Silvanos
Mudzvova

One of the greatest plays ever written, Chekhov's final masterpiece is a bittersweet and achingly human portrait of a family facing the inevitable loss of everything they have known. Silvanos performed in a Zimbabwean production in 2000, bringing this timeless exploration of loss, denial and social upheaval to audiences at a moment when those themes could not have felt more immediate.

A sharp political satire caricaturing the Zimbabwean parliament and those in power. One of Silvanos's earliest works as a playwright, made in direct response to the country's worsening governance crisis and the beginning of the land reform era.

A razor sharp political satire written by Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, brought to Zimbabwean audiences by the legendary Rooftop Zimbabwe theatre company. Set inside a Nigerian prison, the play turns the world upside down as inmates hold mock government cabinet meetings, mirroring the military dictatorship raging outside their walls. Revived in the 2000s under Cont Mhlanga and Dawn Parkinson, Silvanos performed alongside Walter Mapurutsa, Eunice Tava and Sakhamuzi Tickey in one of the landmark productions of his stage career.

All of life is on the bus. In Ganyau Express, a battered Zimbabwean commuter bus becomes the most honest space in the country, the one place where ordinary people say exactly what they think. Politics, health, education, HIV and AIDS, the scarcity of cash: nothing is off limits when you are squeezed together on a hot bus going nowhere fast. Silvanos played the bus driver, the man at the wheel, witnessing every truth his passengers let slip.

The sequel to his breakthrough satirical work, continuing to hold Zimbabwe's political class to account through sharp, comedic drama that resonated deeply with audiences frustrated by entrenched corruption and democratic decline.

A Zimbabwean staging of German playwright Kerstin Specht's bold and subversive dark comedy, adapted and directed for Zimbabwean audiences by German actress and director Gudula Mueller Towe. The Frog Queen flips the traditional fairy tale on its head, centering on a widowed mother who, after years of sacrificing everything for her demanding children, decides to reclaim her own life in ways that are funny, shocking and deeply human. Silvanos performed alongside a multicultural cast including Shillah Chipamuriwo. The play premiered at HIFA 2006, toured Zambia in April 2007, and returned for a celebrated run at Reps Theatre Harare in June 2007, recognised as an award winning production.

A fearless and confrontational protest play produced by the Savanna Trust, scripted and directed by Daniel Maphosa. Decades of Terror takes a devastating look at Zimbabwe's post independence history, laying bare decades of authoritarian rule, economic collapse, human rights abuses and the quiet suffering of ordinary citizens. Silvanos performed alongside award winning actress Eunice Tava. The play premiered in June 2007 at the Theatre in the Park, was featured at the 2007 Zimbabwe Human Rights Arts Festival, and earned Silvanos a NAMA nomination.

Written in tribute to Zimbabwe's finest human rights lawyer Aleck Muchadehama, Sahwira explores the sacred Shona bond of friendship that transcends ordinary social ties. Set against Zimbabwe's turbulent political and social backdrop, the work examines loyalty, community, and solidarity. Police stopped the play from opening. Twice. Silvanos opened it anyway. In October 2008 he was arrested again for continuing the performances, refusing, as always, to let fear have the final word.

The third instalment in the acclaimed satirical series, further developing the political commentary that had made the franchise one of the most recognised protest theatre works in Zimbabwe.

A political satire performed at its premiere before police shut it down and arrested the cast. Silvanos was detained for four days and forced to perform the play twelve times inside police cells for his captors. He was stopped from performing in Mutare, detained in Bindura for two days, then abducted and dumped in Bulawayo by Chief Superintendent Wasara before being rescued by Josh Nyapimbi of Nhimbe Trust. Nine months after his initial arrest, Silvanos became the first Zimbabwean since independence to go through a full criminal trial at Harare Magistrate Court, before Magistrate Gloria Takudzwa. Convicted and fined two million Zimbabwe dollars for censorship charges.

A provocative production that resulted in Silvanos and seven others being arrested and detained for 48 hours on charges of criminal nuisance and disturbing the peace. The case was later dismissed by the courts.

Stopped by both the police and the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe, two arms of the same machinery of suppression. The National Arts Council, which exists to support the arts, instead became an instrument of censorship, attacking the very artists it was created to serve.

A romantic comedy performed at the Alliance Francaise in Harare, a chance to show the side of Silvanos that arrests and courts rarely see: charm, lightness and the kind of comic timing that only comes from a performer who has truly lived. A story of love, connection and the beautiful mess that human relationships make of perfectly sensible lives.

A bold one man, 30 minute play staged in front of Parliament in Harare, inspired by Mugabe's own admission that $15 billion in diamond revenue had vanished. Police interrupted the performance after five minutes and arrested Silvanos. The play went on to become one of the most reported acts of theatrical protest in Zimbabwean history.

One of several "hit and run" public performances calling on Zimbabweans to organise their own democratic uprising. Performed in public spaces to evade state suppression.

Written by the celebrated playwright Stephen Chifunyise. Silvanos performed in this significant civic theatre production, adding his voice to the call for constitutional reform and democratic accountability in Zimbabwe.

Since arriving in the United Kingdom, Silvanos has produced and performed in three semi professional theatre productions, bringing stories of Zimbabwe, the African diaspora, and the lived experience of displacement to British audiences.

University of Manchester students performed a work in progress showing of Psychosis, a play by Zimbabwean playwright and activist Silvanos Mudzvova. The production featured student performers Georgia Carney and Rebecca Hatch and was directed by Emily Oulton. Mudzvova wrote this play while on an Artist Protection Fund fellowship at the University of Manchester, which provided a safe environment for him to continue his human rights and political theatre work.