 |
|
|
|||
|
Interviews
|
|||
|
|
Danai Gurira and Nikkole Salter of In the Continuum Philip Fisher meets the authors of one of the big hits for the 2006 Edinburgh Fringe. In the Continuum is one of the hits of a strong Traverse year. This tale of the impact of AIDS on two women, one well-to-do in Zimbabwe, the other from the projects of LA, has an almost unbelievable history. Danai Gurira and Nikkole Salter are a pair of African American women who met at New York University and, as part of a writing project two years ago, put together two short solo plays. They then agreed to combine them into what has become In the Continuum. The show has already played at two Off Broadway theatres, in Harare, Cape Town and Johannesburg and now hits the Traverse for the first week of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The short-term future is also mapped out with a tour programme of the US starting in Washington DC and lasting almost a full year . There is also talk of a London debut at Soho in March 2007. Miss Gurira, who grew up in Zimbabwe, plays Abigail. "My protagonist is a combination of a lot of women I grew up around and a lot of the things that I saw and that were frustrating me when I read about the subject of AIDS". Of her 19 year old character from the 'hoods of LA, Miss Salter says, "Nia goes to a school for problem kids. She's a young person looking for her own identity. She grapples with the issues of pregnancy and AIDS which in her mind means death". The play is about far more than these two women, with other characters widening the picture both in the USA and Zimbabwe. "We were looking to include the people who are the influences in these women's lives" explains Miss Gurira. She elaborates: "Who are they going to when they need help for HIV diagnosis and disclosure and the economics of how to be able to pay for medicine?". These influences includes a traditional healer, more commonly known as a witch doctor, in Zimbabwe - "That is their alternative medicine resource". Nikkole Salter still sounds a little overwhelmed at the pair's tremendous achievements. She was happy to describe the creation and expansion of the piece. "We created the crux of the piece in about three weeks. People would mention the juxtapositions and we were like 'whoa - we did that?' and began to tease those out more and Robert O'Hara polished it in the way that only a director can". These two young ladies are considering franchising the show, as they would like to take the work to West Africa and the Caribbean where AIDS is ravaging communities, but they also want to "lease it to the world because we want as many people as possible to perform it - because two heads are better than one". They are already working on several other projects. These include a treatment for a novel version and a companion piece to In the Continuum and also a new play about Liberian female freedom fighters during Charles Taylor's rule. While Danai Gurira and Nikkole Salter clearly love to work together, this is not exclusive and each also has plans to do other work. Both seem happy with the idea of stepping out of the partnership periodically, although they expect to be working together for some time to come.
|
||
|
|