Mbene Mwambene: About political theatre, systemic violence and racial profiling

Romina Achatz is in conversation with theater artist and director
Mbene Mwambene. He grew up in Zambia and Malawi and lives in
Bern, Switzerland. Since he is very young he directs political
theater-plays. Mbene worked as journalist and after touring with
a piece for more than 6 years, he did a Master in „Expanded
Theatre“ at the „Berner Hochschule der Künste“. In  2018 he
directed at the Kleckstheater in Hannover a piece
called Tavuka, casting solely female actresses. It
is an adaption of The Island and Waiting for
Godot. Mwambene’s performances reflect his personal
encounters with xenophobia, stereotyping and racism in
Switzerland and Europe. „In Malawi racism wasn’t an issue
for me, but here in Switzerland I am constantly confronted with
the image people have of ‚the black man‘,“ he says. Theatre
and poetry provides for him a safe space that allows to tell his
own stories. Mbene’s work confronts audiences with the realities
of his daily life in Europe.


This episode of FEM*POEM starts with a poem which is an extract
of the solo piece called „The Whispers“. They talk about his
solo performance „The Story of the Tiger“, a political piece
adapted from the work of Italian playwright Dario Fo; about
growing up in Malawi, about structural and systemic
violence, colonialism, racial profiling and his upcoming work.