The foundations and history of the productions of the plays of Shakespeare in Malawi are explored; to bring this neglected and fragmented narrative to a global audience. This chapter introduces Malawi, the Warm Heart of Africa. It focuses on the colonial context of the development of education, curriculum, and drama in Malawi, and how culture, especially performance, was impacted by Western influences. Using archival and desk-based research this chapter underpins the landscape that Malawian intercultural Shakespeare performance practice inhabits, and it showcases performance in Malawi from the colonial period to the early 1960s.