Critical Stages in Malawian Contemporary Theatre

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Critical Stages in Malawian Contemporary Theatre Podcast

In Critical Stages in Malawian Contemporary Theatre, Fumbani Innot Phiri Jr. interviews established theatre artists from all backgrounds to explore the precarious journey of theatre in a modern world, define its problems, and find better solutions to sustain performing arts in a generation of motion pictures. Fumbani leads discussions with established performers, directors, and writers who are exploring ways to greet these challenges while their works inspire their communities.

Episodes

  1. Championing Theatre for Development in Malawian

    01/17/2023

    Championing Theatre for Development in Malawian

    Theatre for development, which uses theatre to foster civic dialogue in communities, is quite popular in Malawi. Fumbani Innot Phiri, Jr. sits down with theatre for development practitioner Vitu Gwambaike Zgambo find out what commercial theatremakers in Malawi’s cities and towns can learn from the community-based practitioners creating theatre in villages around the country.

    35 min
  2. Producing Malawi’s First Multidisciplinary Arts Festival

    01/09/2023

    Producing Malawi’s First Multidisciplinary Arts Festival

    When filmmaker Thomas Chibambo founded the Blantyre Arts Festival in 2009, it was Malawi’s first multidisciplinary arts festival. He joins host Fumbani Innot Phiri, Jr. to discuss the Blantyre Arts Festival’s current plans to better support theatrical performance and his own work to establish an Arts Council in Malawi.

    35 min
  3. How YDC Theatre Leaders Are Navigating Malawi’s Changing Theatre Environment

    01/04/2023

    How YDC Theatre Leaders Are Navigating Malawi’s Changing Theatre Environment

    YDC Theatre has been producing theatre consistently in Malawi, even throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. They join Fumbani Innot Phiri, Jr. to trace the connections between the company’s consistent work centering Malawian perspectives, their efforts to build an audience, and the political and funding climate that they must navigate.

    1h 1m
  4. Making Theatre as a Multi-Hyphenate in Malawi

    12/21/2022

    Making Theatre as a Multi-Hyphenate in Malawi

    Pleasant Theodore Banda led Rise Arts to its first international performance in Zimbabwe. In this interview, he discusses his path into artistic direction as an actor and playwright with a background in accounting.

    1h 0m
  5. Developing Genuine Malawian Theatre on Stage and on the Radio

    12/14/2022

    Developing Genuine Malawian Theatre on Stage and on the Radio

    Fumbani Innot Phiri Jr. interviews his playwright and director Inno Katz about his career and his efforts to redefining Malawian theatre by focusing on local stories in both English and Chichewa.

    1h 14m
  6. Reinventing Malawian Theatre for a New Generation

    12/07/2022

    Reinventing Malawian Theatre for a New Generation

    Jack Msumba, creative director of Youth Developers Collaboration Theatre, has big ideas for the future of Malawian theatre. In this interview, he shares his plans to eventually build Malawi’s first theatre house by producing work consistently in schools, communities, and commercial settings.

    50 min
  7. Theatre as a Tool for Menstrual Hygiene Education

    11/30/2022

    Theatre as a Tool for Menstrual Hygiene Education

    Lydia Deborah Banda infuses theater into community initiatives that work toward gender equality, educate girls about menstruation, and provide leadership and support opportunities in schools and prisons. In this interview, she shares her experiences conducting these initiatives in Malawi and touring internationally to Germany.

    44 min
  8. Building an Audience for Malawian Political Theatre

    11/22/2022

    Building an Audience for Malawian Political Theatre

    Bright Phumayo Chayachaya’s Umunthu Theatre pulls together political theatre, poor theatre, theatre for development, and educational theatre to create productions that centralize Malawian narratives. In this interview, he discusses the company’s genesis and the need to bring audiences back to theatre.

    54 min
  9. Melding Spoken Word Poetry and Theatre in Malawi

    11/16/2022

    Melding Spoken Word Poetry and Theatre in Malawi

    What does the voice of this millennium sound like? In this interview, Khumbolane Chavula provides one answer to that question by splicing together theatre, poetry, and entrepreneurship as the founder of Millesimal Poetry.

    33 min
  10. Development of Malawian Theatre: A Conversation with Maxwell Chiphinga

    11/09/2022

    Development of Malawian Theatre: A Conversation with Maxwell Chiphinga

    Maxwell Ciphinga, better known as Max DC, has weathered massive changes in the audience, form, and funding of Malawian theatre throughout his four-decade career. In this interview, he shares his perspective on the industry and discusses his policy and producorial work as the president of Malawi’s new National Theatre Association.

    45 min
  11. Theatre Academics: A Conversation with Roselyn Madalo Dzanja

    11/02/2022

    Theatre Academics: A Conversation with Roselyn Madalo Dzanja

    As a scholar, educator, and practitioner of theatre, Roselyn Madalo Dzanja knows Malawi’s theatrical landscape well. In this interview, she discusses the challenges Malawian women face when pursuing an acting career, the need for artistic independence from international donors, possibilities for Chichewa-language drama, and more.

    49 min
  12. Dance for Change: A Conversation with Robert Magasa

    10/26/2022

    Dance for Change: A Conversation with Robert Magasa

    Robert Magasa is an experienced dancer, choreographer, and actor who trained in Zimbabwe and now runs UjeNi Dance Ensemble Theatre in Malawi. In this interview, Magasa discusses his career, the economics of producing theatre in Malawi, and his current work to bring a combination of traditional and Afro contemporary dance to schoolchildren in Malawi.

    48 min
  • 12 Episodes

About

In Critical Stages in Malawian Contemporary Theatre, Fumbani Innot Phiri Jr. interviews established theatre artists from all backgrounds to explore the precarious journey of theatre in a modern world, define its problems, and find better solutions to sustain performing arts in a generation of motion pictures. Fumbani leads discussions with established performers, directors, and writers who are exploring ways to greet these challenges while their works inspire their communities.

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