It has been a mammoth tour of Vakomana VaViri Ve Zimbabwe or Two Gentlemen of Verona, internationally we have been received enthusiastically by diverse audiences in Zimbabwe, South Africa and Germany. In the UK we have not only performed in London but also around the country in over 44 venues ranging from the impressive city theatres (how about the Contact in Manchester? Or the mighty Aberystwyth Arts Centre?) to the rural (our lucky escape before the floods hit Orton, Keswick and Cockermouth in deepest Cumbria), South to North, East to West we have done them all and have a mile-ridden battered car to show for it.  Almost five thousand people have seen this ever evolving and “seriously entertaining show” (that’s not us but the Observer on Sunday no less!). Next year, we go truly international as we base ourselves in the sunshine city that is Harare and take on Spain and Poland. Exciting, non?  For now, we are feeling festive, so come and join us as we take our final bow of 2009 in the beautiful setting of the Ustinov at the Theatre Royal, Bath.

With generous support from the Oval House Theatre, we have just started rehearsals on our London hit Two Gentlemen of Verona or Vakomana Vaviri ve Zimbabwe. We kick off our tour on September 29 at The Watermill, Newbury where it continues through to 3rd October.

The tour dates are as follows:

October

Tue 6th - Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton
Wed 7th - Penistone Paramount, Sheffield
Thu 8th - Lady Hawkins Leisure Centre, Shropshire
Fri 9th - SpArC, Shropshire
Sun 11th - Hanger Farm, Hants
Wed 14th - The Burton Borough School, Shropshire
Thu 15th - Spilsby Theatre, Lincolnshire
Fri 16th - Grange Hall, Nottinghamshire
Sat 17th - Southwell Library, Nottinghamshire
Thu 22nd - Chumleigh Community College, Chumleigh
Fri 23rd - Pilton Community College, Barnstaple
Sat 24th - Parracombe Village Hall, Parracombe
Fri 30th The Greyladyes Arts Centre, Hants

November

Tue 3rd and Wed 4th - Stephen Josepth Theatre, Scarborough
Sat 7th - The Kirkgate, Cockermouth
Tue 10th - Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal
Wed 11th Ullwater Community College, Cumbria
Thu 12th Mickleton Village Hall,
Co. Durham
Fri 13th - Staveley Village Hall, Cumbria
Sat 14th - Settlebeck High School, Cumbria
Sun 15th - Orton Market Hall, Cumbria
Tue 17th and Wed 18th - Contact, Manchester
Sat 21st - The British School, Stroud
Tue 24th and Wed 25th - Sherman Theatre, Cardiff
Thu 26th - The Rose Theatre, Edge Hill University, Lancashire

Decemeber

Wed 2nd - Ashcroft Arts Centre, Hampshire
Thu 3rd - Aberystwyth Arts Centre
Tue 8th - Darlington Arts Centre
Thu 10th and Wed 11th - The North Wall Arts Centre, Oxford
15th through to 19th - Ustinov @ Theatre Royal Bath

Download our flyer here (all the dates are on page 2):

two-gents-tour-flyer-page-1

two-gents-tour-flyer-page-2

The interview includes a clip from our new play Magetsi.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/arts/2009/03/000000_strand_tuesday.shtml

After inflation and dollarization, mass exoduses and a newly constituted Government of National Unity, two men in overalls try to make sense of it all using nothing but a bucket and an old piece of carpet.

A newly returned woman’s search for a partner in Harare, a grandmothers campaign for electricity and lessons on how best to negotiate a bucket bath. This revolving disc of characters and situations unearths the lives of ordinary Zimbabweans, whose stories will never make it to the press.

.This is it. This is Harare eclectic and electric. This is Magetsi. Written and performed by Two Gents Productions.

[Download our Marketing Pack here!] 

The Making Of

In April 2009, we travelled to our home, Zimbabwe, for the first time in seven years, to perform at the Harare International Festival of the Arts, armed with horror stories about how bad ‘the situation’ was. Having relied on The Guardian and other world press for updates on Zimbabwe, we really had no idea what to expect. 

We laughed. We cried. And, in the last three weeks of our stay, we devised.

In a process that involved interviewing Zimbabweans from all walks of life, we used Harare as a filter to talk about the issues that we were burning to express - the process of returning from the Diaspora, Harare and its adoption of the US dollar and what effect that’s had on people’s lives; as well as lifting a lid on the experiences of different sectors of Zimbabweans during the recent process of change in the country.

We crafted these impressions and experiences into scenes and have now ended up with a very exciting show about an hour long. We like to think of it as a message/postcard from Zimbabweans to their counterparts abroad; an amalgamation of stories, monologues and vignettes that question everything you thought you knew about Zimbabwe. After two performances at the Harare Reps Theatre Upstairs, we performed it at the Market Theatre Lab in Johannesburg and it was wonderfully received. We now look forward to further performances in London and beyond.

This is us slaving away on our laptops to bring you a brand new series of performances! Confirming venues and dates, getting press releases, marketing packs, invites out and ready to go. Watch this space for performance schedules and the like!!!

I guess we should start off by apologising for being truly awful at updating our blog, the truth of the matter is that Zimbabwe simply ended up being too much fun. Between performing at HIFA, devising a new show, having High Tea at the Meikles and Tonderai breaking his arm, blogging just got abandoned. Tonderai’s broken his arm by the way. To be fair, the speed of Zimbabwean internet is measured in donkey strides per year, and that’s the broadband.

We travelled to Zimbabwe armed with horror stories about how bad ‘The situation’, was. It gave us great pleasure then to have an experience that was quite contrary to expectations.

If you don’t mind the occasional power cut and a bucket bath or two, there is a lot going for Zimbabwe at the moment. We found a resurgent economy, buoyed by the adoption of the US dollar and a people full of such strong will and hope it was infectious.

Hifa

Performing Vakomana at HIFA was a truly emotional experience for us (Denton bawled his eyes out at the end of one performance, completely frightening Tonderai). HIFA fashioned a Presbyterian Church into a theatre space for the festival by blocking the windows with black bin liners – great for getting a space dark enough, but turned it into a sauna as a result. That and the fact that a show is never considered sold out in Zimbabwe until even a mouse can’t find some where to sit made it really, really hot. Got a chance to catch the music acts as well which where simply breathtaking.  Watch out for the force of nature that is Rina Mushonga.

Magetsi

We allocated three weeks to devising our new show but really, the show came together two days before the show opened. We used Harare as a filter to talk about the issues that we were burning to express - the process of returning from the Diaspora, Harare and its adoption of the US dollar and what effect that’s had on people’s lives as well as lifting a lid on the experiences of different sectors of Zimabweans during this process of change in the country. We’ve ended up with a very exciting show about an hour long – awesome after the marathon that is two gents. We like to think of it as a message/postcard from Zimbabweans to their counterparts abroad. We performed it at the Market Theatre Lab in Johannesburg along with Vakomana after two performances at Reps Theatre Upstairs and it was wonderfully received. Watch this space.

Outreach work

Working with the students at the Young Africa Skills Centre in Chitungwiza really brought a strong sense of focus to which direction we should take as a company. Whilst they found our performance of Vakomana hard work, there was an overwhelming enthusiasm about our work and their eagerness to learn. Furthermore on reflecting on the dearth of opportunities available to any young potential artists to develop their skills, (outside HIFA and Speech and Drama festival there is not very much going) we felt a great deal of responsibility as a returning Company to play our part in the development of young artists in Zimbabwe. We are now in the process of designing an annual outreach program in Zimbabwe as well as setting up more permanent development initiatives.

All in all, our time in Zim and South Africa was an incredibly enriching experience for us as a company, until Tonderai broke his arm whilst quad biking in Johannesburg. It was a good idea at the time. Testosterone hey. Oh well.

Dates and Times
Sunday 28th June: 8.00PM

Booking information
Tickets: €17 - €33
Further information and bookings at the festival website

Venue information
Neuss Globe
Stresemannallee
41460 Neuss

The flight over Joburg went relatively smoothly and we all made it through immigrations without any hassle. Tonderai and Arne found their luggage waiting for them, whereas Denton’s was nowhere to be found, along with the trunk. Where Arne was welcomed into the country with open arms and not even a sideways glance at his (fashionable and lightweight :-) luggage, Tonderai’s (massive!) suitcase was meticulously scrutinized by a grumpy customs officer. Apparently she did not like the look of the wigs he was sneaking into the country for his grandmother. Drawing on his skills as an actor Tonderai nonetheless managed to wangle himself out of this tight spot and we were good to go.

Both Tonderai and Denton were welcomed by their families and we spent the day catching up and getting a feel for being back home – and Arne just tagged along for the ride. That day and the next were also spent in setting Arne and Tonderai up in the accommodation Denton had found for them (more below), trying to sort transport and getting ‘juiced’ (finding a sim card and then uploading it with airtime).

It so happens that friends of ours are abroad for the entire time of our stay in Harare and they have very generously allowed us to stay at their house in a leafy suburb of Harare. It is situated on huge grounds with a vegetable garden (Guavas, Bananas, Chillies and the like) and a pool (!) and we are staying in this rondavel hut attached to the main house. What respite from the hectic London life that the likes of us struggling artists lead!

Denton’s brother is also lending us his car for the duration of our stay. This allows him to earn a little money on the side – very few people are getting paid for their work at the moment as the new currency (US Dollar) is fairly scarce – and allows us to move around the city freely.

We have set up our residency at the Harare Reps Theatre and are putting the finishing touches on our reworked version of Vakomana Vaviri ve Zimbabwe. HIFA kicks off on Tuesday and it is already the talk of the town. With only two performances during the week of the festival we will hopefully have plenty of occasion to mix and mingle with other artists and to sample some of the broad spectrum of music, dance and theatre performances that are on the program this year.

We are excited and look forward to keeping you posted!

Denton Chikura is a wonderful clown, playing lovestruck Valentine with an eloquent minimalism of gesture. Tonderai Munyevu, meanwhile, has a delightful comic elasticity of expression and delivers an enchanting rendition of ‘Who Is Sylvia?’ Together they make a fine double act.
Robert Shore, Time Out