It was surely a perfect descent and a well thrown dice for Descendants Ensemble Theatre which unveiled itself to the world on Monday premiering From the Freedom Square at Blantyre Cultural Centre.
The group founded by actors Ben Msuku and Gift Namachekecha, who once starred with late Gertrude Webster Kamkwatira in Wanna Do Ensemble Theatre, Shy Ali and renowned actress Flora Suya, showed potential during their performance.
With several drama groups grounded due to economic challenges Descendants have promised to ride on and produce quality productions.
Their premiere did not attract a huge audience but the few that came praised them for braving the economic challenges and come out with a good play.
“As an actor I am impressed with the group, they did well and their play is good. They have a team of actors and actresses who have been there in theatre blended with up and coming actors and actresses.
Several drama groups are grounded and for them to come out they have opened the way for others to wake up,” said Maxwell Chiphinga popularly known as Max DC in the theatre circles.
Member of Parliament Dennis Namachekecha Phiri, who happens to be Gift’s father, said he was impressed with the group.
“I am not saying this because I have a son in the group but I started watching plays longtime ago and what I have seen this afternoon is good. The group just needs encouragement and support. Actually, as someone who loves art I will support them so that they go around and stage the play in other areas,” said Phiri.
He said it was high time theatre took back its place just as it was in the past.
“What has also impressed me most is that these actors have been there and they know what they are doing and they blended well with the up and coming actors,” said the MP, who already took a step supporting the group with all the advertisement for the premiere.
From the Freedom Square is a play which was written by Msuku and has a cast of seven.
The play centres on two families who are going through their different experiences and challenges.
On separation with his wife but still yearning for companionship, Troy Kahamba played by Msuku finds himself in excitement following the arrival of his nephew Yampido Glasiyano played by Namachekecha.
And on the other side there is the family of Mrs. Lolani, a widow and businesswoman played by Suya, who has a daughter Zimveka played by Tiyamike Mwafulirwa.
But through their experiences, Mrs. Lolani onetime ends up at Troy Kahamba’s place where the two end up in a relationship and within a short period they plan to marry.
But with wedding plans underway, Zimveka’s daughter, who was left vulnerable due to her mother’s absence, is impregnated by Kahamba’s nephew Yampido.
And that meant the cancellation of the wedding as the two families now found themselves in a tight corner when the future of Mrs. Lolani and Kahamba was beginning to look brighter.
Kahamba argued with her nephew as to why he impregnated Zimveka while he knew for sure he was wedding her mother.
“This is sabotage,” he told his nephew.
His nephew said before Kahamba met Mrs Lolani, he and Zimveka were already in a relationship.
But the audience was left in suspense as its ending did not really tell what solution the two families came up with.
The actors were energetic and brilliant with their acting being the first production but there were some gray areas which need polishing for instance one could notice that some actors had not done enough in terms of mastering the script.
This is a very good play, very creative and has all the drama but the actors need to do more in terms of rehearsals to make the production tight.
Suya, who has starred in award winning movies The Last Fishing Boat and Seasons of a Life, said this is just the beginning.
“We are ready and determined, we will not stop here, people should just watch the space because we will not tire,” she said.
Other actors starring in the play are Mildred Murindiwa, Blessings Suya and Regina Kaiya.
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