Seasoned dramatist Smith Likongwe, who is also a lecturer at University of Malawi (Unima) in Zomba has admitted that the theatre space is lacking in terms of enough productions and that there was need to improve.
Likongwe, who has written several plays for stage and radio as well as books, also said that there were not enough playwrights at the moment.
He made the remarks as the country on Thursday joined the theatre world to celebrate the World Theatre Day which falls on March 27 every year.
“We are stuck some steps backwards. We do not have enough productions and enough playwrights at the moment. However, for well-crafted scripts, we can do with a few,” Likongwe, who last year earned an international writing residency at the University of Iowa in United States of America, said.
He said theatre is a huge art form and that they were using theatre to influence the world in various sectors and that this is the one area that the country has excelled “The economic and cultural environment has not done us a favour. As a society, we need to get back to watching live performances as families and as communities. I am talking of live performances that require the audience to follow and analyse stories,” Likongwe said.
He said the landscape now is at a stage where the digital space looks like it has taken over. “But in more developed countries, we still have sold out theatre shows,” the dramatist, creator of books like Kamuzu Banda and Other Stories, said.
Meanwhile, St Andrews International High School in Blantyre will be staging a play titled Les Miserables today and tomorrow following up on yesterday and Wednesday’s performances. In another development, National Theatre Association of Malawi (Ntam) did not hold any activities on Thursdayto celebrate the day as the body gears to hold its Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Salima on Sunday. The AGM with top on the agenda being elections was supposed to be held tomorrow but due to other circumstances, it has been shifted to Sunday.
Blantyre-based actor and playwright Steve Kango has been disqualified and that means that battle for presidency will be between Louis Masamba and Harriet Kanyenda. The current president Maxwell Chiphinga is not seeking re-election.
Book Publishers Association of Malawi (Bpam) is also holding its AGM virtually today with all National Executive Committee positions available for contest. The association’s current president Maureen Masamba has also said that she is not seeking re-election
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