Nanzikambe Arts Treats Mzuzu with ‘Ku Kabula’ Dose

By: Steve Chipala      

Malawi’s renowned professional theatre group, Nanzikambe Arts, gave Mzuzu fans a rare theatre treats on Saturday night at St. Augustine Parish Hall in Mzuzu.

Speaking in an interview after the crème de la crème performance that turned the hall into a haven of theatre, one of the founding members of the group, Mphundo Mjumira, who also doubles as the group’s Project Officer and Producer, indicated that he was impressed with the performance.

“Tonight’s performance was quite good. I felt being welcomed by the audience and their reactions to the scenes of the play personally made me enjoy the actual acting on stage. The sizeable audience presented a tranquil atmosphere to listen to the satirical performance and I don’t take this for granted,” said Mjumira.

The new chef d’oeuvre, ‘Ku Kabula’, a play written and produced by the group’s playwright, Wuve, attracted theatre enthusiasts as it renders itself as a social commentary that attacks the greedy behaviour of a chief who receives donations from Germany for his subjects only to feed his unsatisfied pockets.

The theatrical performance, which was expected to be made at Mzuzu University Main Hall, comes barely four months after the Mzuzu University’s Library was gutted by fire on 18 December, 2015 – a development which has forced the university management to use St. Augustine Parish Hall instead of its main hall which has currently been turned into a temporary library.

With a theatrical prowess spanning over a decade since its establishment by the Germany-based Kate Stafford, Nanzikambe Arts is Malawi’s leading professional arts development organisation. The group is involved in creating and performing touring theatre productions, film and radio drama as well as working with the development community in using theatre and the arts to support positive social change on health, good governance, malaria prevention, HIV and AIDS prevention, maternal health and climate change.

Since its formation in March 2003, Nanzikambe Arts Development Organization has grown to become a centre of excellence in performing collaborative work within Malawi, the SADC Region and internationally.

The group is also well known for its play ‘And Crocodile are Hungry at Night,’ a play which stands out as an adaptation based on the memoir by Malawi’s poet Jack Mapanje.