Otto and the Mutapa Calling play their first Bedford show at the Quarry Theatre on Saturday 3 October at 7:30pm. Tickets £19, £16 seniors, £10 children.
Otto and the Mutapa Calling, a marimba band playing the music of Zimbabwe, South Africa and Botswana, will give their first ever Bedford show at the Quarry Theatre on Saturday 3 October, in the first week of Black History Month.
The show is called Africa Alive! Folksongs from Southern Africa. It runs from 7:30pm to 9:30pm, with doors open from 7pm, at the theatre on St Peters Street. Tickets are £19 for adults, £16 for seniors and £10 for students and children, from the Quarry Theatre website or in person at the theatre box office.
Peach Theatre Company, which is bringing the band to the town, sent us the details along with answers from the band’s founder, Otto Gumaelius, to questions we put to him in writing.
Who the band are
Gumaelius started the band in 2017. In his words:
“Otto & The Mutapa Calling was formed in 2017 by band leader Otto Gumaelius who felt he needed to have his own voice after playing in a number of different bands since moving to London in 2010. The band today is made up of three marimba players plus drum kit, with band members originally from Botswana, Zimbabwe and the UK. We play a wonderful mix of original arrangements of cultural songs from Zimbabwe, South Africa and Botswana, alongside original songs and popular southern African covers. We play, sing, dance, and share stories about life, the people, and histories of southern Africa.”
According to Peach Theatre Company’s press release, Gumaelius grew up in Botswana and started playing African music on the marimba at eight years old. The release describes the group as the UK’s leading marimba band and says the Bedford date comes ahead of the release of their second studio album, Mafaro!
What the show sounds like
We asked what someone who has never heard marimba music should expect. “You can expect high energy, infectious poly-rhythms and joyous sounds,” Gumaelius said. “People always want to dance when they hear marimba music.”
The songs are sung in languages from all three countries:
“Africa Alive! draws on the musical traditions of Zimbabwe, South Africa and Botswana. We perform our own arrangements and sing in languages such as Shona and Ndebele spoken in Zimbabwe, Zulu, Xhosa and Sotho spoken in South Africa, and Setswana spoken in Botswana. We play traditional rhythms and perform traditional dances.”
On stage, the band will play traditional marimbas from Zimbabwe, and the audience is expected to take part:
“The band performs using traditional marimbas from Zimbabwe, accompanied by drumming, hosho (traditional shakers) singing, dancing, and a taste of the mbira (traditional kalimba from Zimbabwe). The audience will absolutely get to join in. Traditionally, our music is expressed in communal settings where everyone can take part, for as much or as little as they’d like, and this spirit of togetherness is very much what we embody.”
Why Bedford
The band have not played the town before. Gumaelius said Bedford’s southern African community was part of the reason, though the show is not only for them:
“Bedford has always been somewhere we wanted to play, because we know there are a lot of southern Africans living both in Bedford and Luton. It’s great having people there who know the songs, but in saying that, the show is aimed at everyone, of all ages and backgrounds, and we always expect a really mixed crowd. We’d also heard a lot about the Quarry Theatre: it’s a beautiful space that programmes a wide range of music. So when they offered to host us, it felt like it was meant to be. We want to spread our music far and wide, and Bedford felt like the right place on this journey due to its wonderfully diverse demographic.”
The organisers point to census figures in their release: Bedford’s Black African population was recorded as 2,771 residents in 2011 and 5,448 in 2021, which they describe as the town’s African community more than doubling in a decade.
“We are so excited to be performing in Bedford for the very first time,” Gumaelius says in the release. “The Quarry Theatre is a beautiful space, and we can’t wait to share the beautiful spirit of Southern Africa with the entire town. Our mission has always been to spread joy and bring people together, wherever we go. This show is for absolutely everyone. We want the whole community to come out, experience the energy, and enjoy the music and culture with us. Whether you are reconnecting with home or experiencing this kind of music for the very first time, we guarantee you’ll leave with a smile on your face.”
What it means for you
If you want to go, book ahead through the Quarry Theatre or call in at the box office. The theatre is at 26 St Peters Street, MK40 2NN. For parking nearby, see our guide to parking in Bedford, and for more on the town’s venues, things to do in Bedford.
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