Kwatha Drama Group gave people a treat on New Year\u2019s Eve when they restaged their play Mulhakho na Mphatizano at Blantyre Cultural Centre.
\nDuring the performance, which attracted a good audience, the group said it has plans to be holding plays monthly.
\n\u201cThe year 2017 has been great. Our target is to produce three plays every year and we are proud that we achieved that. Apart from the play Mulhakho na Mphatizano, we also staged Chaulere and Chibwana,\u201d Eric Mabedi, Kwathu\u2019s Director, said.
\nHe said 2017 has seen them performing in different places, particularly in the Southern and Central regions, but apologised for not reaching out to people in the Northern Region.
\n\u201cThe support we received keeps us motivated. This is why we are looking at doing plays monthly, especially in Blantyre,\u201d Mabedi, popularly known as Jakobo, said.
\nMabedi also revealed that they would be launching a new play titled Achithekere on March 5 2018.
\n\u201cWe will give out more information later. We just want to wish people a happy and prosperous new year. It\u2019s been a long journey and God has favoured us to enter 2018,\u201d he said.
\nKwathu spokesperson, Bon Kalindo, better known as Winiko, said they were happy that a lot of people patronised the show.
\n\u201cWe thank God that a lot of people came and it was all about celebrating with our fans ahead of the New Year. We are happy that people are still following us,\u201d Kalindo said.
\nHe admitted that drama was no longer the same.
\n\u201cIn the past, we had more groups,\u201d Kalindo said.
\nHe said they were adjusting to the situation, adding that they were looking forward to performing at venues such as Bingu Convention Centre in Lilongwe to reach out to a different audience.
\nHe then called on people to celebrate and spend wisely during the festive season.
\nCharles Juma, who stays in Lilongwe but came to Blantyre for a holiday, hailed Kwathu for the production.
\n\u201cIt was a good performance and it is one of their best pieces. It has a rich story, which hinges on cultural differences. The play also teachers us how arranged marriages affect development of the country,\u201d Juma said.
\nWritten by Mabedi, who also stars in the play, Mulhakho na Mphatizano focuses on the abuse that women go through in the name of marriage and cultural beliefs.
\nThe story focuses on Mvahiwa from Thyolo District, who works in South Africa.
\nIn the Rainbow nation, Mvahiwa, who does not appear anywhere in the play, sends a message to his relations to find a good wife.
\nThey manage to get Ntchayi Ntonyo, played by Emma Chikwembeya from Shire Valley, where the culture of Kulowola (dowry) is followed when it comes to marriage.
\nMvahiwa\u2019s blood relations, led by Charles Mphoka and Kalindo, do everything possible and succeed in taking Tchayi to Thyolo where she awaits Mvahiwa.
\nBut five years elapse and Mvahiwa does not come to pick his wife.
\nNtchayi falls pregnant and the situation angers Mvahiwa\u2019s relations, who demand their money back.
\nThis, however, does not work as Ntchayi\u2019s relations refuse to pay back the money, as they also feel offended by the other party.
\nDespite having a mature story, some of the scenes in the play are long and need to be shortened.
\nThe group continues to compromise on its props which some people described as lazy, but Kalindo said they were working on improving their stage work.
\nOther actors starring in the play are Nelia Chosalawa, Mwandipa Chimaliro, Enifa Chiwaya, Musa Penoh and Evans Mbewe.
\nKukana Kuba Kasambwe Band warmed up the stage for Kwathu Drama Group, which was expected to hold another performance at Gymkhana Club in Zomba Monday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kwatha Drama Group gave people a treat on New Year\u2019s Eve when they restaged their play Mulhakho na Mphatizano at Blantyre Cultural Centre. During the performance, which attracted a good audience, the group said it has plans to be holding plays monthly. \u201cThe year 2017 has been great. Our target is to produce three plays […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":58408,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58407","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\/58407","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=58407"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58407\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58409,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58407\/revisions\/58409"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}