Tape
On 24 February 2024, 2:30pm Almasi Collaborative Arts presented a staged reading of Tape by Stephen Belber at Reps Theatre. Directed by Tadziyana David Bvumbe, the staged reading featured Ngonidzashe Chikowore, AneUnhu Gwatidzo, Chelsy Maumbe and Charmaine Mujeri.
About Tape
A 1999 unsettling and unpredictable drama about the love-hate chemistry that endures between friends, later filmed by Richard Linklater in 2001 with Uma Thurman, Ethan Hawke and Robert Sean Leonard.
Jon, an aspiring filmmaker on the verge of hitting it big, hooks up for the weekend with his best friend from high school, Vince, a volunteer fireman who makes his money selling dope. Jon's new film is being shown at a festival in Lansing, Michigan, and Vince has come from Oakland to see it. Over the course of the evening, Vince finally gets Jon to admit that ten years ago he date-raped Amy Randall, a girl whom they both dated in high school only then to reveal that he's taped their entire conversation. And not only that, he's invited Amy to have dinner with them that night. Beneath its suspenseful, high-stakes surface, TAPE examines questions of motive, memory, truth and perception.
The staged reading of Tape is part of the Almasi staged reading series.
click above to watch
Cast
Vince-Ngonidzashe Chikowore
Jon-AneUnhu Gwatidzo
Amy-Chelsy Maumbe
Stage Directions - Charmaine Mujeri
Crew
Director - Tadziyana David Bvumbe
Stage Manager - Prudence Kalipinde
Photographer - Jon Pilch
Videographer - James Jemwa
Publicity Specialist - Tawanda Mupatsi
Operations Manager - Kudakwashe Kanembirira
Programs Coordinator - Gideon Jeph Wabvuta
Associate Artistic Director - Zaza Muchemwa
Executive Artistic Director - Danai Gurira
Audience Reception
‘Venue was very appropriate for a play reading. Very good play and well directed reading. The play makes you think of perception of events and behaviour.’
- Soukaina M. Edom
‘It was an amazing staged reading and the directing and acting was superb. A really great mirror into society.’
- Brenda Ruzunguza
‘I enjoyed the play and how it took me back to how sometimes rape cases in colleges are not reported as they are hard to explain as rape and there is no name for the ‘act’.
- N. L. Dube
‘Super cool.’
-Trust Munopa
‘Pretty cool.’
- Philani A. Kinyabo
‘The play was well directed. And I loved how the play highlighted the issues of rape. In some cases, people live with the shame, regret and guilt for the rest of their lives’
- Takudzwanashe Charlene Ndangana
‘Brilliant! Enjoyed! Great Actors!’
- Gee
‘Loved the show.’
- Billy Kabasa
‘The event was superb. Looking forward to more.’
- Gerald Vuranda
‘Amazing choice of actors, amazing script...It was intriguing enough and well played out. Well done!’
- Tariro
‘Very thought-provoking, keeps the mind racing with a lot of questions.’
- Julienne
Note from the Director
By Tadziyana David Bvumbe
“It may sound cliched, but I could not put the play down the first time I read it. Every subsequent reading brought new insights and discoveries.”
Stephen Belber’s Tape is a highly engaging and exciting story about friendship, memory and perception. It is centered around a sexual assault which occurred ten years before the night of the play. The action of the play happens in real time, in one space: a Motel 6 room in downtown Lansing, Michigan. It packs a lot of intricate details in its compact length, making it an actor’s and a director’s dream project.
It may sound cliched, but I could not put the play down the first time I read it. Every subsequent reading brought new insights and discoveries. Since Tape premiered in 1999, the #MeToo movement has brought issues around consent to the fore. There is no better time than now for us all to grapple with these issues. Our post show discussion with the audience really showed that everyone who sees this play, sees it through the lens of their own personal and lived experiences.
The text of the play is very fast and physical, full of witty back-and-forth banter. This posed my first challenge as the director of the staged reading; how to stage it without losing the physicality and sense of urgency. After two days of table reads and insightful discussions, we put the play on its feet. The actors never sat down again while performing the play. This allowed them to connect the text with their bodies and find the pulse of the text. It also allowed them to connect with each other in a way that made their friendships seem and feel genuine.
Speaking of the cast, I was very lucky when each of them walked into the audition room. I knew that I wanted each of them in their perspective roles the moment I saw them. They made the process easy, enjoyable and contributed so much of themselves into the final production. Together we created a space that allowed us to explore freely topics that people usually shy away from. We were able to confront the uncomfortable and unspoken and, we learnt to live in it.
From my first reading of the play, I was struck by the language of the play. I am a director who is most accustomed to working with the heightened texts of Shakespeare and musical theatre. How was I going to cope with such naturalistic text? The text sounds like real conversations between real people all of us know. That became the focus for me as a director, bringing out the familiarity of the conversations and the characters through the actors’ performances but still making them seem new and in the moment.
We focused a great deal on voice work in the rehearsal room, sharpening and expanding each actor’s instrument to bring depth and clarity to the final performance. The rehearsal room was also a space where we allowed ourselves to be present with each other and not worry about what was happening outside. I think that’s why I love the rehearsal process so much. It’s a time of real personal and group connections and discoveries. I’m grateful that, through Almasi, I was able to have that time with a group of people I will always treasure.