Amy directs ‘Romeo and Juliet’s’ Chichewa version

Amy Bonsall is a woman who has always loved Shakespeare’s work and this is why she is in the forefront directing a Chichewa version of Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet set to be staged in the country in April.

Amy began her career directing Shakespeare’s plays in South Africa though.

“I have always loved Shakespeare’s work. There is so much you can do with it; it can be set in different times and in different places from the original play, creating a variety of meanings for disparate audiences,” she said.

Amy said in 2012, Kate Stafford brought And Crocodiles are Hungary at Night (her adaptation of Jack Mapanje’s stunning memoir of the same title) to London and Stratford-Upon-Avon.

She added that the Shakespeare Birth Place Trust, Nanzikambe Arts and Bilimankhwe co- produced the production and also commissioned a Shakespeare production.

“Kate generously handed the Shakespeare over to me and we decided that Romeo and Juliet would be a good choice as it was on the curriculum in Malawi. It also meant that Nanzikambe could do the production again in Malawi when they returned from the UK, which they duly did,” she said.

During those rehearsals they began to translate the play into Chichewa, but because they were very short on time, they all felt that there was a great opportunity to have it translated by a Malawian writer.

In both the UK and Malawi audiences, Amy said they were excited to hear the different languages used.

“So clearly it was something worth developing. There are so many themes that are relevant to Malawi that are explored within the play, parent’s disapproving of what their children are doing, different families fighting and the differences between the generation are just three that come to mind, there are many more,” she said.

Amy said in 2013 Bilimankhwe produced an adaptation of writer Stanley Onjezani Kenani’s Cain prize nominated short story Love on Trial.

“Stanley was the perfect person to undertake a poetic translation of the play and we were delighted when he accepted the challenge,” said Amy.