On the 14th of March 2016, at Churchill Boys High school, Almasi presented readings of scenes from plays written by 7 high school students. The presentations focused on dreams, love, innovation and peace.
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Saturday morning turned out to be a cold and rainy day in Harare. Although we had advertised the Talk on social media and in the press; there was still that lingering anxiety that no one would actually turn up, as most people were commuting.
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Sometimes you seem like you are being so careful” reads a line from my end of Mentee Directors Training Evaluation of 11 December 2014 by my esteemed mentor Julia Wharton “Miss Julie”. I was eager to work more on this as I developed my directing techniques over the past two years, and to let this reflect, especially, in my play choices.
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The artist in me was drawn to August Wilson the first time I read Fences. The actor in me wanted to play Troy so much. I wanted to just wear his strength, passion and freedom just once, but well I was/still am too young for that role.
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In 2013, I had the opportunity to be part of the Almasi playwrights intensive workshop with Nikkole Salter. This workshop changed the way I thought about playwrighting, so whenever I would stand up and talk about playwrighting I was coming from an informed point of view. Fast forward 3 years later, I’m asked to hold a 5-day playwriting workshop for a group of school leavers in Glen View.
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I walked gingerly into the rehearsal room for Danai’s play “Familiar,” delighted that I had been allowed to become the proverbial fly on the wall (or so I thought) for this off-Broadway play at Playwrights Horizons. After meeting the playwright, director and incredibly talented cast, I sat quietly in a corner to observe.
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When I received the Almasi’s cultural exchange artist grant I was thrilled. I also knew very well that I was embarking on one of the most challenging chapters of my life. Despite that, I had made up my mind: it was time for me to take this giant leap and apply for grad school. Almasi workshops had awoken in me a deep desire to be fully immersed in an acting program.
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From January 2016 to March 2016 Almasi presented Zimbabwean playwrights in the process of developing their plays; a platform for them to receive feedback on their works in progress through a series of writers' dialogues. Plays from participating playwrights were read by local actors to a small invited audience.
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I am a writer who works on a thousand things at the same time, up to the point that I write 4-5 plays at the same time (or rather I draft 5 plays and really focus on 1). So when I got the chance to present my latest work, family riots, at the Almasi writers’ dialogue I was thrilled. I had a testing ground for my new work.
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My stay in New York has been so very rewarding and eye opening. Despite the fact that I left an intense heat wave in Harare to be welcomed by a blizzard in New York, I think I have adjusted pretty well to the weather! Soon after I arrived in New York, I met my acting coach, Susan, in person. I had my first couple of lessons with her on Skype, as she began assisting me long distance in preparation for my grad school monologues.
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I have been working with Almasi since its first staged reading, A Raisin in the Sun, when I was still a theatre student at the University of Zimbabwe. From the reading, I was fortunate to be accepted into the playwrights intensive which was run by Nikkole Salter. There I was selected as the participant who was to be mentored by Nikkole. This was followed by another staged reading of The Convert, directed by Danai Gurira.
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My passion lies in primarily telling stories through the body. My desire is to see the body profoundly communicate that which we are sometimes shy or afraid to speak. I was honored to have been selected by Almasi Collaborative Arts to lead a seven-day physical theatre lab, an exploration focusing on character creation and development.
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Athol Fugard has always and still is one of my greatest storytellers of all time, since the first day I bumped into Sizwe Bansi is dead then No Good Friday. So picking the play was quiet an easy task for me. When I picked up Nongogo, even before I had gone through the first act of I knew this was the play for me. It was bridled with so much passion, the character’s desires were so concrete and vivid like Johnnie’s cloths.
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When Patience Tawengwa called me three years ago to ask if I was interested in participating in the inaugural staged reading by Almasi, A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, directed by American director and dramaturge Julia Wharton, little did I know that this would mark the beginning of a life changing journey for me as a passionate performing artist.
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The nature of the Zimbabwean dramatic arts industry has always been about a bunch of people with a lot of heart and passion struggling their way through and learning through their numerous failures. There are very limited places where one can go and learn about the craft they hope to hone.
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Before I attended Almasi African Playwrights Festival, If I was asked if I could see progress in the space of two weeks, the answer was going to be an unequivocal no. I had been playing and toying with an idea since the beginning of last year. That year ended with a half finished product.
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The most important lesson I learnt about playwriting during the Playwright’s Festival is that a play that goes through a rigorous development process can only get better. Under the guidance and help of Robert Egan and Stephen Belber, I watched in delightful surprise as my play continuously improved right until the day of the staged reading.
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The Almasi Directorship program, has been an exciting journey for me. My first staged reading “Necessary Targets” under Julie Wharton’s directing, was really when it all began. I began to understand the complexity of directing a play, how important it was for actors go through the text in detail. I also learnt from the previous staged readings and from our mentor, the importance of making actors feel a sense of ownership of the production.
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I recently returned from Zimbabwe; we held our annual retreat and simultaneously conducted a training workshop with American Actor Ross Marquand. We then immediately continued with our Staged Reading Series/Director Mentor Program, this reading helmed by local artist Kudzi Sevenzo.
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It started last year with me, a stage reading mentee director participating in the staged reading of Necessary Targets as an actor. The Mentor Director, Julia Wharton wanted us, would be stage reading directors, to experience the process as actors/directors in training.
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