Thandiwe Mawungwa
How do you introduce new technology to a village community where nothing can be done unless you consult with and get the approval of the village ancestors? In HOW POWER FLOWS, the compelling new play by Thandiwe Mawungwa, the idealistic civil engineers confront exactly this problem as they try to bring running water to a remote village in Zimbabwe.
HOW POWER FLOWS will have its first public reading at 3:00 PM on October 24 at the Ensemble Studio Theater as part of the Fall 2024 EST/Sloan First Light Festival. The reading is free and reservations are encouraged.
Thandiwe kindly found time this week to answer all our questions about her new play.
(Interview by Rich Kelley)
How did HOW POWER FLOWS come to be?
My husband and I travel a lot to remote villages filming documentaries for humanitarian organizations. During our travels, I noticed there was one problem that was consistent among the villages – the clash between development and African traditional religion. When I saw the call for plays for the EST/Sloan Project, I thought that would be the perfect platform to write and develop the play that had been circling in my head for many years. The deadline also added the much-needed discipline to write and finish it!
Tell us about your journey from Zimbabwe to the U.S.
My journey from Zimbabwe to the U.S has been an adventurous one and began in 2019 when my play 33 Cents was chosen to be part of the Ojai Playwrights Festival in California. The following year, I returned to the United States for a film festival, which never happened because of COVID and we ended up being stuck in the U.S. for one and a half years. It was actually during this period that I applied for the EST/Sloan grant. Now, four years later, I am here again – with two films having been screened at the 33 and Me Film Festival in Pennsylvania as well HOW POWER FLOWS seeing its “First Light” at EST.
Have you ever visited or lived in villages in Zimbabwe like the one in the play? How did that inform the play?
Growing up we used to go to the village during school holidays and even as a young child, I could feel the tension between science and African traditional religion. My filming work takes me to many villages. These experiences played a major role in how I created my characters and their reactions.
Parts of the story are based on my own experiences in various villages. For example, when Henrietta is fined by the Chief for wearing trousers, that actually happened to me! However, in my case, I was wearing a skirt on top of the trousers but they saw the trousers around my ankles so I got into trouble!
Why this play? Why now?
I have seen many talented, enthusiastic and hardworking young people leaving Zimbabwe because they were blocked from achieving their goals. The brain drain is real. I think it is time to address how corruption and our spiritual beliefs have played a major role in that. We need to find a way to respect our cultures and customs but not at the cost of development.
What do you want the audience to take away from HOW POWER FLOWS?
I want the audience to not only get an insight into some of the challenges we face in Zimbabwe, but for them to also understand that there are many nuances and complexities involved in trying to help a community. It’s not just about bringing development but about respecting and understanding the people you want to help.
Is the play set in contemporary Zimbabwe? Is the current political climate there as repressive – with frequent arbitrary arrests – as depicted in the play?
Yes, the play is set in contemporary Zimbabwe. Arrests happen there but are not arbitrary. You only get arrested if the government sees you as a threat – which is sometimes synonymous with trying to improve people’s standard of living. I, however, feel very strongly the need to mention that Zimbabwe is a very safe and peaceful country despite the political challenges we sometimes face. Everyone should definitely come and visit one day!
Are there still spiritual mediums in villages in Zimbabwe today who have as much influence over communal decision making as the medium depicted in the play?
Oh yes, definitely!
When did you know you were a playwright?
This may sound like a cliche but I started writing stories as soon as I could hold a pen. I became a playwright when I watched a terrible play in university and decided to write another play on the same subject but even better. I called that play A Banquet of Sorts and it played to three full houses!
What playwrights have influenced you the most?
Lyn Nottage, August Wilson and Lorraine Hansberry. The Zimbabwean playwright who influenced me the most was Aaron Chiundura Moyo. We studied his books in school. Another notable writer who has influenced me is Ngugi Wa Thiong'o.
You may be best known for producing the 2017 Zimbabwe thriller Mind Games, which has won several awards including Best Zimbabwean Film at the Zimbabwe International Film Festival in 2017. That movie has quite a different vibe from HOW POWER FLOWS and your other plays which all seem to have a social justice component. Do you see theater as inherently better at accomplishing some things than movies? Any plans to write more thrillers?
Mind Games also has a social justice component just packaged differently from HOW POWER FLOWS. Theater is definitely better at accomplishing certain things than movies. The creativity in theater is endless while creativity in movies is usually limited by the budget. For example, in theater you can put a chair on stage and say this is now an airplane, but in movies you have to show the plane.
What's next for Thandiwe Mawungwa?
More writing! My husband and I are currently co-writing a feature film called Shanduko. I am also in the process of writing my next full-length play which is about social justice – but now focusing on the hypocrisy I see in the world. Interesting times!
HOW POWER FLOWS is one of three readings of new plays in development as part of the EST/Sloan Project in the Fall 2024 First Light Festival, which runs from October 24 through December 12. The festival is made possible through the alliance between the Ensemble Studio Theatre and The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
