Shakespeare Schools FestivalMALAWI
(The Hybrid Festival & Tour)
The Fifth Festival - 2021 / 2022
To our 'Hybrid' Festival in Malawi...
Welcome & Takulandirani to our Fifth Festival!
This year we propose a Festival in two parts: virtual (Saturday, 4th December, 2021) and, if the spirits of Covid allow, face-to-face (as above, and January to June 2022): hence 'hybrid'.
Here we present the Festival as it evolves!
... Greetings from South Africa
Ms. Kseniya Filinova-Bruton, DIrector of the Shakespeare Schools Festival - South Africa, sends greetings to fellow Shakespeareans in Malawi (.pdf).
The Festival artwork is the kind gift of her husband. This is acknowledged here (00:21), by Miss Mary Manda, a pupil of Mlare Private Secondary School.
Click here to download a copy of this poster (.pdf).
PART ISaturday, 4th December, 2021
Part I of the Festival consists in a small gathering of local schools at Kamuzu Academy, together with a larger Festival online.
If you are unable to travel to Kamuzu Academy, we hope that you will enjoy the online productions, which were filmed (mostly) on location at participating schools in November 2021. Over two hundred and fifty young people and their teachers, representing ten schools (six secondary and four primary, inc. one for deaf children) and two youth groups, from Dedza, Kasungu, Lilongwe and Mzimba Districts, are involved!
Plays will become available at the stated time (CAT) and will remain online after the Festival. (Click the window to open and enlarge.) Each is introduced by a Sonnet read by a member of the Kamuzu Academy Drama Club. (Click the separate link.)
Two summaries are available: i) "LIVE" from Kamuzu Academy ("It's Good to be Back") (24:33) and ii) "ONLINE" from Malawi ("The Best of the Best") (24:33).
The YouTube playlist is available here.
Click here to download a copy of this poster (.pdf).
Welcome & Takulandirani
Your host is Mr. Emmanuel Sogolera, founding captain of the Kamuzu Academy Drama Club.
Emmanuel's speech of welcome (voice and signed) is delivered from Mzuzu International Academy, whose performance of Romeo & Juliet he co-directed. Click on his portrait (right) to hear it! (01:23)
In two interviews, Emmanuel speaks of his involvement, first (05:01), in the Kamuzu Academy Drama Club, and second (06:38), in the Shakespeare Schools Festival - Malawi.
From Ten o'clock to NoonOnline from Malawi
Filmed on Location and at Kamuzu Academy
All Saints' Mtunthama CDSS (Hamlet), Chambidzi Rita Primary School (The Tempest), Chimbowe Primary School (Romeo & Juliet), Destiny Drama Club - Mtunthama (Measure for Measure)
Excerpts from the plays are collected here (24:33).
From Noon to Two o'clockInterlude
Miss Alisoun Probert (UK) has created signed plays for deaf schools in Malawi over three years. Please enjoy (while we rest) the storyboard that she designed for Mua Deaf School's 'The Malawian Play': an adaptation of Macbeth. It will be performed (online) this afternoon.
Click here (00:30) to watch the play under rehearsal.
From Two to Five o'clockLive from Kamuzu Academy
The Auditorium
Tchesa Primary School (Julius Caesar), Chimbowe Primary School (Romeo & Juliet), Destiny Drama Club - Mtunthama (Measure for Measure, Two Scenes from Julius Caesar), Kamuzu Academy (The Taming of the Shrew), Mzuzu International Academy (Romeo & Juliet - Screened)
Click here (24:33) to watch a summary of proceedings.
Two Scenes from Julius Caesar (09:41) and The Taming of the Shrew (14:20) are available to watch in full.
From Two to Six o'clockOnline from Malawi
Filmed on Location and at Kamuzu Academy
Kamuzu Academy (The Taming of the Shrew), Lotus Cultural Team - Lilongwe (The Tempest), Mlare Private Secondary School (King Lear), Mtunthama Primary School (As You Like It), Mua School for the Deaf ('The Malawian Play'), Mziza Mission Secondary School (Macbeth), Mzuzu International Academy (Romeo & Juliet), Tchesa Primary School (Julius Caesar)
Excerpts from the plays are collected here (24:33).
Farewell & Muyende Bwino
Emmanuel's speech of farewell (voice and signed) is also delivered from Mzuzu International Academy. Click on his portrait (right) to hear it! (00:44)
Report
The Director's report on the Festival is available here (.pdf).
It encompasses also Part II of the Festival (the Tour): vide infra.
Destiny Drama Club (Mtunthama) jumps for joy!
Zikomo kwambili (and Baie dankie, Spasibo bolshoe, Many thanks)...
... to the following who have supported our Festival:
Kamuzu Academy, Malawi and the Shakespeare Schools Festival - South Africa
Russia and South Africa: Ms. Kseniya Filinova-Bruton
United Kingdom: Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey Hewitt, Prof. Maurice Hindle and Miss Alisoun Probert
Mr. R. L. Hewitt (R) and Mr. L. W. Parker (L), directors, are photographed with Dr. Basireddy Radha (C) and the Lotus Cultural Team (Lilongwe) at Kamuzu Academy.
PART IIJanuary - June 2022
(In conjunction with Kamuzu Academy's fortieth anniversary celebrations)
Part II is intended as the Shakespeare Festival's contribution to Kamuzu Academy's fortieth anniversary celebrations (1981 – 2021). It is a Tour.
Click here to download a copy of this poster (.pdf).
Malawi est omnis divisa in partes tres...
NORTH
(Elephant Rock)
Saturday, 19th February, 2022
Sunbird Mzuzu Hotel
Kamuzu Academy Drama Club
in conjunction with...
Marymount Catholic Secondary School and Mzuzu International Academy
Click here to watch an edited version of proceedings (40:42).
CENTRE
(Mount Kasungu)
Saturday, 12th March, 2022
Nguru-ya-Nawambe Palace
Kamuzu Academy Drama Club
in conjunction with...
Chayamba Secondary School and Mziza Mission Secondary School
Click here to watch an edited version of proceedings (50:15).
CENTRE & SOUTH
(The Kirk Range)
Saturday, 14th May, 2022 (Kamuzu Day)
Kungoni Centre of Culture & Art (Mua Mission)
Kamuzu Academy Drama Club
in conjunction with...
Mua School for the Deaf and Nyungwe Girls' Catholic Private Secondary School
Click here to watch an edited version of proceedings (01:05:54).