University of Malawi

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Mr. Thokozani Kapiri

LECTURER
Drama and Theatre Studies

Research Areas

Acting techniques, Theatre directing, Race and Representation in Performing Arts, Critical Race Theory, Post-dramatic theatre, Afrofuturism, Digital Arts,

Publications

  • Conference Proceedings
    • Kapiri, Thokozani .“Lynching Drama as an Aesthetic Form of Traumatic and Healing Experience in Black Theatre: An analysis of Jackie Sibblies Drury’s Play, We Are Proud to Present a Presentation about the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as Southwest Africa, From the German Südwestafrika, Between the Years 1884– 1915.” (Conferece Paper).Theatre History SymposiumThe Mid-America Theatre Conference, DoubleTree. Hilton Hotel & Suites Pittsburgh Downtown. Pittsburgh. PA.USA.March 5-7, 2026. (2026)
  • Conference Proceedings
    Kapiri, Thokozani. Afrofuturism or Africanfuturism: Analyzing Neil Blomkamp’s film District 9 in Search of a Distinctive Aesthetic Style in Black Speculative Fiction.. Bowling Green State University.2025 (2025)
  • Drama/Plays
    The Aid Machinery (Welt 3.0 – Maschinerie Hilfe). Written & directed Clemens Bechtel & Thokozani Kapiri. Theatre Konstanz. Nanzikambe Arts. 2012.. In 2012, I co-wrote and co-directed alongside established German director Clemens Bechtel, an original devised piece titled World 3.0: The Aid Machinery which combined actors from Malawi and German. It performed in both countries. Revived as a DRA 325: ACTING B end of 2nd semester exam production, 2024/25 academic year (directed by Thokozani Kapiri). 2025. (2025)
    https://wanderlust.kulturstiftung-bund.de/indexce8a.html?p=5515
  • Conference Proceedings
    Kapiri, Thokozani. Gulewamkulu as Postdramatic Theater: Analyzing a Malawian Ritual Performance from a Postdramatic Theater Perspective. Research Paper. National Indaba on Arts and Culture., Crossroads Hotel, Lilongwe..3rd - 4th December 2024 (2024)
  • Drama/Plays
    Kapiri, Thokozani. What if I were White. Luanar Creative Nexus Magazine .Vol.1.Issue 1, October 13, 2024. Set to be produced for the 2026 season at the Wolf Centre, Dept. of Theatre & Film , Bowling Green State University, Ohio, USA (2024)
    https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/times360malawi
  • Drama/Plays
    I Will Marry When I Want. Original by Ngugi Wa Thiong’o.1982. Script Adaptation by Thokozani Kapiri & Mphatso Chidothe, for NanzikamberArts.2011. Revived for DRA 325: Acting B, end of 2nd semester exams, 2023/24 academic year. Directed by Thokozani Kapiri.2023. (2024)
    https://www.facebook.com/share/v/17fj5YMsuL/
  • Drama/Plays
    The Messenger. Play. A 2011 Nanzikambe Arts-Theatre Konstanz Malawi-German Crossing-Borders Theatre Production; directed by Thokozani Kapiri; script by Thokozani Kapiri & Aaron Ngalonde;edited by Mphatso Chidothe; German translation by Lea Gekle & Stephane Koppmair. In 2011, I directed,the Messenger, Nanzikambe Arts produced play which had a series of performances in Konstanz and Heidelberg cities in German and later appeared at the local Blantyre and the Lake of Stars Arts festivals in Malawi. Revived under the title The Mesiah: the legend of Mbona, for end of 2nd semester exam production for DRA 425: ADVANCED ACTING in the 2022/23 Academic Year. (Directed by Thokozani Kapiri).2023. (2023)
    https://www.nachtkritik.de/nachtkritiken/deutschland/baden-wuerttemberg/konstanz/theater-konstanz/the-messenger-nmalawi-theater-konstanz
  • Drama/Plays
    In January 2023, I directed the play Talking One with no Lips , written by Misheck Banda , performed at Mzuzu University by 2nd year drama students and Mzuzu University Theatre Arts Group. (2023)
    https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1A5JHYuRUs/
  • Drama/Plays
    In January, 2023, I directed 4 monologues extracted from "Acting Scenes and Monologs for Young Women: 60 Dramatic Characterizations" edited by Maya Levy. This was part of DRA 325 end of 1st semester exams at UNIMA. Featuring Nthanda Msiska, Debbie Saopa, Mercy Ching'amba and Mayamiko Lwanda. Directed by Thokozani Kapiri). (2023)
  • Drama/Plays
    NAJERE NDIWE GALU. An adaptation of Lysistrata. ORIGINAL BY ARISTOPHANES (c.a. 411 B.C.). ADAPTED AFRICAN VERISION BY THOKOZANI KAPIRI.2022 .(FOR DRA 325: ACTING 1B END OF 2ND SEMESTER EXAM 2021/22 ACADEMIC YEAR. DEPARTMENT OF FINE & PERFORMING ARTS.UNVIVERSITY OF MALAWI) (2022)
    https://www.facebook.com/share/p/17C71QAVcR/
  • Drama/Plays
    In 2022 m directed the stage play One Passenger Silent by Misheck Banda under Mzuzu University Theatre Arts Group ( MUTAG) which was established in 1999 by the Department Of Language, Cultural And Creative studies of Mzuzu University with an aim of promoting creativity in fine arts and enhancing language use amongst students. In 2024 at UNIMA adapted the text into a shorter version under the title "A moment at the Airport " as part of DRA 314: Acting A ,end of 1st semester exams (Directed by Thokozani Kapiri) (2022)
    https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Goy6wQdbG/
  • Drama/Plays
    Ta Oreva. a theatre as installation by migrant arts for staging times project2019 production.Stage script adaptation by Thokozani KapiriCo-edited by Misheck Mzumara Original short story by Muthi Nhlema. Photo inspirations by Lebo Khagye.From 12 August to 2 September 2021, the art project „Staging Times“ initiated by the Fondation Oumou Dilly was hosted by the transdisciplinary centre and participatory urban laboratory BHROX bauhaus reuse on Ernst-Reuter-Platz in Berlin.The design of the project followed a ping-pong format: first, the photographers created a series of photos which they sent to their respective project partners from the theatre. They took the pictures as a starting point for developing their plays. In a second step, the theatre performances in turn inspired the photographers for another photo series. This back-and-forth process produced six photo series and three theatre productions. In the staged visual worlds, which inspired each other associatively, crises of the present intertwine with apocalyptic futures and traumatic pasts to create a multi-layered reflection on being in the world from different African perspectives. As part of the „Staging Times“ project, the photographers Lebohang Kganye (South Africa), Sarah Waiswa (Uganda) and Aboubacar Traore (Mali) and the three theatre-makers Thokozani Kapiri (Malawi), Freddy Sabimbona (Burundi) and Noël Minoungou (Burkina Faso) explored the topic of „time“ in three groups of two between 2018 and 2021. It was also exhbited at the Basel Arts Festival (Switzerland) of 2021. (2021)
    https://oumoudilly.ch/08-2021-project-staging-times-at-bhrox-bauhause-reuse-in-berlin
  • Book
    Kapiri, Thokozani, & Mzumara, Misheck , The INPATH-SABC Interactive Theatre Filed Manual: For Community Drama Groups Conducting Interventions in Communities to Improve Maternal, New-Born and Child Health in Malawi (1st ed.). Lilongwe: Co-water Sogema,One Drop & Lincoln supplies.2019 (2019)
  • Translation
    Kapiri, Thokozani, & Mzumara, Misheck .INPATH-SABC KAPANGIDWE KA ZISUDZO ZOKAMBIRANA KU MUDZI: Zokhudza magulu a zisudzo a kumudzi kuti apititse patsogolo uchembere wabwino, kasamaliridwe ka ana ang’onoang’ono komanso kuti akhale a thanzi.(T. Kapir, trans; Chichewa version; 1st Ed.). Lilongwe: Co-water Sogema,One Drop & Lincoln supplies.2019 (2019)
  • Translation
    THE INPATH-SABC MANUAL Kapiri, Thokozani, & Mzumara, Misheck .KAPANGIRO KA MADRAMA GHA VIDUMBIRANO MUVIKAYA: Yakukhwaskana na magulu gha madrama kuti ghalutiske panthazi ntchito ya uchembere uwemi, kapwelelero ka ŵana awo ŵababika waka kuti ŵaŵe na umoyo uwemi.(M. Mzumara Trans; Tumbuka version;1st ed.). Lilongwe: Co-water Sogema,One Drop & Lincoln supplies.2019 (2019)
  • Drama/Plays
    Directed and played in the re-make of Athol Fugard’s The Island. Final external MA project performed at the Zurich University of Arts, Switzerland , January 2018.Later staged in Malawi. Featuring Mbene Mbunga Mwambene (2018)
    https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1A4hS5G6NF/
  • Drama/Plays
    In 2017, I directed a stage theatre project production “Who will be Caesar”, a deconstructed remake of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. An MA project produced for the completion of MA degree in theatre directing. Zurich University of the Arts. Featuring Yara L Gisler , Yogarajan Patrick Balaraj, and O'tooli Tuan Masanza; Dramaturgy by Mbene Mbunga Mwambene and Stage Assistance by Laura Kueng. Later staged in Malawi in 2018 featuring Flora Suya, Dipo Katimba & Chimwemwe Munthali. In December 2024, a shorter version of this Julius Caesar concept was administered at UNIMA under my directing with the title Brutus Vs Antony , as part of monologue acting , end of 1st semester exams for DRA 325. (2017)
    https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Gm4EaxFyR/
  • Drama/Plays
    2016: Directed Dreams and Hopes: An original devised production, written and directed by Thokozani Kapiri (Africa); Also featuring Dan Finn (USA), and Jordis Folk ( Germany). Procuction Advisor: Miriam Koehln; Dramaturgy by Michael Schoenert. Premiered at Zurich University of the Arts, Switzerland. (2016)
    https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1EdirPcFG7/
  • Drama/Plays
    Directed Master Harold and the Boys, produced at Zurich University of Arts in 2016. The play recounts the long, rainy afternoon that Harry ("Master Harold") spends with Sam and Willie, two middle-aged African servants of his parent's household. But the Apartheid context in which they live in makes the relationship between the two "black" men and the "white" boy complicated. Play script by Athol Fugard. Directed by Thokozani Kapiri. Featuring Thokozani Kapiri, Timo Kaehlert and Leon Baumann. (2016)
    https://2013-2019.theaterneumarkt.ch/www.theaterneumarkt.ch/plattform-8/veranstaltungen/haas-peace-master-harold.html
  • Drama/Plays
    Directed Attempts on Her Life written by England's world renowned leading playwright, Martin Crimp, at Zurich University Arts. Featuring Svenja Koch, Anna Sehls, Jan Beller. Dramaturgy: Noem Egloff. Scenography: Melanie Sidler.Directed by Thokozani Kapiri (2015). Revived as part of DRA 325: ACTING B end of 2nd semester exam, 2022/2023 academic year, University of Malawi; featuring Debbie Saopa, Nthanda Msiska, Angella Ching'amba & Mayana Lwanda; directed by Thokozani Kapiri(2023). (2015)
    https://www.zhdk.ch/en/event/26414
  • Drama/Plays
    This is not Lampedusa (2015) is a short film written and directed by Thokozani Kapiri. Produced in Zurich , Switzerland as part of the Zurich University of the Arts MA in theatre and film directing course .The film features Patrick Balaraj, Mira Sach,Timo Kaehler , and Svenja Koch, with camera direction by Sarah Rathgeba and voice/sound mixing by Cimon Finnix. (2015)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JF9hfHOaAAA
  • Drama/Plays
    2915: Directed Blood Knot, produced at Zurich University of arts, originally written by South African playwright, actor and director Athol Fugard in 1961 during Apartheid. This recent interpretation moved back and forth in terms of time, space, performativity and role-play, such that themes of racism that runs deeply in the play provoked the spectators' subconscious racial prejudices. Featuring Thokozani Kapiri & Timo Kaehlert.Directed by Thokozani Kapiri (2015)
    https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1AVvfKVoov/
  • Drama/Plays
    2014 : Co-devised an international multimedia interdisciplinary artistic production titled Black Hole at Connecting Spaces in Hong-Kong University of the Arts , China with artists from Switzerland and China on a Collaboratory project with Zurich University of the Arts. Black hole is a region of spacetime from which gravity prevents anything, including light, from escaping. The theory of general relativity predicts that a sufficiently compact mass will deform spacetime to form a black hole. Featuring Chen Han Fei (Fine Arts), Sophie Bock (Acting),Shu-ching Yang ( Chinese Peking Opera) ,Kevin Benz (interatcive design) & Thokozani Kapiri ( Directing). (2014)
    https://www.facebook.com/share/1MqDZkRvSa/
  • Drama/Plays
    Antigone. 2014. Zurich University of the Arts. Original script by Sophocles. Stage production co-directed by Damian Dlaboha, Thokozani Kapiri, Michael Schoenert and Fiona Scheier. Featuring Jonathan Bruchmeier, Anne Eigner,Timo Kaehlert, Matthias Kurmann, Steffen Link, Miriam Morgenstern, Robert Rozic, and Ronja Oppelt. In 2022, the final monologue by Antigone was co-opted in a DRA 325: Acting A end of 1st semester exam at UNIMA, where the students performed it alongside other classic monologues of Electra, Cleopatra, Medea, Lady Macbeth, and Mark Antony ( Directed by Thokozani Kapiri. Featuring Tupaliwe Mwangonde, Cassim Mkayi, Tamanda Banda, Clare Chiphwanya , and Tinashe Kalua) (2014)
  • Book Chapters
    Kapiri, Thokozani. “Theatre in Malawi, directing in Europe”. N. Keller & C. Nix & T. Spieckerman (ed.) Theatre in Africa: between Art and Development Cooperation, Stories of a German-Malawian Collaboration. Berlin: Theatre der Zeit, 2013. (2013)
    https://www.amazon.com/Theater-Afrika-Entwicklungszusammenarbeit-Development-deutsch-malawischen-ebook/dp/B00HERC6NG
  • Drama/Plays
    THE STORY OF A TIGER.Original script by Dario Fo.bScript adaptation and Artistic direction by Thokozani Kapiri. Played by Mbene Mbunga Mwambene. Nanzikambe Arts. Theatre Konstanz. 2013.In 2013, directed Dario FO’s the story of a Tiger which was premiered in Malawi and went on in to showcase 10 performances in in the following German cities: Konstanz,Berlin, Singen, Friedrichschafen, and Heilbronn. (2013)
    https://www.etberlin.de/series/presenting-series/page/6/#:~:text=One%2C%20seemingly%20a%20migrant%20worker%2C,swim%20in%20this%20barren%20environment.&text=In%20Thokozani%20Kapiri's%20international%20adaptation,on%20pantomime%20and%20physical%20theater.
  • Drama/Plays
    A matter of state. 2013 .An original Malawian play written by Aaron Ngalonde ; directed by Thokozani Kapiri, with funding from Hivos premiered at Nanzikambe Arts Cafe. The cast included Misheck Mzuamara,Mphundu Mjumira , Nkhwachi Mhango ,Mbene Mbunga Mwambene, Thandiwe Likubwe and Francis Chimalizeni . (2013)
    https://fb.me/e/6jJDDrPtX
  • Drama/Plays
    Tales of Migrant.2010. A Thokozani Kapiri directed, authored, produced solo piece. It premiered at the Goethe Institute in Malawi and showcased 5 performances at the Wits Drama for life festival in Johannesburg, South Africa, before touring Malawi in 2010. In 2011 the performance showcased at Nuns Island theatre in Galway, Ireland under the invitation of Fibbin TEO theatre. In 2012 it made 3 appearances at Theatre Konstanz, Germany. In 2017 performed at TAK theatre in Lichtenstein. In 2023 appeared at the UNIMA Theatre Festival. (2010)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uy4cH138bIU
  • Drama/Plays
    2008: Co-directed Silent Pieces, performed at the Wits University Amphi theatre’s and Nunnery theatre’s open spaces under the tutelage of directors Sara Matchet and Helen Iskander, as part of the applied theatre performance directing course in partial fulfilment for the award of postgraduate honors degree in drama at the Wits School Art, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. the pieces were revived with 2016 DFL Cohort. (2008)
    https://witsvuvuzela.com/2016/08/19/drama-for-life-adds-new-layer-to-silentprotest/#:~:text=The%20Drama%20For%20Life%20academic,our%20performances%2C%E2%80%9D%20says%20Neill.
  • Drama/Plays
    2005 - 2007: Breaking the Pot . On this long term project, I was the playwright and assistant director for Breaking the Pot, an adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s Norwegian classic, A Doll House which witnessed a collaborative approach to the script rewriting involving myself, Norwegian playwright Karl Hoff, and British director Melissa Eveleigh. It toured Malawi and culminated into two more off shoot productions, in which I was part of the creative team and performed as well, namely: Fridom by Norwegian playwright Jon Fosse and Come Freedom Come by Malawian playwright Smith Likongwe, both of which appeared for the Ibsen Text Challenge for the Ibsen centenary year in Norway in 2006. A doll house played last at the Lusaka playhouse in Zambia during the conference for Ibsen works in Africa in 2010. (2006)
    https://artsforaction.org.uk/project/breaking-the-pot/
  • Drama/Plays
    2005: I was assistant director on The Little Prince, an adaptation of the French classic by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. It showcased at the French Cultural Centre in Malawi, Harare International Festival (HIFA) in Zimbabwe, The Grahamstown Arts Festival in South Africa, and the Lusaka Playhouse in Zambia.Featuring Mphundu Mjumira, Dipo Katimba, Maria Kambwiri, and Aarion Ngalonde.Director: Melisa Eveleigh; Ass. diretcor: Thokozani Kapiri (2005)
    https://allafrica.com/stories/200511110055.html#:~:text=She%20said%20the%20acting%20talent,struck%20Malawi%20in%202001%2D%202002.
  • Drama/Plays
    2003: A Garden of Plenty: an original collaborative workshop production combining St. Francis Xavier College Students, London, UK and Chancellor College Students, Zomba, Malawi. It featured in London, UK at the Young Vic for the The International Workshop Festival brought together the world’s most inspiring teachers for 3 weeks of workshops and performances offering professional training opportunities to actors, directors, dancers and choreographers and people in the local community. Director: Melissa Eveliegh.Featuring Thokozani Kapiri, Basimenye Mwalwanda, & Yvonne Kalumo. (2003)