Chanco theatre lecturer brings one woman play
The most recent play with a one person cast was Tales of the Tiger by Mbene mwa Mbene. However, Catherine Makhumula busts the gender imbalance on stage in the genre of one person play by bringing Mwana Wanga.
Unlike popular trends where playwrights and directors make adaptations of books, novels, short stories and foreign plays, Makhumula adapts Dear Child, a song by former Real Elements rapper Kimba Mutanda featuring Peter Mawanga.
The play will be acted by Uchizi Munyenyembe, a fresh Bachelor of Arts graduate from Chancellor College, a constituent college of the University of Malawi. The crew includes Robert Mugasa, who is a light and sound technician, while Mbene mwa Mbene, who also staged a one man play is assistant director.
Mwana Wanga is a woman’s journey of love, betrayal, abuse, courage and strength. In this riveting one woman stage performance, the audience is immersed into the life of Ma, from her childhood to the present, exploring her failed love interests and her turbulent relationship with her children.
Ma leaves no stone unturned, exploring issues such as unity, exploitation and blame, touching on the very fabric of what it means to be Malawian.
The play is interactive and therefore reduces the boredom of listening to a long monologue.
On his part, Kimba Mutanda, the original idea behind Mwana Wanga, said that he is excited that his music has relevance to his fans.
“When I started writing the song, my first idea was to actually have a female voice recite it instead of me being on the recording. That it has in a sense taken that form in this theatrical piece is something I look forward to experiencing,” said Kimba.
He said he is likes the fact that this song inspired Makhumula creatively and looks forward to experiencing the piece.
