as british as a watermelon
Studio Theatre
About
‘My name is mandla.
It means power.
I gave it to myself.’
Zimbabwean writer and performer mandla rae has a selective memory and is scrambling to piece together a life mostly forgotten in the name of survival. Through the exploration of mandla’s fragmented LGBTQ asylum and childhood migration memories, as british as a watermelon asks powerful questions about belonging, trauma and forgiveness.
Told through an unflinching narrative, weaving poetry and storytelling together with destruction and colourful chaos, you are invited to join mandla’s rise from the dead and reclamation of misplaced power.
Reviews
4 Stars
“The show is short and sharp, slippery and nonlinear, It feels like witnessing a person trying to gather themselves up, and is beautifully intrusive.”
4 Stars
“stands out as a piece of solo theatre investigating the nature of memory.”
“Sharp, stylish and tenderly imbued with truthfulness. It builds itself precariously, with delicate details of a life. The straightforward obliqueness of the show’s storytelling can’t help but charm you. It’s knowing. And defiant.”