The Fruits Of Cultural Collaboration

Almasi has already had an amazing year. With two Almasi fellows recently in the US, as well as continual programs and collaborations on the ground in Zimbabwe, the design of this organization -- to allow the African artist to thrive globally -- has taken true shape.

We have an Almasi Fellow recently accepted to one of the most renowned writing programs in the United States. We have another Almasi Fellow who just experienced great response during her time here in the US as she auditioned for acting programs. We have new programming on the ground in Zimbabwe. We have Almasi trained artists sharing their learned skills with communities around the country. We have two more Almasi artists on their way shortly to the US to participate in the largest Theater conference in the US: Theater Communications Group Annual Conference.

One of my favorite Almasi experiences this year, however, was during the previews and performances of my plays in NYC: Familiar and Eclipsed. Our Walter Muparutsa Almasi Fellow, Tafbob Mutumbi, visited NYC from his Masters program in California during his spring break. I immediately put him to work; taking my notes during previews for both Eclipsed and Familiar, and as always, I listened keenly to his thoughts and responses.  It was fascinating to see a Zimbabwean watch American artists embody a Zimbabwean story. His thoughts were interesting and useful as always, and I thought how well the true act of collaboration between cultures can work if it is given an opportunity to flourish.

As is the ALMASI way, I am going to speak less and let the work, the artists, speak more. Please get to know us through our artists sharing their growth and experiences in their own words.

Tinotenda,

Executive Artistic Director

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. The end of the year saw the full production being done where I reprised my role as Chilford. All this was a balancing act as I was still a student at the UZ. During the full production of The Convert, I would go to an exam in the morning then rush to rehearsal. It wasn’t an easy task, but it clearly taught me resilience, hard work and discipline. I graduated from college and went straight into theatre full time, and this saw participation in the actors intensive workshops by Andre Holland and Nyambi Nyambi. A directors mentorship program commenced. I was fortunate to be part of that, which saw me take part in the play Necessary Targets directed by Julia Wharton, who was also the mentoring director... 
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A Great Experience

Harare, March 20th 2016 | Lloyd Nyikadzino  

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. During the lab, I invited the actors to walk with me in exploring this world, and in the process help them awaken the same imagination and magic that is associated in the character investigation process. I wanted them to become inspired to find and share their own voices and influence an understanding of the impact of their bodies in space. The character development process was designed to address challenges in creating new works, with a special focus dedicated to being present and truthful in space. The analysis also dealt with kinesthetic awareness and maintaining vulnerability in creating a believable theatrical character. I provoked the actors to create breathing and living entities in space and time. It was an intriguing process of deconstruction, self-discovery, and embodying the other, as well as inhabiting the proposed space or circumstance. An investigation where darlings/self-were discarded in order for the other to come to life
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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. Fashioned after the play development process from the Almasi African Playwrights Festival, the dialogue gave the playwrights meaningful feedback from the audience and the actors who took part in the staged readings. In return, the playwrights also interacted with the audience by asking them questions and talking about their writing processes. Through these dialogues, they were able to get an understanding of what worked in their plays and what needed to be worked on. In January 2016, Gideon Jeph Wabvuta and Thandiwe Nyamasvisva took part in the first writers’ dialogue which was moderated by Elizabeth Zaza Muchemwa at the Zimbabwe German Society. Gideon’s play “Family Riots” is a family drama set in 90s Zimbabwe at a time when the infamous food riots were about to take place. 
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Almasi Fellow Kudzi Sevenzo in America

Harare, March 20th 2016 | Kudzai Sevenzo  

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. I was watching the perfect collaboration – a beautifully written play that was perfectly cast and a sensitive and intuitive director. It doesn’t get any better than this! Bringing the Zimbabwean experience to an American cast is no easy feat; our culture, language and mannerisms are so vastly different. To familiarise the actors with Zimbabwe’s rich culture and language, a country thousands of miles away, an information board with vivid images from Zimbabwean history and its artefacts (such as the mbira) set the tone in the rehearsal room. This backdrop created an organic space where actors and director would be drawn into the culture and history of the nationality that they were going to embody.
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On the 21st of March 2016 at Glenview New Hall in Harare, Almasi presented readings of stories and short scenes produced during a five-day playwriting workshop led by Gideon Jeph Wabvuta. From 2pm, parents, siblings, peers and friends thronged into the high-density suburb hall to hear the participants’ pieces as they were read by University of Zimbabwe theatre students. During the presentation, the facilitator commended Patricia Chidida for staying on for the workshop in spite of being the only girl in the group; a challenge that some girls in her neighborhood might not have been able to face. The Playwriting workshop, held in Glenview, had the participation of out of school students and those still going to high school. The 9 participants were introduced to the basics of playwriting through a series of writing exercises, prompts and inspirations from the facilitator. They discussed the challenges they face and were encouraged to use what they experience in their writing. The results were stories and short scenes that articulated their aspirations and spoke to the environment in which they live. The workshop was part of the Capacity Building of Dramatic Artists Project supported by Culture Fund of Zimbabwe Trust in partnership with Sida and Danida  
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