{"id":46868,"date":"2021-09-18T18:48:56","date_gmt":"2021-09-18T16:48:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/?p=46868"},"modified":"2021-09-18T18:12:08","modified_gmt":"2021-09-18T16:12:08","slug":"mugabe-my-dad-and-me-review-personal-lesson-on-empire-identity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.cc\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/mugabe-my-dad-and-me-review-personal-lesson-on-empire-identity","title":{"rendered":"Mugabe, My Dad And Me Review \u2013 Personal Lesson On Empire, Identity"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – Zimbabwe<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>The Guardian<\/b> – \u201cWHERE are you from?\u201d It\u2019s a question that writer and actor Tonderai Munyevu gets a lot.<\/p>\n

In the opening moments of Mugabe, My Dad and Me, he recalls it being asked by a white man he was serving in a bar, who went on to offer strong, ill-informed opinions about Munyevu\u2019s native Zimbabwe. This show is Munyevu\u2019s response.<\/p>\n

As the title suggests, it revolves around two men who have loomed large in Munyevu\u2019s life, each shaped by Zimbabwe\u2019s violent colonial history: controversial former president Robert Mugabe, and Munyevu\u2019s heavy-drinking, often absent father.<\/p>\n

He traces the outlines of their lives both before and after Zimbabwe\u2019s independence in 1980, interspersed with his own experience as a member of the diaspora, having moved to the UK as a child. It\u2019s an ambitious piece, tackling colonialism, neo-colonialism and different understandings of land, ownership and belonging.<\/p>\n

Munyevu\u2019s storytelling jumps rapidly between personal and political, then and now. Memory, Munyevu suggests, is something that afflicts the diaspora.<\/p>\n

In John R Wilkinson\u2019s production, that affliction surrounds him \u2013 be it the ghostly chorus of costumes hanging over his head or the music of the mbira summoning his ancestors.<\/p>\n

Playing this traditional Zimbabwean instrument, musician Millie Chapanda becomes both an observer and a presence from the past, standing in for various figures in Munyevu\u2019s story.<\/p>\n

Munyevu is a naturally warm performer, unafraid to use his charm to deliver a sting. He\u2019s sharply aware throughout of the mostly white gaze of the audience, confronting our ignorance and complicity.<\/p>\n

The show aims in part to educate, but without attempting to be a straightforward history lesson. Munyevu refuses to resolve the complexity of Zimbabwe\u2019s past, leaving spectators to piece together the jagged fragments of history that he offers us.<\/p>\n

The lack of resolution or reassurance forces an audience to take Munyevu\u2019s questions out of the theatre. Occasionally, though, the show gets tangled up in its own introspection.<\/p>\n

Some sections meander or repeat themselves a little too insistently. But there\u2019s no question that more stories like this \u2013 sharing experiences of migration and reckoning with the legacies of empire \u2013 need to be told.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. The Guardian – \u201cWHERE are you from?\u201d It\u2019s a question that writer and actor Tonderai Munyevu gets a lot. In the opening moments of Mugabe, My Dad and Me, he recalls it being asked by a white man he was serving in a bar, who went on to offer strong, ill-informed opinions […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":46867,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,35,12,15],"tags":[1493,2189,19],"class_list":{"0":"post-46868","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-all-news","8":"category-homepage-english","9":"category-policy","10":"category-twitter","11":"tag-africa-press","12":"tag-africa-press-zimbabwe-2","13":"tag-zimbabwe"},"yoast_head":"\nMugabe, My Dad And Me Review \u2013 Personal Lesson On Empire, Identity - zimbabwe<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Guardian - \u201cWHERE are you from?\u201d It\u2019s a question that writer and actor Tonderai Munyevu gets a lot. 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