UK Tour of Tonderai Munyevu's MUGABE, MY DAD & ME Announced

Following a successful run at York Theatre Royal earlier this year, ETT today announced the UK tour of Tonderai Munyevu's Mugabe, My Dad & Me, co-produced with Brixton House and York Theatre Royal in association with Alison Holder. Directed by John R. Wilkinson and performed by Munyevu and Millicent Chapanda. The autobiographical play about growing up in 1980's Zimbabwe following independence opens at Brixton House on 17 February, with previews from 15 February, and runs until 6 March. It then tours to Scarborough, Oundle and Oxford before concluding in Edinburgh, 23 - 26 March 2022.

Richard Twyman, Artistic Director, and Sophie Scull, Executive Producer of ETT, said today, "Following a run in 2021 with our partners York Theatre Royal and Alison Holder, we are delighted that in 2022 Mugabe, My Dad & Me will open with our new partners Brixton House before touring. Tonderai has written a deeply personal and engaging story, and spearheads an exceptional group of artists alongside John and Millicent. We're so pleased that audiences in Brixton and across the UK will be able to see this profoundly moving show."

Tonderai Munyevu was born in 1982 Zimbabwe, what they call the "born frees" - one of the generation born in the 1980s after independence.

He tells us how the first cracks of prosperous Zimbabwe's decline began to appear in the 1990s, and how he emigrated with his mother to England, where he has since remained. How his father lost his job at the hands of a white man, and how this changed both their lives irrevocably, until his father's death prompted Tonderai to question his identity and what it means to return 'home'.

Interspersing his dialogue with the audience are Robert Mugabe's speeches: ranging from the 1980s figure in a Savile Row suit to the bitter and derisive missives from the 1990s, up until 2017 when Mugabe was ousted by a political coup.

Tonderai Munyevu writes and performs. His writing credits for the stage include The Moors (Tara Arts Theatre), Harare Files: 700,000 People Lost Their Homes (Harare International Festival of the Arts), and Zhe [Noun] Undefined (Soho Theatre, international tour). For radio, his writing credits include The Tranquil Minds. As an actor, his theatre credits include Black Men Walking (Royal Court Theatre), Treasure Island (Birmingham Rep), The Man Who Almost Killed Himself (Edinburgh Festival Fringe), Sizwe Banzi Is Dead (Young Vic), and Zhe [Noun] Undefined (Soho Theatre). Munyevu is co-Artistic Director of Two Gents Productions.

Millicent Chapanda is a Shona cultural artist and performs vocals, mbira, ngoma drum and hosho shakers.

John R. Wilkinson directs. His theatre credits include Hello and Goodbye, Swallows and Amazons, Can't Stand Up For Falling Down (York Theatre Royal), Talking Heads (Leeds Playhouse), Winter (Young Vic - for which he won the 2018 Genesis Future Directors Award), and The Drowned World (National Theatre Studio).

PERFORMANCE DETAILS:

ETT, Brixton House and York Theatre Royal

in association with Alison Holder present

MUGABE, MY DAD & ME

Written by Tonderai Munyevu

Performed by Tonderai Munyevu and Millicent Chapanda

Director: John R Wilkinson; Designer: Nicolai Hart-Hansen

Sound Designer and Composer: Nigel Glasgow

UK Tour: 15 February - 21 March 2022

Brixton House

15 February - 6 March 2022

Press Night: Thursday 17 February at 7.30pm

Box Office: www.brixtonhouse.co.uk

Tickets to go on sale soon

TOUR DATES & LOCATIONS

Stephen Joseph Theatre

8 - 9 March 2022

Box Office: www.sjt.uk.com / 01723 370541

 

Stahl Theatre, Oundle

11 March 2022

Box Office: www.stahltheatre.savoysystems.co.uk/StahlTheatre.dll / 01832 273930

 

Oxford Playhouse

15 - 18 March 2022

Box Office: www.oxfordplayhouse.com / 01865 305305

 

Traverse Theatre

23 - 26 March 2022

Box Office: www.traverse.co.uk / 0131 228 1404

Tickets to go on sale soon

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