Bunker Talk #153: Zodwa Nyoni

Zodwa Nyoni

Zodwa Nyoni is a Zimbabwean-born playwright, librettist, screenwriter and director. Her debut play, BOI BOI IS DEAD won the Channel 4 Playwrights’ Scheme in 2014. It was also a finalist for the international Susan Smith Blackburn Prize 2014/15. Since, her plays have been produced in the UK, France, Germany, USA, Zimbabwe and South Africa. Her most recent work, THE DARKEST PART OF THE NIGHT (Kiln Theatre) was shortlisted for the Alfred Fagon Award and George Devine Award 2021. It was ranked as one of the best plays of 2022 by The Independent (UK).

Zodwa’s plays are published by Bloomsbury. She has lectured in poetry and theatre since 2018. She is currently a Lecturer in Scriptwriting at Manchester Metropolitan University and an associate dramaturg for Tiata Fahodzi and Fifth Word Theatre. She has written two radio plays, LOVE AGAIN (BBC Radio 3) and A KHOISAN WOMAN (Drama on 3); and three short films: MAHOGANY (National Trust and 24 Design Ltd) and NOTES ON BEING A LADY (New Creatives / BBC Arts) and the award winning, THE ANCESTORS (BBC Films and BFI Network).

Zodwa was an international fellow on Oxbelly’s inaugural Episodic Program in Greece. She is a BAFTA Connect member and was on the BIFA mentoring programme. She is currently working on Netflix’s spin-off series, CASTLEVANIA: NOCTURNE; under commission at Manchester Royal Exchange, Bristol Old Vic and Kiln Theatre; and writing an opera for Buxton International Festival.

LIBERATION

How does a revolution begin and who keeps it going?

Commissioned by the Royal Exchange Theatre

Produced by the Royal Exchange Theatre and Factory International, Manchester

Inspired by true events in Black British history, LIBERATION is a powerful new play from writer Ntombizodwa Nyoni and director Monique Touko tracing the private lives of activists who fought to liberate Africa.

It’s 15 October 1945, Manchester. Africa’s freedom and future is in the hands of her descendants at the Fifth Pan-African Congress at Chorlton-on-Medlock Town Hall.

With decades of championing change under their belts, emerging African & Caribbean activists and scholars offer new radical ideas of liberation. However, the organiser, Trinidadian activist George Padmore is unsure who to pass the baton to. Kwame Nkrumah is fuelled by an idealistic desire to become the first Black president of the Gold Coast. Young, resourceful Jamaican social worker Alma La Badie is grappling with the truth behind who must be sacrificed for the cause. And what of the revered Amy Ashwood-Garvey how does she ensure the voices of Black women are heard?

A story of hope, friendship and the consequences of a long-denied awakening unravels in the conference halls and bars of Chorlton, but at what cost?

This groundbreaking new play developed 80 years after the Congress introduces the people behind the movement. LIBERATION gets to the heart of how our future is built, how our leaders are made, and how dreams are realised. With generational shifts and gender politics added to a swirling mix of power dynamics, LIBERATION asks timeless questions about revolution, freedom, and what it means to be an activist.

Receiving its World Premiere as part of Manchester International Festival 2025, LIBERATION includes composition by Ife Ogunjobi from the Brit Award-winning Ezra Collective and was commissioned by the Royal Exchange Theatre. Find out more here: https://www.royalexchange.co.uk/event/liberation/

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Bunker Talks

This event is part of Bunker Talks. Bunker Talks invite artists and researchers to talk about who they are and what they do. Curated by the Performance Research Group at Manchester School of Art, Bunker Talks explore geopolitical, ecological or economic concerns. The talks create space for critical encounters, presentations, provocation and dialogue.

Originally conceived in the pandemic to explore how artists, writers, curators and researchers continued to make and share their work, live Bunker Talks now take place at The Salutation every month. Since 2020, over 150 talks have been hosted by Art & Performance Researchers and colleagues from across the Faculty of Arts and Humanities. All talks are recorded, edited, captioned and then archived to create an online catalogue, capturing how artists, makers and curators think about the world today. Find previous talks here: https://www.art.mmu.ac.uk/bunkertalks/

Main Event Contact and URL

Professor Michael Pinchbeck: m.pinchbeck@mmu.ac.uk

Event supported by AHEAD – Arts and Humanities Engagement and Dialogue