into the future

It's been a really amazing few months for Bilimankhwe Arts ... we have doubled in size to a team of four. Artistic Director Kate Stafford and Associate Director Amy Bonsall have recently welcomed Roe Lane as Literary Associate and Charlie Morgan Jones as Creative Associate.

Roe and Charlie have had no time to catch their breath - they have already started work on a new piece to be presented at Ovalhouse in the New Year. Based on Stanley Onjezani Kenani's short story 'Love On Trail' (nominated for the Caine Prize in 2012), it is multi-media and very contemporary in style, intercutting Kenani’s story of illegal homosexuality in Malawi with the press frenzy surrounding British singer George Michael’s 1998 arrest for ‘lewd conduct’ in a LA public toilet.

In the mean time, our Malawi partners Nanzikambe have been busy showing both Romeo and Juliet and And Crocodiles Are Hungry At Night in Malawi. On the 8th November Crocodiles played at Chancellor College, University of Malawi - where Jack Mapanje was Head of the English Department at the time of his arrest. Chanco students are notoriously difficult to please, so it was with some trepidation that we received a copy of the review - however, it seems the production was very well received, by both critic and audience.

"the masterpiece And Crocodiles Are Hungry At Night craftily immortalises memories overwritten by 19 years of multiparty democracy"  - James Chavula, The Nation

reviews

Here, for anyone who'd like to see them, are the two reviews so far ...

FINANCIAL TIMES :

"The ensemble is vibrant and muscular ... the sum of the whole is raw and vibrant. You can smell the Mikuyu prison jail from your seat" \

4 stars ****

click here for the full review

TIME OUT LONDON

"Misheck Mzumara's depiction of Mapanje flashes with a desperate, earnest charm ...

" A play which bursts into moments of shocking frustration and touching humanity"

3 stars ***

click here for the full review
 

**** four stars!!

We have a four-star review in the Financial Times. Such a relief when someone really gets what it is we are trying to achieve! So now it's all hands to the plough to try to convert an excellent review into ticket sales.

Time Out were there, so it's just a matter of waiting for the review (a bit nervously: just because one critic loved it doesn't mean another will). We're still trying to get the other London papers. 

Here's a rather shocking fact for those of you who may be interested: the Evening Standard only has one theatre reviewer, and he is currently in Edinburgh. Have I misunderstood? Is the Evening Standard not a LONDON paper? Are we not in the middle of the LONDON Cultural Olympiad? So what in God's name is the reviewer doing in Edinburgh?

Onwards and upwards I suppose. A small but select audience last night and it looks to be the same tonight.  My family are in, so it had better be a good one!

four star review in the Financial Times

opening night

Well it's happened! The press night was wonderful. Free glasses of cava all round, with some fab food and a great show. The place was pretty full and the actors rose to the occasion, so now it's just a case of waiting for the reviews to come out. Let's hope they will be kind.

Stratford-on-Avon also went really well, although the performance space is much more challenging. However, The audience absolutely loved it, and there were people standing to applaud at the end, so I think it was OK! 

The journey to this point has been rocky, to say the least. Poor Dipo Katimba had her visa refused, so we were challenged at the very start, having to replace her with a UK based actress. Angella Ching'amba, who played Lady M in my African Macbeth, and Titania in An African Dream and is now based in Nottingham, stepped into the breach. This was great, because she was also a member of the team at the start of this project, developing and performing in After Mikuyu back in 2006.

In the mean time, I discovered that Misheck, who is playing Jack Mapanje, was committed to another project, and had performances booked right up to the day before we were due to open in Stratford. Some internet diplomacy ensued and we managed to get them to agree to release him a little early, to give us three full days of rehearsal before opening the show. 

The next thing was having to find extra money when Nanzikambe's promised funding was delayed. Air tickets had to be bought whether the funds were in or not! So some borrowing from Peter to pay Paul was organised ...

So the project was still on! Hurrah! And then ... seven of the actors missed their flight. For a while there it was touch and go but after a day which took more than three years off my life, a plane took off from Kamuzu International Airport with all seven of them on board. It seems that Mphundu has a golden tongue and talked them into changing the flights at no extra cost. A miracle! But when they arrived their katundu (luggage and stuff) didn't. It was still in Addis Ababa. So we had the actors, but not the set or costumes.

So all in all, it's completely amazing that we have a show - and not just a show, a good show. Which just goes to show that Malawian performers are resilient, resourceful and pretty fabulous. Second night in London tonight ... fingers crossed. 

Caine Prize and the Arts Council

This week has been a busy one. The Caine Prize winner will be announced on Monday, and the five shortlisted candidates are in town - including my friend Stanley Kenani who has been shortlisted for the second time (the first time was in 2008).

So it was off to the Royal Overseas League on Thursday for the first of a series of panel discussions with the shortlisted writers. A very lively, robust and entertaining evening, made even more fun by the fact that Stanley had had a couple of glasses of wine before going on stage, which loosened his tongue marvellously. They were asked the question about whether they thought of themselves as African writers and the blue touch paper was lit. Stanley said he wasn't going to answer that question until writers from European countries were asked if they through of themselves as 'European writers'. "This question really pisses me off" he said. Fantastic stuff. He got a well-deserved round of applause.

Today it was the Royal African Society's 2 day festival at SOAS. Again, a most interesting discussion with the Caine Prize writers. Made more so for me by the addition of James Gibbs in the audience - a rare pleasure to have a chat with this grandee of the African Theatre world. I also took the opportunity of asking Dr Mpalive Msiska (reader in English at Birkbeck University) if he would be interested in chairing a Q&A with Jack during the run of the show. In theory he is - but a family wedding in Malawi slap bang in the middle of the run may de-rail the plan. We'll see.

Tomorrow I am back at SOAS for an event featuring Jack Mapanje and the publisher of his memoir, Becky Nana Ayebia. Looking forward to a stimulating discussion, and of course Jack is always very entertaining.

Other developments this week have included the confirmation of our Arts Council funding - a great relief - and the ensuing flurry of activity. I have now employed a Company Stage Manager, the lovely Kala Simpson, and a very talented young Lighting Designer, Charlie Jones. Charlie has some fab ideas, and it was a joy to talk some of them through with him. This is going to be a very exciting show!

expanding the team

And so the expansion continues ... today Amy and I held interviews for some new people, as we are overwhelmed by the amount of administration and organisation we have to do in the next few weeks. Found some great people, and offers have been made. I'll let you know if and when they're accepted!

This is an anxious time ... still waiting to hear from the Arts Council, fingers tightly crossed in anticipation. However, we're getting more and more people involved - Chickenshed are now official parters, and have given us some rehearsal space, which makes a massive difference, and I had a very positive meeting with Border Crossings on collaborations during the Africa Salon at The Africa Centre during August. We will be performing 'Crocodiles', and Border Crossings will be curating a series of African events, including a workshop delivered by our extraordinary company of multi-talented Malawians.

But still ... if the Arts Council don't come through, we can run the project but it will be on a shoestring, and very difficult to do. So we've got everything crossed. Trying not to think about it while I embark on the final re-write of Crocodiles.

co-incidences and serendipitous connections

Had a wonderful time yesterday at Chickenshed, where Border Crossings were running Sunshine on a Rainy Day, a one-day mini festival of Southern African performance. Michael Walling (Artistic Director of Border Crossings) had invited me to be on the panel for the discussion. I didn't know what to expect but was delighted to find myself sitting between Arifani Moyo and Christopher Maphosa, both amazingly interesting Zimbabweans. Ari is studying for his doctorate, and also worked for Nanzikambe, the company I founded - although a long time after I had returned to the UK so this was a big - and happy - surprise to me. Christopher was there because his life story was the inspiration behind the play we were to see later in the day - a one man show called The Rain That Washes, written by Dave Carey, directed by Kieran Fay and performed - quite brilliantly - by Ashley Maynard.

The discussion ranged widely, taking in some of my favourite things to talk about ... the role of political theatre in Africa; how Shakespeare can be used to get a subversive message across that would be censored in a modern play; theatre as education as well as entertainment, for both adults and children. Of course I talked at length about Jack Mapanje and And Crocodiles Are Hungry At Night ...

Earlier in the day we saw a lovely film called Kini and Adams. Made in 1997 it has never had a general release here, which is little short of a scandal. Directed by Idrissa Ouedraogo in English, and set in an unspecified Southern African country it is a road movie where they never actually leave town, is funny and tragic and an absolute gem. I only wish I could tell you where to get a copy. Associate Director Amy Bonsall was with me and was surprised and delighted to see that the film was featuring John Kani, who became a friend when she worked on Hamlet with him in Cape Town. 

Later we had a chance to have a long chat with Dave Carey. He has also been to Blantyre, visiting Nanzikambe and working with Mphundu Mjumira and Dipo Katimba on their Street Children project. So you can imagine his pleasure at the news that Mphundu is in the Crocodiles cast and will be arriving in just a few short weeks. We are trying to arrange one of our workshops to be held at Chickenshed.

So the day had a very Malawian flavour; it was wonderful to find these connections. Michael was talking about his work with David Kerr in Botswana - another of my Malawian theatre contacts as David taught for many years at the University of Malawi. (I'm proud to say I introduced them, although I'm sure they would have met sooner or later without me!). 


So now I have to get on with the pre-production. We have had some very bad news, as Dipo has had her visa application denied, and will not be able to be part of the UK productions. However, we are incredibly lucky that Angella Ching'amba is here, living in Nottingham and available to come to London to be in the show. We will greatly miss Dipo, but as Angella was in the research and development piece, After Mikuyu, it will also be a joyful reunion. 

the journey continues

Been back just over a month and so much has happened. After advertising on the Young Vic directors' forum, as of today I now have two new associates:

Amy Bonsall has joined as Associate Director, and she will direct a production of Romeo and Juliet to be performed in the gardens of Hall's Croft in Stratford. She has only just been appointed, and already I'm wondering how I managed without her energy and ideas.

Working with Amy as Assistant Director for R&J will be Roe Lane, who is coming to the end of her MA in Text and Performance at Birkbeck/RADA and has been associated with my Malawian theatre work since 2004 when she joined Nanzikambe for her gap year. I'm really looking forward to having her around again, and will be shamelessly exploiting her intelligence and good nature!

The second of my new Associates is Jemma Gross, who has galloped in on her white charger to take over responsibility for the PR and Marketing of And Crocodiles Are Hungry At Night and Romeo and Juliet. I am feeling very lucky!

Of course it's not all plain sailing. Today has also seen some very worried messages from Misheck in Malawi who is planning on travelling to Germany this coming Monday for the project with Theater Konstanz. Misheck and Dipo from our Crocs  company are both also doing the German project; they already have German visas (these took 2 days to process) and have sent their  passports to the British High Commission to get the UK visas before the trip to Germany. They have now been waiting a month with no feedback from UK visas - so now they have had to ask to cancel the application and have their passports returned urgently. Apparently the UK government 'outsource their visa function' to South Africa so the passports are not even in Malawi. Fingers crossed that the passports make it back to Malawi in time - and we will have to start the visa application all over again. This does not make me proud to be British. 

Also in the last month Amy and I have prepared and submitted the Arts Council application for Grants for the Arts. A long and arduous process, it's also very useful as it makes us be truly specific about why we want to do the project and what we hope to achieve. I only hope the application is strong enough to beat off the competition (at the moment only 45% of applications get approved for funding). Now our attention must turn to all the other funding applications waiting to be completed ...

reviews ....

Well there was a lot of press around the launch of And Crocodiles are Hungry at Night ... here are two of them

all done and dusted

So I'm now sitting in the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, where I shall languish for several hours before flying back to London.

And Crocodiles Are Hungry At Night was a great success ... good sized audiences who seemed to love it. Reviews are now coming in, and although I haven't seen the review in The Nation (I was in transit) today, I have heard it is good. I'm trying to search for it online without much luck ... but I'm sure someone will send it to me soon. I have however found a very positive piece in Nyasa Times which of course I will be quoting in my funding applications for the UK performances in July ...

http://www.nyasatimes.com/malawi/2012/03/05/mpinganjira-shed-tears-as-nanzikambe-staged-mapanje-memoirs/

The opening night was fabulous. Brown Mpinganjira came and cried throughout. Sitting next to Smith Likongwe in the audience he had to remove his glasses often to wipe his eyes. After the show he was invited on stage to say a few words, and was extremely gracious. I feel so pleased that we told his story with integrity - he said that he has been unable to write his memoir as he finds it too upsetting but wants to see the story told. So we have helped with that.

So my Malawi trip is over. It has been a wonderfully creative time and such a joy to be working with the Nanzikambe guys again. We now have a theatre space with a high domed roof and lights (not many, but it's a start) and Nkhwachi Mhango, who was working on the show preparing the performance space and helping with set, now has the bit properly between his teeth. We are working on him coming to the UK with the company and he has asked that I set him up with some theatre lighting and sound people so that he can learn how to run the space more professionally. He loved learning how to use QLab, and run basic sound effects and music through a laptop and has become a bit of a keen techie. So I have another air fare to find, and some capacity-building meetings to set up. I've no idea how difficult or easy this will be, but all I can do is make a start when I get back.

Blackout

So here we are: Tuesday. We open on Saturday and no electricity all day. I'm writing this while my laptop still has some battery life ... came in this morning with a newly-edited script ready to print out, but no, things are not so easy in Malawi.

The cars are all grounded, as there is no fuel, diesel or petrol, to be had in Blantyre at the moment. At every new rumour of a delivery, queues form at the filling stations. So my lovely borrowed car is no use to me just now!

On a more positive note, Misheck and I went to the Censorship Board yesterday and they have passed our script. They wanted us to take out two words: one of the characters is not allowed to describe the national anthem as 'stupid' and another is not allowed to describe the president's official hostess as his 'concubine'. Ha! We can still convey the message without the words so it's fine. It's almost as though they were looking for something to censor while leaving the play intact. We're allowed to insinuate that John Tembo and the Kadzamira siblings were complicit in the murder of many people; we're allowed to say 'bloody shit' and 'bloody murderers' (in two languages!). But not to call the national anthem 'stupid'. Ah well.

Day off

After three weeks of working, I decided that this was the weekend I could come away from Blantyre, if only for one night, so made the three hour drive to Nkhudzi Bay to stay with my friend Carrie.

Bliss. I am now sitting on her khonde (covered patio) looking across the lawn to the lake at the bottom of her garden. This morning we had a swim before breakfast which was lovely; although there was an added frisson because yesterday we heard that a crocodile has been basking on the rocks just a few hundred metres away. Fortunately our neighbours had also decided on an early morning swim, so I reasoned that a hungry croc was not likely to swim past them to pick me for his breakfast.

When I got here yesterday morning, I met for the first time a lovely lady who I have heard much about over the years. June Walker, mother of a friend of mine, Chris, has been living in Malawi since the early fifties. Her husband worked for both the colonial government and in Banda’s first post-independence government. He was greatly disapproved of by the British, as he was deemed to have ‘gone native’. An interesting lady, we had a most enjoyable lunch and a lot of laughter. In spite of her insistence that she is definitely in her ‘third age’ and slowing down, she seemed as sharp as either Carrie or I (although I had to teach her how to switch her new smart phone on!).

I have a few hours now before heading back to Blantyre. It’s time to sort out the lighting plot and get the sound cues in order. My main concern at the moment is costume; but that’s something for the production meeting in the morning. One week to go!

The great man arrives ...

So this morning, we were rehearsing on the stage when Thlupego looked up past the auditiorium, nudged me and said quietly “Brown Mpinganjira has just arrived”. And sure enough, there was the great man himself.

Two hours later he left again, having sat on a plastic chair on the stage with the actors and answered questions and talked frankly about his time in D4, the cell in Mikuyu Prison which he shared with, among others, Jack Mapanje.

This was a tremendous gift to us; the company asked intelligent, forthright questions which were answered in similar vein. We gave him our spare copy of Jack’s memoir, with which he was delighted, as he had not yet managed to secure a copy himself, and he has promised to be there at the launch of the show.

So the short amount of rehearsal which remained today was spent slightly revising some of the show in the light of Brown’s contributions. We have lost a day’s rehearsal but gained an immense amount of insight. Aaron especially has been affected: he is playing Brown and was fascinated to see his physicality and manner of speaking which have already started appearing in his characterisation.

This afternoon Stanley Kadzuwa, now a radio journalist but previously an actor with Nanzikambe came to interview Misheck and I. Stanley first came to Nanzikambe to perform in Chilly Heart (directed by Melissa Eveleigh) in 2003; I also directed him in African Macbeth and A Flea in Her Ear, so we go way back! It was a delight to see him, and I hope he will give us good coverage on his programme on MIJ radio.

A visit from an ex-prisoner

Today one of the prisoners we met in Chichiri came to see us. He has just been released, and was dressed extremely smartly in jacket, crisp white shirt and tie and a big grin. He sat and watched rehearsals for a while, and joined in when we were recording one of the songs. It is a hymn of thanks the prisoners at Mikuyu sang when they were released, so it was particularly pleasing to have our very own released prisoner join us. The actors had a whip round to give him a little money to cover his transport costs (he can't afford the bus fare to visit his mother in Ntcheu) and to welcome him out of prison, which was really nice of them, as they themselves are only on a modest daily allowance.

We ran the first half of the play - it took 55 minutes which is at least 10 minutes too long. However, this should tighten up by at least that. If not, I am going to have to do some ruthless cutting. I hope not, as I can't think of anything which could easily go at the moment.

The best thing about this week though, is the stage roof is now about 2 metres higher. A relief to everyone and I'm amazed at how quickly you can get things done in Malawi if you put your mind to it!

Publicity has started to take off, too ... there was a centre page spread (with pictures) which was an interview with me in the Sunday Times, this morning Misheck and I were interviewed for Capital FM (the most popular radio station) and next wednesday we're being interviewed on TVM (Television Malawi). Hopefully this is just the start - posters are out, the FaceBook event has been created and an SMS (text messaging) campaign is slated for the middle of next week. So if we aren't a sell-out, it's nobody's fault!

The rain, the rain ...

This morning we recorded some of the sound effects and background songs for the show. These actors are fabulous – The Lord Is My Shepherd sung in Chichewa in 4 part harmony seems to be so easy for them and it sounds magnificent. This is for the scene in which some of the condemned prisoners are taken away to be executed. In Mikuyu this happened every six months and no one knew whether it their name that was to be called, or whether they could live for another six months. Finding a way to do this scene has been tricky, but I think it’s going to work.

I’m now sitting in a café having eaten my nsima (thick maize porridge) and fried chicken, listening to the torrential rain on the tin roof. Which is leaking. My computer keeps doing strange things so I am now worried that the damp is getting to it. I will be backing up everything to my external hard drive this evening, not a moment too soon for my peace of mind.

The rain means we can’t work – the stage is waiting for it’s roof (should be up tomorrow ready for rehearsals on Monday) and the room at The Warehouse leaks so badly that we may as well be outside. So we’re waiting for the rain to stop, and judging by the huge crash of thunder and flash of lightning that just happened, it may take some time.

Maybe I’ll use the time to ring Brown Mpinganjira …

towards the end of week two

We have a script! Well, very nearly. The marvellous Aaron Ngalonde, who is playing Brown Mpinganjira, has offered to write two of the final scenes. He's busy tapping away at his laptop and as soon as he's done the play is finished. The plan is to take it to the Censorship Board for classification tomorrow. I'm a little nervous, as they have immense power and if they decide they think it breaks any of the incredibly vague criteria by which they judge these things, they can pull the plug completely. Fortunately it is a very high profile project in terms of the local press, so I'm hoping they won't have the nerve to object.

Today has been a strange day - no rehearsals, as Misheck Mzumara (who is playing Jack) has had to attend a meeting in Lilongwe in his capacity as senior management of Nanzikambe. So Aaron and I have been working on finalising the script. The other news is that work has begun on the stage - I pointed out when I arrived that the curved roof is far too low to be workable as a stage for anything other than stand up comedy as it's like performing in a tunnel and any performer who stands more than a metre upstage cannot be seen. It seems that when the structure was moved from their last home, it was cut down to fit the area available - no-one noticed that in so doing the roof was lowered considerably. Fortunately once I pointed out the impossibility of actually rigging any lights, Chris Nditani the MD could see the problem so they are quite literally raising the roof!

Tomorrow we will work at The Warehouse - a performance venue in Blantyre which is being most kindly lent to us by Thom Chibambo for the next couple of days while the building works happen at Nanzikambe. I shall make sure that they get full credit in the programme and any press interviews I do. It is wonderful that arts organisations here are willing to help each other (this is not how it always is).

Still no sign of Brown Mpinganjira though ...

Brown Mpinganjira

Valentine's Day

Much excitement this morning, as on my third attempt I managed not only to get the right number for Brown Mpinganjira but also to catch him at a time when he could answer his phone. For the uninitiated, Brown Mpinganjira was a journalist in Malawi during Banda's rule, and was imprisoned with Jack Mapanje in Mikuyu prison. He is in fact a major character in the play, and the actors are very keen to get the chance to ask him about his experiences.

Of course he is now a very famous man, known as BJ to many and a popular politician in Joyce Banda's new party, opposing the Goverment. So I tell him I am a friend of Jack Mapanje, and he immediately agrees to meet the cast, even offering to come to our rehearsal studio himself. This was meant to be this morning, but it is now 3.45pm and no sign. But this is Africa, where time does not run in the same manner as the UK, so I have high hopes that we will indeed be meeting him before too long.

As for the rehearsals - very interesting. We tried a run through of what we've done so far but it was not that useful as the actors were using it as an opportunity to try to learn their lines (this is how they're used to working here) so it was INCREDIBLY slow! We have now had a discussion about how we do not have enough time for them to use rehearsals as a place for line-learning ... as a result the afternoon session was fab.

The work we are creating is not what they are used to; these actors have only had one director in the past few years, and she was a physical theatre practitioner. Which in this case meant masks, chorus work and creating the environment with their bodies. This show has practical props and no masks ... although it is fast moving, transitioning from scene to scene quickly with actors playing multiple roles, and also includes poems interspersed with the action, it is more naturalistic than anything else they've done in recent years and they are loving it!

End of the first week

13th February 2012. Monday

So here I am at the start of another week. Last week was amazing – we worked through the first half of the play, and set several poems, including Skipping Without Ropes. Strangely, this the most famous of Jack’s poems was not included in the book; when I asked Jack if I could use it anyway, his response was “yes, by all means include Skipping without ropes in your performance. It was edited out by some unknown editor of the memoir” … so it’s in. And looking really great – I think it will be a highlight of the show.

On Friday we went into Chichiri prison where Nanzikambe Arts run a regular workshop with 20 young prisoners. It was exciting, fascinating and exhausting in equal measure. The Nanzikambe company performed a scene from And Crocodiles are Hungry at Night, and then the prisoners improvised scenes showing the first night in prison as they experienced it. There was no holding back – they showed how the ‘new boys’ are fought over for sexual favours and the potential wealth they may have. How the sleeping arrangements are appalling – there is no room to lie down, they sleep sitting up with their legs bent from lock up at 3.30pm till they are let out at around 8am the next morning. They showed how they use smuggled marijuana to get through the days. However, in spite of the terrible conditions, these young men were so energetic, open and straightforward. They performed with gusto and we finished with a traditional dance which we all joined in (even me!).

So now our actors have a better understanding of what it is like to be incarcerated. Let’s see what differences there are in rehearsals.

And Crocodiles are Hungry at Night - the journey begins

4th February 2012. Saturday

This is my second full day in Blantyre and I have already had two encounters which shape my ideas on how to adapt Jack’s memoir for the stage.

The first is with Ben Mankhamba, a well-known local musician with whom I am lodging. As I talk about the play, he suddenly becomes engaged when I speak about Mercy. “But how did it affect her?” he asks. When I tell him that soon after his imprisonment Jack’s salary was stopped and his wife Mercy was evicted from the university property together with their three children, he asks “is this in the play?”. “It’s a true story”, I say.

Suddenly he is angry. This morning he is sitting writing a song inspired by Mercy. I realise again that this story must be told through those affected – it’s not just politics, it’s real people in pain, and that’s what touches us.

The second encounter is with the lady who runs the Central Bookshop in Blantyre. She is from the Netherlands originally but has lived in Malawi for more than 50 years. I am looking for an anthology of Jack’s poems as I had left mine behind in the rush to pack. She doesn’t have any of his work on sale – she did have Of Chameleons and Gods and Chattering Wagtails but has sold out. In conversation, she says “it’s such a pity he is so bitter against Malawi. We were all supportive of him at the time but …” She clearly believes that he should be over it by now, and feels uncomfortable by the searing rage which leaps out of the page through his poems. I am more determined than ever to present the story truthfully in all its pain and rage. I’m sure that she is not alone in her opinions that those who suffered under Banda’s regime should forgive and forget. I hope that they will all come to see the play and begin to understand; there has been no ‘truth and reconciliation’ in Malawi, no apology, no understanding, no recompense for the victims of Banda’s brutal regime. It is time.