EastEnders star Don Gilet will lead the cast of the boldly titled The Epic Adventure Of Nhamo The Manyika Warrior And His Sexy Wife Chipo at the Tricycle theatre this summer.
Last seen on stage in the Royal Court’s Truth And Reconciliation, Gilet will return to the Kilburn venue following his appearance in 2006’s Fabulation to oversee proceedings as narrator in Denton Chikura’s new comedy, which plays from 1 to 17 August.
Turning African storytelling and theatrical decorum on their heads, Nhamo The Manyika Warrior is directed by co-producer Tiata Fahodzi’s Artistic Director Lucian Msamati and sees Gilet’s desperate narrator forced to create the ultimate African fable in just 24 hours. With a superstar cast missing a hero, a dashing goatherd called Nhamo looks like he might just be the solution to all their problems.
Ery Nzaramba will make his Tricycle debut as the potential hero of the piece following appearances in Tiata Fahodzi’s Tiata Tamba Tamba’s Cave Of Wonders and the Unicorn’s productions of The Tempest and The Three Musketeers.
Completing the cast are Kick-Ass 2’s Tanya Fear and Nyasha Hatendi, whose many theatre credits include Cheek By Jowl’s ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore, The Resistible Rise Of Arturo Ui at the Lyric Hammersmith, The Brothers Size at the Young Vic and the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Pericles.
The Epic Adventure Of Nhamo The Manyika Warrior And His Sexy Wife Chipo will follow another co-production at the Tricycle theatre, with Shared Experience presenting the world premiere of Alexi Kaye Campbell’s Bracken Moor later this month.