The last time Blantyre-based group Dikamawoko Arts had a production on stage was two years ago.<\/p>\n
But now after a two-year break, the group which recently hosted a traditional dance afternoon at Kwa Haraba in Blantyre is out with a play titled \u2018Taking Madiba\u2019.<\/p>\n
The play will be staged at Jacaranda Cultural Centre in Blantyre tomorrow afternoon.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople should keep time because we will start at 3pm and finish at 4pm. The entry fee is K2,500,\u201d said Tawonga Taddja Nkhonjera, who has written the play.<\/p>\n
Madiba is a name that needs no introduction as it is that of South Africa\u2019s former president late Nelson Mandela.<\/p>\n
He served as South Africa\u2019s president from 1994 to 1999. He was the country\u2019s first black head of state and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election.<\/p>\n
Mandela died on December 5, 2013 aged 95.<\/p>\n
He is widely regarded as an icon of democracy and social justice and he received more than 250 honours \u2013 including the Nobel Peace Prize.<\/p>\n
And now back to the production, Nkhonjera, who is Dikamawoko Director, said they were excited to get back to the stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know some quarters have been asking as to why we are coming up with Taking Madiba, instead of our own stories but in theatre you are not restricted to your own stories. I wrote this play sometime but we could not do it and now here we are,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Nkhonjera is starring in the play alongside Constance Thyangathyanga.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was initially a one-man act but Xolisa Ngubelanga, who is directing the play, decided to breathe more life into it suggesting that we should have a cast of two, so it\u2019s now a cast of two,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
And asked why he went for Ngubelanga, an actor, director and drama teacher from Port Elizabeth, South Africa to direct the play, Nkhonjera said:<\/p>\n
\u201cWe made a call that we were looking for people to direct the production and so Xolisa came up. It\u2019s the first time for Constance to do such a play but we have worked very hard and I can say we are almost 100 percent ready.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said this was an original play written by him and not an adaptation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are staging this play as any other. We have three other plays coming up \u2018A Dry Pond\u2019, \u2018Chaos and The President Who Loved Leicester City Football Club\u2019 and so we are not stopping here. With funds permitting we may take Taking Madiba to other areas,\u201d said the actor.<\/p>\n
In \u2018Taking Madiba\u2019, Nkhonjera plays the role of Grim Reaper while Thyangathyanga is starring as The Creator.<\/p>\n
According to the synopsis, the play is a depiction of Madiba\u2019s qualities and characteristics when he was alive.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe soul collector, Grim Reaper, is going about his business, collecting souls. Next on his list is Nelson Mandela.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn account of the nature of the man, Grim Reaper has qualms collecting Mandela\u2019s soul, much to the chagrin of The Creator and she makes her case known in clear terms that no matter what, Grim will be taking Madiba,\u201d Nkhonjera explained.<\/p>\n
He said the play was there to entertain people but also at the same time offer lessons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The last time Blantyre-based group Dikamawoko Arts had a production on stage was two years ago. But now after a two-year break, the group which recently hosted a traditional dance afternoon at Kwa Haraba in Blantyre is out with a play titled \u2018Taking Madiba\u2019. The play will be staged at Jacaranda Cultural Centre in Blantyre […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":50597,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50593"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50593\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50598,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50593\/revisions\/50598"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}