In The Continuum
In 2006 I worked on the producing team for In The Continuum, a play by Nikkole Salter and Danai Gurira. It was a wonderful experience for me to be able to produce this great play.
One of the things that made it special was the ability to take it on tour to Africa. It was done in Zimbabwe and South Africa.
To Africa and Beyond
Remembering this made me wonder why more American plays don’t do this. Theater makers here think nothing of transferring a show to the West End in London – why not go, like we did with In The Continuum – as a matter of course to Harare, Zimbabwe?
Admittedly there is a language issue, since less than one percent of people in Africa speak English as their primary language. (Although English may be an official language, in some countries less than 1% of the population is able to speak it.) But this does not stop us from taking plays to other countries in Europe. Does anyone think twice about going to Paris or Berlin? And there are entire countries in Africa with significant numbers of English speakers, like Kenya or Zimbabwe.
I think we at Rhymes Over Beats would like to change this.
Let’s Extend the Borders
I want to reach out to our audience.
If you have a connection or know someone who has a connection to a theater in Africa please put us in contact with them, or have them contact us.
We want to work with them.