What an amazing year 2012 was ... so it's onwards and upwards for 2013. Our new Associates Roe Lane and Charlie Morgan Jones are creating a new performance piece as a co-production with Ovalhouse based on Stanley Kenani's short story Love on Trial.
The story was on the Caine Prize short list last year and tackles the tricky subject of homosexuality in Malawi (where, despite a president who has publicly promised to address the issue, enaging in homosexuality is still illegal). Roe is juxtaposing the story with that of George Michael's arrest for 'lewd conduct' and the ensuing press uproar. Are we really so different in our attitudes here in the smug West? It is a multi-media show - a thought provoking and exciting piece of theatre which we are hoping to continue to craft and develop.
Love on Trial is at Ovalhouse
Tue 19 Feb – Sat 23 Feb, 7:45pm
And for Amy and I ... there seems to be no end to the proposal writing and strategic planning! Watch this space for news ...
Saturday, 5 January 2013
Thursday, 15 November 2012
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.
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
Thursday, 9 August 2012
reviews
Here, for anyone who'd like to see them, are the two reviews so far ...
FINANCIAL TIMES :
TIME OUT LONDON
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
Thursday, 2 August 2012
**** 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
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
Wednesday, 1 August 2012
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.
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.
Saturday, 30 June 2012
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!
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!
Sunday, 3 June 2012
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.
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.
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