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| Assitej World Congress at City Hall |
As the exploration for
theatre for children and young remain the case to push on and on my vision
grills for a solution. As I peeps through the doors of small oven of networks
that baked future actors of this nation; talk of Association for Teaching
English in Malawi (ATEM) drama festival, National Schools Youth Arts Festival
and French Drama years has gone wasting some great young actors and actress we
see shining on stage for the past seven years. I want to see those actors we
use to share stage way back at school which some of them were better than me.
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| The Opening day |
My
eagerness to revive the future for theatre for children and young people revolves
the time I joined the Solomonic Peacocks Theatre Class, the class focus on theatre
for young people and cultural ex-change thus when we come across the French acronym ASSITEJ (Association
International du Theatre pour l' Enfance et la Jeunesse). Which simply means
the International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People.That
acronym name ASSITEJ which lands me into a great experience world festival in
Cape Town. It was the
first of its kind of world festival to take place in Africa, The festival bring
together, artist, theatre and organization from all corners of the world which
there many focus is theatre for children and young. I was part of the 30 young
artist selected from different countries into the Next Generation Residency.
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| Part of Next Generation on first meeting |
Yah the
Next Generation group, I don’t know how to express this family, call it big
brother without evictions. 11 days in the house of festival full of theatre
arenas, cultural hubs and conference halls I felt a complete artist. We speak
the artistic language day in day out, there was a lot of inter-cultural
exchange, theatre workshops, paper presentations, theatre performances and of cause
of the ASSITEJ World congress. All these exploration and exposure still flows
in my artistic mind now it’s time to deliver them back to my fellow youth in
Malawi.
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| Fun Like |
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| From left 2nd Assitej President Yvette, Lungile and Jacq |
But wait a
minute, back at Cape Town, we begun Artscape
where a lot of festival activities takes place, quickly in the noon of the
opening day there was a lot before it kicks off. At the main event venue all
delegates from different countries across the world converge at Arts-Cape
theatre for the first show Animal Farm by
Shakexperience Theatre from Johannesburg, then at 15hours we board buses to
Baxter Theatre Centre which is 25 kilomtre away Artscape for the opening
ceremony. Thus how it starts.
As being
part of the next generation I went through five workshops from; Theatre for
Education, Theatre for Healing, Physical Theatre, playwright global and Theatre
for Social change and there was more to experience. Back home now am put gear
to with my fellow youth to quickening the opening of Assitej Centre in my
country. What I gained from where Bartolomeu Dias discovered I have started delivering
it. An advocate for the promotion of theatre for young audiences will go far
beyond my nation.
Through the Lens
