Mugabe, My Dad & Me

By: Tonderai Munyevu

Narrated by: Tonderai Munyevu

'Something strange happens when the past comes crashing into you, right in the present.'

In the spring of 1980, the British colony of Rhodesia became the independent nation of Zimbabwe. Tonderai Munyevu, a born-free, was part of the hopeful next generation from a new country with a new leader, Robert Gabriel Mugabe. While exploring Tonderai’s personal story and his relationship with his father, Mugabe, My Dad and Me charts the rise and fall of one of the most controversial politicians of the 20th century. Interweaving monologue and original music on the mbira with commentary inspired by some of Mugabe’s more notorious speeches, this captivating one-man show is a blistering dance of memory exploring connection, familial love and what it means to return ‘home’.

The play was shortlisted for the Alfred Fagon Award 2019.

The play was directed for Audible Originals by John R. Wilkinson, recipient of the Genesis Future Directors Award 2018.

The stage production of Mugabe, My Dad & Me is a York Theatre Royal and English Touring Theatre co-production in association with Alison Holder.

©2021 Tonderai Munyevu (P)2021 Audible, Ltd

Oh, I feel this!

I’m going to recommend this program to every diasporan and first-gen American I know. The accuracy of emotion is so spot on, and the feelings about belonging and pride and shame and family and distance and colonialism — all of it is spot on, in my experience. I send my affection to the author.

Enjoyable!

I would have loved for this story to be longer! I was totally drawn in with Tonderai Munyevu's deliverance, his voice, the story line! Great work!

Zimbabwe

great to hear different perspectives of my history. Loved the theatrical format. I'm glad I listened to it. well done

Love it!

I loved hearing this! I teach high school and I want to share this with them (minus the sex parts) to share how Mugabe and totalitarianism works!

Worthy of The Continent

Solo shows are difficult to execute successfully. They challenge audience attentiveness especially when spectacle is absent in presentation. Tonderai Munyevu’s Mugabe, My Dad & Me prevails in making historical content, queerness, whiteness, revolution, parental indiscretions, ambition, and diasporic peculiarities command attention while housing said elements in an entertaining performance.

Munyevu’s subject matter; often judged as traumatic, which it is, is made digestible by inflecting cynicism, fatalism, sex, and moral ambiguity reminiscent of a witty fast paced noir. His self-penned one-person extravaganza is succinct, balanced and voiced with a coolness that soothes extremities of the 1980’s following Rhodesia’s transition into Zimbabwe.

Ultimately, it is the content, the quality of the writing, that cements Mugabe, My Dad & Me as a dramatic unit worthy of a listen and a place in a collector’s library that embraces reality, history and social transition infused with a twist of laughter.

Surprised

I had no clue what to expect and wasn't sure at the beginning, and then all of a sudden it was finished and I was left mulling over points made and feeling how the author describes towards the end. Solid listen.

Vulgar but interesting

For me this was a bit too much, but also it was educational. I’m sometime skeptical of the how much play authors care, whether it’s all a show - and I’ll never know. But never the less it was an interesting history lesson imbued with a personal story.

Brilliantly performed!!!!

Emotional, graceful, and entertaining! A well-deserved standing ovation from me. Two thumbs up!!!! Simply Awesome!!!

Wonderful storytelling

Informative and entertaining. Well woven together with emotion and history. Not to mention some sad facts about how the world is changing but how much it still has to go

Fascinating and moving

Eloquently written and captivatingly performed. I have no connection to Zimbabwe other than being a student of history and anthropology. But I couldn’t stop listening. Please, audible... more content like this!