public Cultural Troupe, Mtendere Dance Troupe and Zamzam Dance Troupe, with the comedy category only having Chongolopiyo comedians.
Meanwhile, Ntam, which recently embarked on a K15 million crowdfunding drive aimed at financing its national theatre competition, is yet to realise the amount.
“We are still calling for support to raise K15 million which will be used to give out prizes for the winners,” Chiphinga said.
