with Tonderai Munyevu

• Spanish
• English
• Italian

Writer | Actor | Director

Tonderai is, in addition to being a writer, director and actor, someone with a frankly formidable capacity for interaction with the world around him. He is fast, receptive, perceptive and warm, whilst at the same time a profound human being who knows what he wants, says what he thinks, expresses his visions eloquently and pursues his desires with a single mindedness, avoiding all distractions. He has the ability to live his life from a place of unquestionable authenticity, whilst at the same time being alert to his surroundings and responding to them with sensitivity and intelligence.

Tonderai Munyevu, this episode’s charming guest, offers us an enlightened stroll along the paths of reflection on issues that are not easy to portray, unless blessed with the wisdom that comes so naturally to him. Universally important topics such as spirituality, sexuality, racism, life in the diaspora, creative passion and conscientious artistic creations enrich the perspective of anyone interested in navigating the meaning of life, and were precisely the topics that brought this conversation to life.

Discover why Two Gents Productions, the company that Tonderai co-founded, specialises in interpreting theatre classics from the perspective of the thousands of immigrants and displaced people who inhabit the great capitals of the Western world. Find out why bringing Hamlet to Zimbabwe and other south African countries was not as magnanimous an idea as it first seemed. And, above all, discover why an already successful actor, writer, director and theologian (who graduated from one of the best universities in London and, indeed, the world) has, after the long quarantine and emotive Black Lives Matter movement, decided to start a new chapter in his creative life, in order to finally conceive the legacy that he longs to leave the world.

And now, enjoy the interview!

Watch Interview | Listen to Podcast
This interview was recorded on the 6th of August 2020 and released on the 1st of September 2020

Further Information:

Related Links
Tonderai Munyevu: Twitter | Instagram
Two Gents Productions: Website | Instagram

References during the interview
Zimbabwe 00:55 | Two Gents Productions 01:20 | Diaspora 01:29 | Shona 03:30 | Township 04:22 | Catholicism 05:24 | Mwari 07:11 | Atheism 07:28 | Rationalism 07:30 | Working Class 08:14 | Harlesden 08:18 | Theology 10:00 | Al Pacino 10:53 | Confession 12:08 | Absolution 12:15 | Hail Mary 12:21 | Reformation 12:35 | Martin Luther 12:38 | Relics 12:51 | Pentecostal Church 13:14 | St. Peter 14:33 | Jehovah’s Witnesses 14:45 | Witch Doctor 15:09 | King’s College London 17:30 | The Pentateuch 18:00 | Sociology of Religion 18:06 | New Testament 18:09 | African Religions 18:22 | Elton John 24:16 | Boy George 24:28 | Lockdown 28:26 | The Claim 28:44 | Rio de Janeiro 29:26 | São Paulo 29:35 | Tim Cowbury 29:47 | Mark Maughan 29:49 | Indra Ové 29:52 | Nick Blakeley 29:55 | Workshop Production 30:13 | Copacabana 30:56 | #BlackLivesMatter 34:06 | The National Theatre 34:18 | RSC (Royal Shakespeare Company) 34:19 | Council Estate 34:53 | Toni Morrison 35:20 | The Moors 37:36 | Rwandan Civil War 40:01 | Apartheid South Africa 40:08 | Shakespeare 41:25 | Arne Pohlmeier 41:27 | Denton Chikura 41:33 | Hamlet 42:34 | The Globe 42:38 | The Importance of Being Earnest by Two Gents Productions 43:51 | Simon Russell Beale 48:25 | Mark Rylance 48:26 | Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga 49:45 | This Mournable Body 49:57 | The Booker Prize 49:59 | Mugabe, My Dad & Me 50:52 | Robert Mugabe 50:55 | Emmerson Mnangagwa 51:08 | Rhodesian Bush War 56:24 | #MeToo 58:59 | Kardashians 01:01:01 | Rihanna 01:01:07 | Beyoncé 01:01:08

Interview Credits:

Production by Carla Tofano & Toby Deveson | Subtitles by Valentina Sarno | Onset artwork: Photography by Toby Deveson & drawing of Carla by Alexandra Veres | Title music written and performed by Maya Petrovna | Cameras & Sound kindly supplied by Jim Shannon & Murray Stewart