Chingalire Women’s Travelling Theatre: Touring with Trousers

This paper is an initial investigation into the establishment of the Chingalire Women’s Traveling Theatre (CWTT) in Malawi, and its impact on the group and their local community. The paper touches on issues of gender inequality in Malawi by showing how the theatre company challenges the commonly accepted cultural and gender hegemonies through theatre performance. Malawi has an ancient drumming, ritual and dance culture. Since colonial times drama has joined the ranks of performative expression of both the urban and rural populations. Historically the expatriate community or, post-independence, the male population and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have largely dominated drama. Inspired by hearing the voices of women in drama on the radio, ten mothers formed the Chingalire Women’s Traveling Theatre in July 2016. The purpose of the company is to travel through rural areas of Malawi using theatre to explore issues such as gender-based violence, the environment and the importance of education to the rural community; discussions with those communities form part of the enterprise. The rehearsals and performances give voice to the experiences and opinions of women who might otherwise remain silent. The group decided to play male characters themselves wearing trousers as a signifier. Women were prevented from wearing trousers by law until 1994, and in 2012 there were BBC reports from Blantyre that women were still being beaten for dressing in trousers. There is therefore personal risk inherent in this undertaking. Using interviews with the founding members of the company and with the chief of Chingalire village, Ben Mankhamba, this article seeks to contextualise the achievement of this female-led project, to analyse some of the work they have already undertaken and to offer insights as to what the theatre company might achieve in the future and what impact their work might have.