Almasi Collaborative Arts today announced that Tony Award-winning director Rebecca Taichman is in Harare, leading an intensive directing programme with the directors of all three plays in this year’s Africa Voices Now! 2026 festival.
The intensive runs until 25 August.
Taichman, who received the 2017 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play for Indecent, is directly mentoring Gideon J. Wabvuta, director of 30 Acres by Tatenda Mutyambizi;
Tafadzwa Bob Mutumbi, director of Shards by Cynthia Marangwanda; and Tadziyana David Bvumbe, director of Quixotic by Tawanda Vombo — the three productions that premiere at the Africa Voices Now!
Festival to be held at Jasen Mphepo Little Theatre from 17 October to 6 November 2026.
The Rebecca Taichman facilitated Directing Workshop continues a practice at the centre of Almasi’s model: bringing leading international practitioners into Zimbabwean rehearsal rooms to work alongside local artists.
Almasi has brought more than 20 top-tier mentors to Zimbabwe including practitioners with Pulitzer, Tony, and Academy Award recognition as part of a development process that has trained over 250 African artists, developed 31 new African plays, and created work for over 100 arts professionals every year.
Guided by the philosophy of “kudzidza hakuperi” the organisation’s aim is not visiting-star spectacle but the transfer of world-class craft into Zimbabwean hands.
Wabvuta and Mutumbi are themselves alumni of Almasi’s Walter Muparutsa Fellowship, through which they pursued training in the United States before returning to Zimbabwe as leaders in the industry the same creative pipeline now on public display at Africa Voices Now! 2026.
Speaking on the workshop, Almasi Collaborative Arts Associate Artistic Director, Zaza Muchemwa said:
“Rebecca’s presence in our workshop rooms is exactly what Almasi was built for. Our directors are not observing the work of a master from a distance; they are working, day after day, under the guidance of one of the finest directors in world theatre, using as models of learning the very productions Zimbabwean audiences will see in October. This is how craft is passed on, and how a professional industry is built.”
Rebecca Taichman is a world class director. It has been my goal to bring her to Zim for years now. To have her on the ground, interacting directly with our artists is very thrilling.
The progress I have witnessed amongst our local artists as a result of her presence is truly incredible.
The cultural exchange occurring right now, with the impact the Zim artists are having on Rebecca also, is resulting in an incredibly fruitful artistic interchange. The road to African Voices Now 2026 just got smoother.
Rebecca Taichman said:
“My time with Almasi has been beyond anything I could have ever imagined. The artists I have met here are not only terrifically talented, but also extraordinarily generous, beautiful people.
“These two weeks reminded me why I fell in love with theater – the sheer power of storytelling and what it can mean to a community. I long to return and experience the excellent work these directors will undoubtedly produce.”
The intensive comes as momentum builds toward the second edition of Africa Voices Now!, following a 2025 festival that opened to a sold-out house and earned two National Arts Merit Awards.
Batsirai Chigama’s Can We Talk?, which premiered at the 2025 festival, is confirmed to receive a public performance in New Jersey.
Africa Voices Now! 2026 runs from 17 October to 6 November at the Jasen Mphepo Little Theatre, 68 McChlery Avenue, Eastlea, Harare.
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