'Deranged, dangerous ... a brilliant display. Riveting stuff.' The Stage

Winner of the Total Theatre Award for Best British production at the 1999 Edinburgh Fringe, this surreal tale of four bored security guards in a gallery of modern art freefalls into an alternative world of impressively mounting chaos. Ground-breakingly eccentric, The Exhibitionists plays with absurdity to reveal the pretentiousness of the sane establishment.

With five performances and two theatre workshops in four towns - Blantyre, Zomba, Llilongwe and Mzuzu, Ridiculusmus tour of The Exhibitionists to Malawi encompassed a wide-range of audiences and venues, from the fantastic atmosphere of the Great Hall in Zomba with an almost 100% Malawian audience, to the multi-cultural audiences in the British Council's garden and hotel function rooms.

The first workshop at the French Cultural Centre had some 30 participants from local drama groups. The second in the Great Hall at the University of Malawi’s Chancellor College in Zomba, was for lecturers and students of the Fine and Performing Arts Department and had a total of 45 participants.

British Council Malawi organised and supported the trip, also arranging for the production of the set, props and costumes sourced locally.

The workshop participants were amused by the usage of body language to communicate and the different intonations of voice projection and miming. The students were very enthusiastic and some good work evolved, which was all the more exciting considering the very different traditions. The performance style that Ridiculusmus brought to Malawi was the first of its kind, as people in Malawi had never seen any theatre performed in traverse. This was a challenge as Malawi generally does not have modern theatre facilities, but halls or performances arenas where performances take place on the stage and not on the floor. There were several highlights of the tour, one in particular made the most of the potential of physical comedy and stunned the audience as one of the actors was stripped of his pants and thrown into a wheelie bin by fellow performers.

The performances received good coverage in local media, on the local radio, in newspapers and on the television.  

Plans for the future include continuing to link Ridiculusmus with theatre groups, university lecturers and students in Malawi. This way the two can continue sharing experiences and exchanging ideas, promoting mutuality and promoting the growth of Malawian theatre.

'All in all, Ridiculusmus’ performance was worthwhile in every aspect. The mark that they left in Malawi will remain imprinted on the minds of those who watched the performance or attended the workshops. It was really enjoyable working with the company and enjoying their support and performances.' Chris Nditani, British Council Malawi.

Send Chris an e-mail.

For more information please see Ridiculusmus’ website.