Gallery, Rooftop stage In the Continuum

The play which was co-written by Danai Gurira and Nicole Slater premiered on 22 November and was running at Theatre in the Park until last Saturday.
The Rooftop Promotions production, which is being funded by the US Embassy, will be staged in other cities and towns.
Rooftops spokesperson Lesley Moyo said the  production was part of the US Embassy’s  activities to mark both World Aids Day   and the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence.

It is funded by the US President’s Plan for Emergency Aids Relief, which has committed $57 million to the fight against HIV/Aids in Zimbabwe this year.
Daves Guzha, the director of Rooftop Promotions, said national tours were meant to bring theatre to the people.
“It is part of our programme to take theatre to all corners of the country. As an organisation we always want to take theatre to the people and  what a better way to do it with a production themed along the lines of the 16 Days of Activism  Against Gender Based Violence and the World Aids Day,” he said.

The production has already been showcased at the US Ambassador’s residence and   at the University of Zimbabwe and also in  the high density suburb of Mabvuku in  Harare.
The play’s national tour kicked off with a performance in Mutare on Wednesday.

Yesterday, which was World Aids Day, the play was showcased at Young Africa Centre in Chitungwiza.
On Sunday In the Continuum will be taken   to Gweru and will round up its run with a performance in Masvingo on  Monday.
Entrance to all the shows is free.

Originally written and performed by US-based Zimbabwean actress Gurira and American Slater, the play tells parallel stories of two women, Abigail Murambe, a Zimbabwean journalist, and Nia James, an American teenager living in Los Angeles shelters and foster homes.

Though they never meet and are never in each other’s worlds, their stories are similar. Both Nia and Abigail find out that they are pregnant and HIV positive.
They must face their respective partners  with this news knowing that contracting HIV/Aids, especially for women, can result in one ostracised and enduring emotional and physical hardships.

In the Continuum was first staged in Zimbabwe   at the 2006 Harare International Festival of the Arts.
Theatre graduate Rutendo Chigudu and journalist Sandra Chidawanyika are playing Nia and Abigail respectively. The play is produced by Guzha and co-directed by Gurira and Patience Gamu Tavengwa.