A group of upcoming playwrights is gathering in the Zimbabwean capital Harare this week for an 11-day event organised by celebrated American-Zimbabwean actor Danai Gurira as part of her commitment to nurturing a new generation of dramatic artists in southern Africa.
The Almasi African Playwrights conference is hosted by Almasi Collaborative Arts, the organisation Gurira co-founded in 2011, and offers writers a chance to develop their work with directors and actors. Running from 11 December at Harare’s Reps theatre, it is part of Almasi’s aim to promote and celebrate African storytelling. Gurira is expected to join the group.
Best known for her award-winning roles in the Walking Dead series and Black Panther movies, Gurira is also a dramatist. Her plays include Eclipsed, the first play to premiere on Broadway with an all female and black cast and creative team.
Gurira set up Almasi with film and theatre producer Patience Tawengwa to give Zimbabwean creatives access to the sort of training and skills that she has benefited from since being in the US; she remains actively involved as executive artistic director.
“What I kept experiencing was coming home from the US [to Zimbabwe] and finding people were not getting trained in this field,” Gurira said. “They were telling me they wrote a play in three days! Playmaking is hard, there is no sustainable piece of writing that can be completed in three days. I wanted to expose the Zimbabwean artist to process, so they could develop their talent to its utmost potential. That is the only way we create work that is globally recognised. It is the only way we create work that tells our stories in a way that is undeniable and universal.”
More than 500 African artists have participated in workshops devised by Gurira and Tawenga over the past 11 years and attended by guest actors and other industry figures from the US, including playwright Alice Tuan; Walking Dead producer and writer Matt Negrette; costume designer Clint Ramos and director Lucie Tiberghien, who co-directed Almasi’s most recent play, Family Riots with Almasi alumnus Makomborero Theresa Muchemwa.
The African Playwrights conference is Almasi’s flagship event and has led to the development of 20 plays since it started in 2015. More than 60 playwrights, actors, producers and directors are expected to attend this year.
“There is nothing else like it on this scale – as far as I know. It’s heaven for playwrights”, said Gideon Jeph Wabvuta, a playwright and programme coordinator at Almasi.
He said the event was part of a “growing excitement around theatre in Zimbabwe”, boosted this year by the launch of an Outstanding Playwright category in the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe awards. “This kind of recognition is such a big deal,” he added.
The conference follows Almasi’s staging of Family Riots last month at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe in Harare, the organisation’s first full production in more than 10 years. Written by Wabvuta, the play tells the story of an upwardly mobile family in Mbare, Zimbabwe’s oldest township, during the 1998 food riots.
“It is about family and it is about class,” said Wabvuta. “When I started writing the play [in 2013], the people were based on my parents. But I kept writing for so long that the people in the play became me and my wife!”
Wabvuta said the gallery was chosen as a venue in part because he wanted to offer a different experience to attract people who might not usually go to the theatre. “One couple came because their son, a standup comedian, recommended it. They had never been to the theatre before.”
Gurira said the choice of venue also reflected Almasi’s mission. “I love the idea of collaborating with another form of African art. We are called Almasi Collaborative Arts and the idea of a collaboration like this felt exciting and different for us. Let’s merge the visual arts with installation art, and musical art with theatre art,” she added.
Wabvuta, who joined Almasi’s programme in its first year and attended the University of Southern California MFA dramatic writing programme, said that while he was optimistic about the new crop of writers, funding was a significant barrier to making a living from theatre. His role at Almasi gives him the financial stability to continue his work as a playwright. Others have not been as lucky.
Many of the 500 or so artists Almasi has trained have left the profession because of poor pay. “Our industry struggles to keep its people,” said Wabvuta. “It’s a money issue”, adding that the lead actor in Family Riots, Michael Kudakwashe, gave up acting to pursue a full-time job but agreed to take on the role for this production.
Associate director at Almasi Zaza Muchemwa believes that offering professional training will help create a more dynamic and robust dramatic arts scene in Zimbabwe.
“I was always keenly aware of what this [dramatic arts] space is and what it could be. When Almasi began, there weren’t a lot of organisations or tertiary institutions that were training creatives.”
Gurira added that seeing young playwrights grow in confidence was one of the most rewarding parts of her role at Almasi. “Seeing them get to explore their craft and impress even themselves. That means everything. Those artists will never be the same. Their work has transformed, and so have they. That has been very gratifying.”
She added that Almasi planned to work more with local partners such as businesses and embassies with the aim of “spearheading a new age in the Zimbabwe entertainment industry”.
“As our name connotes, we seek to collaborate. Our goal lies in what we seek to build, like the name ‘Zimbabwe’ itself, we seek to build a house of stone that lasts.”
