EXPLORE INTERNATIONAL WORK

Zimbabwe has been one of the most meaningful chapters of my international career. Between 2012 and 2026, I returned repeatedly to collaborate with artists, NGOs, educators, theatres, filmmakers, schools, and cultural organizations throughout the country. From directing productions and presenting workshops to mentoring teachers and helping develop arts education initiatives, each visit strengthened relationships that continue to inspire my work today. 

In 2012, I was invited by the National Institute of Allied Arts (NIAA) in Harare, Zimbabwe, to become the first American adjudicator for its 99-year-old National Drama Festival. Over the course of two weeks in Harare and Gweru, I evaluated performances by more than 10,000 middle and high school students, including scenes, monologues, improvisation, poetry, group presentations, and classical theatre.

The experience was both inspiring and unforgettable. I was welcomed with extraordinary warmth by Zimbabwe's theatre community and, following the festival, NIAA sponsored a tour of the country before my return to the United States. That first visit sparked a lasting connection with Zimbabwe, and before I left, I was invited to serve as an artistic consultant to NIAA, a role I continued for the next two years.

In 2013, I returned to Zimbabwe to help develop NIAA's Rural Teaching Program. Working with Gavin Peter, Executive Director of Drama, we recognized that many teachers outside Zimbabwe's major cities had limited access to professional theatre training. Together, we designed a program that traveled to regional centers, where educators from surrounding communities gathered for intensive workshops on drama, classical speech, poetry, and best practices in theatre education. The program laid the foundation for expanding theatre education beyond the country's urban centers.

During the same visit, I was invited to perform at the Harare International Festival of the Arts (HIFA). I premiered my original one-person play, Coming to Zimbabwe, written in response to my first visit to the country the previous year. The production sold out before I arrived, prompting eight additional performances. It later toured internationally for the next several years.

I returned to Zimbabwe in 2014 to continue the Rural Teaching Program and my work as an artistic consultant with NIAA. As part of that role, I also began recruiting experienced American theatre professionals to serve as adjudicators for the National Drama Festival. During this visit, I mentored the first American adjudicator to follow me, helping introduce them to Zimbabwe's theatre community and educational traditions.

That same year, Coming to Zimbabwe launched an international tour with performances at Reps Theatre in Harare, Madsoc Theatre in Malawi, and Theatre Arts in Cape Town, South Africa, sharing the story of my Zimbabwe experience with audiences across southern Africa.

At the conclusion of my consulting work with the National Institute of Allied Arts in 2014, I believed my chapter in Zimbabwe had come to an end. Instead, it opened a new one.

In 2015, Reps Theatre in Harare invited me to return as a guest director for one of its mainstage productions. I proposed Coming Together: A Beatles Cabaret, an original production inspired by the music of The Beatles. Returning to Zimbabwe, I cast, rehearsed, and directed the musical, which premiered on the Reps Theatre mainstage in June 2015.

The production received strong critical acclaim and reinforced the creative relationships I had built over the previous four years. By the end of that residency, my work in Zimbabwe had expanded far beyond a single festival invitation. It had grown into an ongoing partnership as an educator, director, writer, performer, and artistic consultant—one built on collaboration, mutual respect, and a shared commitment to developing artists and strengthening the country's vibrant theatre community.

THE STORY DOES NOT END HERE!

In early 2025, Sue Bolt, Chair and Producing Director of Reps Theatre in Harare, and I began discussing my return to Zimbabwe to direct another mainstage production. Together we developed the concept for Elton, a musical celebration of Elton John's music featuring an all-Zimbabwean cast, musicians, and dancers. While honoring the original music, the production also embraced the rhythms, movement, and artistic traditions of southern Africa.

Although Reps Theatre wanted to bring me back as a guest director, funding was limited. The theatre worked with the U.S. Embassy in Harare, which encouraged me to apply to become a Fulbright Specialist in Theatre and Film through World Learning. After my acceptance into the Fulbright Specialist Program, Reps Theatre formally requested my residency, making my return to Zimbabwe possible.

During my six-week residency, I cast, rehearsed, and directed Elton while also presenting a series of workshops and master classes for emerging filmmakers, actors, directors, and theatre artists throughout Harare. These programs created new professional relationships within Zimbabwe's growing film community and opened the door to future collaborations.

Elton was both a critical and commercial success, playing to enthusiastic audiences, sold-out performances, and standing ovations. Although I returned to the United States before the production completed its run, the residency represented the culmination of more than a decade of artistic collaboration with Zimbabwe. What began in 2012 as an invitation to adjudicate a national drama festival had evolved into an enduring partnership built on directing, teaching, mentoring, and cultural exchange.