Transfers and transformations from music to theatre in Catherine Makhumula's Mwana Wanga

Abstract

In this article, I discuss music to performance media transfers and transformations, a lesser-known form of media transposition that has been largely overlooked by scholars in intermedial studies. Through a performance analysis of my own work Mwana Wanga, a theatrical performance derived from a recorded song, I locate the creative process of the theatre project as a critical site for media transposition. I argue that there is a complex process of transfer and transformation of media from Dearest Child to Mwana Wanga and that a systematic reflection of the creative process uncovers the mechanisms of these transfers and transformations from music to theatrical performance. The article intends to situate music-to-performance transpositions in the intermedial discourse and also clarify the methodological design that enables the study of transfers and transformations in the creative process.