A new theatre show titled — Mama Afrika: Hope, Determination and Song — by renowned Zimbabwean playwright Tomas Lutuli Brickhill premieres on June 14th 2022 at Norwich Arts Centre in the UK. This year marked a significant birthday anniversary of Dr. Miriam Makeba – on 4th March 2022. She was born in 1932 and would have been 90 years old if she was still alive today. Many tributes, exhibitions and events will be held throughout the year in honour and celebration of her life and legacy which led up to her untimely passing on 9th November 2008 – this is also an important date which the Miriam Makeba Foundation acknowledges and commemorates annually.
Brickhill describes the one-woman show inspired by the life of Mama Afrika as “a gripping dramatic rollercoaster through the highs and lows she experienced.”
The story of Mama Afrika will be brought to life through the talents of Anna Mudeka, a Zimbabwean singer, musician and storyteller. Brickhill (B) speaks to Gem Nation News (GNN) on what awaits theatre goers. Read the excerpts:
GNN: Tell us is Mama Afrika: Hope, Determination and Song a musical or stage play.
B: Mama Afrika: Hope, Determination and Song is a stage play inspired by the life of Mama Afrika. The story follows her journey from the time she left South Africa as a young woman, all the way through to the end of her life.
GNN: What is the theme/story of the musical?
B: The production deals with many themes including success and grief and resilience, but I think the main theme is the struggle for racial equality, because Mama Afrika was a powerful voice in the anti-apartheid movement as well as being a brilliant and talented performer.
GNN: Who is the main character of this production?
B: The production is a one-woman show, so Mama Afrika is obviously the main character – in fact she’s the only character we see directly – the other characters exist in so much as she speaks about them to the audience, and there are also ‘voices’ inspired by news stories from the time period.
GNN: How was it like working with Anna Madeka on this project?
B: Working with Anna Mudeka has been a pleasure. She really allowed me to explore the topic as a writer and gave me an opportunity to challenge myself with the technical aspects that are required in this kind of production.
GNN: What is the highlight of the production?
B: For me the highlight has been discovering much more about Miriam Makeba’s life than I knew before. Obviously, many of her songs are very well known and some particular elements of her life as well, but she really lived much more of an amazing and inspiring life than most people know.
GNN: How long is the production?
B: The running time of the production is around 75 minutes. To be honest we don’t know exactly because this will be the first time ever that the production is being performed for a live audience and in theatre things don’t always go exactly the same in rehearsals as when you actually perform live. The show is in research and development stages and will be shown to audiences in 5 venues including London, Birmingham and Ipswich to gauge feedback and further development for future tours in 2023/24
GNN: How much inspiration does the production draw from Mama Afrika?
B: Obviously, the story is inspired by her life and as such it’s heavily inspired by her, but in writing the script I also drew on experiences from my own family’s history in the anti-apartheid movement and I know that director Tonia Daley-Campbell and Anna Mudeka herself have also brought their own personal experiences and inspirations into the final production that people will then see. That’s the exciting thing about collaboration: everybody involved brings another layer of creativity so that the final piece becomes a work of art in its own right.
GNN: Was this your first time to work on a theatrical piece like this?
B: I have written theatre before, even musicals, although not for a few years as I’ve been focused more on writing for the big screen, but this production did give me a new and unique challenge in the writing because of the technical challenges of finding ways for the actress to evolve during the performance from the young woman Nightingale was when she left South African, into the ‘Mama Afrika’ legend that she was by the end of her life.
GNN: We understand the production will be live streamed in Zimbabwe how do you intend to do this?
B: We’re still working on the specifics of this, but we will be screening the live stream from the UK performance and projecting it onto a big screen at a Harare venue and we will be announcing details as soon as possible.
GNN: Any other information you want to share with thespians?
B: When I came on board the project, I really thought I already knew most of what there was to know about Mama Africa’s life, but her story really is even more amazing and inspiring than most people realize. As such the production is a gripping dramatic rollercoaster through the highs and lows she experienced, and on top of that the soundtrack includes both some of Mama Afrika’s greatest hits, and some lesser-known gems that a lot of people might be discovering for the first time when they watch it.
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