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.
Read MoreWhen I first read "Fabulation or The Re-Education of Undine" I was drawn in by the similarities which exist between Undine's self discovery journey and the search for identity for many of us contemporary Africans. Most Africans of my generation have parents who were born and raised in the rural areas of colonial Africa, only after independence were black Africans able to freely move from "Africans only" designated townships to the affluent and formerly all white suburbs.
Read MoreI have always been someone who relishes a challenge and takes whatever is thrown at me, so when about two years ago this chance to audition for grad school in USA was handed to me I jumped on it. 2015 now I’m in the US, as they call it. Indeed the audition process has been an experience.
Read MoreTwenty three hours of travel can make anyone cranky but not when you visiting the USA for the first time. Leaving Zimbabwe at 1230, landing in South Africa at 2:30PM then a 6 hour layover. I was still sane then and rearing to go, my schedule said I would leave SA at 8:30PM and land in Abu Dhabi at 645am then leave for New York at 1045 and land at 4pm.
Read MoreThere can be no keener rewarding journey than that of physical self-discovery and self- awareness. It is a journey that enriches your mind, your body and on top of it all your ability to love yourself. I am honored and blessed to be taking part in this journey. I am really falling deeper in love with myself, my craft and my artistic mission. All this is being facilitated through the intermediate I chose to walk this journey through with.
Read MoreGideon Jeph Wabvuta is a recent graduate of the University of Zimbabwe Bachelor of Arts program in Theater. He has been a part of almost all Almasi trainings and productions. He is currently one of our Director Mentees. Gideon has a dream. He seeks to attend an American Masters of Fine Arts Program in Acting. Gideon is a very ambitious, hardworking and driven young man.
Read MoreI have never liked the expression 'to kill two birds with one stone' because of the suggested violence against the birds! Plus, it's a destructive image. When I'm taking care of two tasks at once, I feel pretty constructive. So I have chosen the alternative 'watering two plants with one hose' in talking about my most recent Almasi project. It alludes to the nurturing aim of Almasi's work as well as the two track focus of this initiative.
Read MoreI discovered at a very tender age that I had the ability to actually tell stories and change people's lives. From that time I struggled to find the right medium to use to tell these stories. I tried different ones: the pen, the voice, the brush but still I could not find the “right satisfaction” that I longed for. Through time, I found that my body was my perfect medium. I started using it and bang! All the “right satisfaction” came.
Read MoreWhen Danai first approached me to lead a Shakespeare and August Wilson acting workshop in Zimbabwe, I was equal parts thrilled and terrified. My career thus far involved mostly working as an actor, and my teaching experience was minimal. In preparation, I scoured through all my old acting notes and brushed up on the eight plays we would cover in class.
Read MoreI got an email today from one of my favorite Zimbabwean Artists. Tafadzwa Bob Mutumbi (affectionately called TafBob by many, a meshing of his African and Western names) is a face I am sure you all know well by now if you have received our newsletters, browsed our website or looked at our e - blasts.
Read MoreAndre Holland has been in Zimbabwe for the last several weeks teaching our first Actor’s Intensive with a focus on August Wilson and Shakespeare. He has had an astounding impact on our students, with many of them making wonderful strides in technique, performance and comprehension of great texts. We received emails from the actors too, raving about their experience in the room with him, here's one we thought to share...
Read MoreI remember attending a Pan-African arts and culture festival where selected artists from 53 African countries came together in the North African country of Algeria for 21 days to share and celebrate the diversity of the various art forms on the African continent.
Read MoreI’ll never forget the first performance of THE CONVERT in Zimbabwe. I had seen American audiences respond to this play in Princeton, Chicago, LA, and Philadelphia. I have probably seen somewhere around 40 performances of the play, and my one night with a Zimbabwean audience was revelatory. Listening to what the Harare audience listened to, responded to, and discovered was thrilling.
Read MoreLast year marked a year of vision turned possibility, turned reality. When we started this journey we foresaw true opportunity being afforded to the Zimbabwean artist. We foresaw their talents receiving tangible rewards, we foresaw an awakening in Zimbabwe's dramatic arts, where greatness would be realized, excellence would be achieved and legacies would be born.
Read MoreWorking on the African premiere of The Convert by Danai Gurira was a deeply worthwhile experience. Each and every job I take on is an opportunity to grow and to learn something new.
Read MoreMy mission is to faithfully tell stories that will resonate with our day to day lives and it will focus people on addressing the flaws that exist within particular institutions and individuals. I also seek to speak for and with the marginalised and oppressed within society; all this I want to do through the exploration of the mind.
Read MoreNikkole Salter is currently in Zimbabwe teaching six promising Zimbabwean Playwrights in Almasi's First Training Exchange! Almasi asked Nikkole, "What is the biggest lesson you've learned so far?" Here's what she said: "It was an inspirational moment to reach our first week's benchmark where participants presented their ideas for the plays they would begin to develop in the following weeks.
Read MoreIt’s not every day that one gets the rare gem of an opportunity to learn directly from a renowned, Tony award winning director, playwright and artistic director like Emily Man. The fact that I am here at the McCarter being exposed to the best of the best is a true testament to the power of arts and culture and the ability it has to transcend all barriers and bring people together.
Read MoreSeveral times in ‘Radio Golf’ the character of Old Joe responds to a question with, “I ain’t gonna tell you.” They sound like simple enough questions that could have simple answers but Old Joe sees the depth and complexity in everything so there are no simple answers.
Read MoreWhen I graduated from college I knew it all. I was not an actor, I was an Artist (if this were a French keyboard I would have added the accent mark over the “i”. That is how confident I was). I was ready for the world. There was no play I couldn’t do, no television series I wasn’t ready for, no film I couldn't get a respectable role in. The last thing on my mind was going back to school. I was ready, I tell you.
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