Online Reporter
Trust Khosa
Zimpapers Arts and Entertainment Hub
THE appeal of Zimbabwe’s, “Song Unburied”, continues to burn a trail of success with Kenya being its next stopover on November 11 in Nairobi.
Directed by renowned theatre colossus Daves Guzha, the play has caught the global attention by reigniting discussions about the reparation and return of stolen artifacts.
Written by Panashe Chigumadzi, it features performances by Charmaine Mujeri and Dalma Chiwevera, alongside Tinevimbo Chimbetete and mbira player Abel Mafuleni.
After its premiere at Harare’s Theatre in the Park on August 2 last year, the play’s demand has grown immensely. To date, it has toured South Africa, Malawi, Comoros, Barbados, and now Kenya.
In Nairobi, it will be showcased on November 11 at the National Museum Amphitheatre as part of The Kenya International Theatre Festival (KitFest).
In an interview with Zimpapers Arts and Entertainment Hub, Guzha confirmed the tour, which is set to reignite the debate on reparations. “Song Unburied will be shown in Kenya on the 11th of November at an international festival.
“It’s a very huge honour to be presenting the play at a venue that has a basement. It also brings in international fans, including academia,” Guzha said.
After their one-off performance, Guzha outlined that they will conduct a workshop on traditional music and dance to further enlighten attendees about the play.
“On the 12th of November, we are going to hold a one-day workshop in music and dance there,” he shared.
Guzha, who has been working with a talented cast, revealed that the East African expedition would be the play’s last regional tour of 2025. “The play will only go on tour in Lagos in March 2026, and for now, Nairobi is our last stop for the year 2025. I am glad that the play has been performed in so many countries, including South Africa, Malawi, Comoros, and Barbados.
“More tours will be confirmed, with the March show in Nigeria certain.”
According to its synopsis, “Song Unburied” is an intergenerational story of re-memory, re-membering, and reparation, following the troubled spirit of the British Museum’s newly appointed First Black Curator, Rambisayi Mangosho, as she discovers the bones of anti-colonial heroine Mbuya Nehanda in its basement.
Just before Rambi begins her new appointment at the Museum, her grandmother – the only one who knew what to do with her troubling dreams – passes away.
Unable to return to Zimbabwe to bury her grandmother, Rambi buries herself in the “diversity and inclusion” work of the Museum,
The play, “Song Unburied”, has been hailed as a game-changer, bearing relevance to many African countries that lost their artifacts as a result of colonialism.
Over the years, there have been repeated calls for reparations, a subject that has been contentious for years.
Guzha and his cast have joined this chorus meant to correct injustices created by colonial powers that looted Africa’s artifacts and kept them in their international museums as symbols of conquest. As “Song Unburied” continues to grace international stages and festivals, it carries with it the echoes of ancestral voices, the pain of colonial theft, and the enduring power of spiritual and cultural reclamation.
The production also comes at a time when academic, visual artist, and cultural producer Richard Mudariki has been advocating for the return of the Zimbabwean bird from Groot Schuur Estate in Cape Town, South Africa, to Great Zimbabwe.
This is the same debate the cast of “Song Unburied” is addressing in their play.
Mathew Masinge