Micro
CAST & CREW
Return by Zoë Guzy-Sprague
Director | Chelsy Maumbe
Cast | Caroline Mashingaidze, Chido Tenga
Gary Matter by Jeanette D. Far
Director | Gertrude Munhamo
Cast | Charmaine Mujeri, Ronald Sigeca
Micro by Zodwa Nyoni
Director | Brighton Ndhlovu
Cast | Joy Chipidza, Charlene Mangweni
The Several Beheadings Of Ashraf Fayadh
Director | Eyahra Mathazia
Cast | Francis Nyakuhwa, Ronald Sigeca, Zane Lucas
Corals by Ng Choon Ping
Director | Elizabeth Zaza Muchemwa
Cast | Charmaine Mujeri, Cadrick Msongelwa, Stewart Sakarombe, Chelsy Maumbe
Stage Manager | Priviledge Gwaba
Operations Manager | Kudakwashe Kanembirira
Associate Artistic Director | Elizabeth Zaza Muchemwa
PARTICIPANT REFLECTIONS
‘I’m grateful for the lessons I learned. Which are: Have a plan; Be time conscious; Research; Be articulate in communication; Let creativity flow; Read; Don’t over process things; Allow the talent to give input towards the vision; Don’t be rigid in thinking; Humility is not a weakness; Focus your mind on the work and nothing else; You will meet all types of personalities so you plan has to be adaptable; Pick your cast wisely look at talent, if they can take direction and how they interact with others; Do exercises that will assist in bonding and bringing out the vision; It’s easy for emotions and tempers to flare so a good neutral stage manager or assistant director is of importance; Learn your cast so you know how to prime them; Be fair and be realistic; Over / under working an actor , over researching / under researching an actor is not a good thing; Enjoy the process and rehearse well that way you are guaranteed a great show and; Listen to what’s not being said, have an open mind, try many things. All in all the experience was great and I look forward to the next stage of this exciting journey !! Thank you, Almasi!!! I appreciate your investment and development of our local arts industry. Thank you, Zaza for your patience, sharing of knowledge and understanding throughout the process.’ Eyahra Mathazia
‘A huge thank you to Almasi Collaborative Arts for giving me this opportunity to be a mentored on being a (theatre) director. The most valuable lesson I have taken with me from this experience is that a production is always a collaboration between the director and her actors- there is need for clear cut communication, sharing of ideas and learning from each other; and in absence of that collaboration- many things can fall apart.’ Chelsy Maumbe
Thank you for the opportunity to learn and grow that you afforded me as an artist and woman in this industry. I appreciate and don’t take it for granted. I personally think it was a powerful tool to run the scheduled mentoring program as a master class for me because I learned better and pushed myself more under pressure. It was intense and got me thinking, researching, creation of great ideas were also born through that period. It was indeed benefiting for me. I am looking forward to directing a lot. Firstly under seasoned directors so that I learned more and then try to do my own also with help from my mentor. Gertrude Munhamo
As a creator, I have always wanted to see art-works being justly executed and the MICRO director mentorship experience equipped me with a very strong insight and the fundamentals of directing. Particularly the knowledge that a director directs actions instead of thought which seemed like a major flaw before the process. Being able to be in the same space with other directors with different perspectives and approaches also enabled me to expand my perception of directing. Thank you to Almasi Collaborative Arts for the opportunity to learn and apply the knowledge and thanks to Elizabeth Zaza Muchemwa for unique mentorship and for maintaining an emotional equilibrium in dealing with creatives. Brighton Ndlovu
NOTE FROM THE DIRECTOR
Familiar By Danai Gurira is a master piece. A gem, A masterclass in writing and storytelling in general. It is deep. It is FUNY! It is indicting. It is very very FAMILIAR!! I relate a LOT to the characters, the story, the mask and the world of this play. The first time I read it, I had a real gutsy visceral response. Real great things happened to my soul, my mind and my body when I was reading it. It is a very exciting world to be in. It is indeed, a huge honour and privilege to be a provocateur in this process of bringing this masterpiece to life in Zimbabwe for the first time. The masterpiece has a very specific world. A world that is full of different shapes, colours, contours and paths. It has its own specific demands in terms of how it wants to be channeled through, and experienced. Some of these demands include : that it needs to be real,as real as life itself, no caricature and playing at. It needs no anecdotal playing, it hates playing to the gallery and hates to be pushed too much in its channeling and invocation.