{"id":4346,"date":"2020-12-08T14:21:52","date_gmt":"2020-12-08T14:21:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/?p=4346"},"modified":"2020-12-08T14:21:54","modified_gmt":"2020-12-08T14:21:54","slug":"big-apple-tempts-zim-actor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/?p=4346","title":{"rendered":"Big Apple tempts Zim actor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Zimbabwean-born Vongai Shava is making a go of it in New York despite a global pandemic.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nFor performers and artists around the\nworld, 2020 has been a year of dissipated dreams and\nfrustration. Sitting tight in New\nYork, Zimbabwean-born actor-writer-singer, Vongai Shava \u2013 stage\nname simply Vongai \u2013 has been\nsidelined by Covid-19 and snared\nin the Trump Administration\u2019s threat to deport non-residents\nwithout \u2018essential work\u2019 permits. And, as a young Black woman\ncommitted to causes, she\u2019s also experienced the stress of shocking\nrecent incidents of police brutality and the urgent intensification\nof this year\u2019s racial justice and Black\nLives\nMatter\nprotests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nAlthough Vongai spent formative and\nadolescent years studying in London and Beijing, she nevertheless\nfound it daunting to embed herself in New York. She remembers being\nintensely excited, but also initially being overawed and apprehensive\n\u2013 something akin to performance anxiety, perhaps. \u201cBut I wanted\nto get out of my bubble,\u201d she says. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nShe travelled\nto the\nUSA to enrol in a two-year program\nat the American\nAcademy of Dramatic Arts<\/a>,\nthe most prestigious drama school in the US, possibly in the world.\nNow, having lived in New York for nearly seven years, she\u2019s still\nat the mercy of the system, and trying to ease fears of deportation. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nThe rules are complicated. She\u2019s\napplied for an O-1\nvisa<\/a> as \u2018an\nartist of extraordinary ability\u2019. This would allow her 3-year US\nresidency, but in something of a Kafkaesque loop it also requires\nproof of work, \u2018based on a pre-existing, longstanding working\nrelationship [\u2026] [in which] your continuing participation is\nessential to the successful completion of the production\u2019. The\ncurrent administration\u2019s strict controls include designating this\n\u2018continuing participation\u2019 as three years \u2013 very difficult to\nsecure in a creative industry with project-by-project productions. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nBut she knows that providence\ncan intervene. She met writer-producer Page\nCooper Anderson<\/a> on\nthe set of a web-series production. Vongai had only a bit-part, but\ntrue to her nature and upbringing, she thanked Anderson in person\nafterwards. \u201cShe was one of the few who did that, with such\nintention and integrity\u2026she told me her name, and I said you have a\nwarrior\u2019s name,\u201d recounts\nAnderson.<\/a> \u201cOnce\nwe had a new president I realised I needed to tell this story.\u201d And\nso was born the award-winning short film Patiri\nin Promised Land<\/em>, with Vongai\nas the lead. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nThe movie hyperbolises Vongai\u2019s plight\na bit, but\nthe narrative about time running out and the high stakes involved in\nrisking everything to stay in America is real. Vongai\u2019s performance\nwon her the Best\nDrama Actress award<\/a> at\nthe 2018 ITV Festival (now the Catalyst\nStory Institute & Content Festival<\/a>).\nThe movie did a brief circuit tour, but is not available online\nbecause negotiations are ongoing for adaptation into a TV series.\nVongai is hopeful this transpires. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nShe\u2019s also particularly proud of her\nrole in Black Sparta<\/em>,\na theatre production by award-winning playwright and director Layon\nGray<\/a>. Staged\noff-Broadway (Manhattan) in 2017, the play then went on a\nmonths-long, multicity US tour. The story is based on a real-life\nregiment of female African warriors in Dahomey (now Benin) resisting\nFrench colonialism in 1894. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\u201cIt was a very physical show, and I\u2019m\nvery little,\u201d she enthuses (she\u2019s 5ft-2). \u201cI\u2019d have to roll\naround the stage, bow-and-arrow in hand. That summer I built up a lot\nof arm strength!\u201d \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nVongai has recently changed agency, and\nis now represented by Take-3 Talent. \u201cSince I\u2019ve been with them\nI\u2019ve done a lot of auditions,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nDuring the Covid pandemic, an audition is\non a \u2018self-tape\u2019. Vongai gives a rapid-fire run-through of what\nthis means: a call from her agent or manager \u2013 get ready (sometimes\nfrantically) by pre-reading and cramming an existing episode so she\nunderstands the show\u2019s context \u2013 set up cell-phone, camera,\ntripod \u2013 and the script to read, of course. (usually three \u2018sides\u2019,\nthe New York trade-speak for an audition page reading, although for a\nquick one-liner it\u2019s just one \u2018side\u2019) \u2013 arrange for a friend\nto read the scene\u2019s other lines for her via Zoom \u2013 and then she\nvideo-records herself. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nThis is breathless \u2013 and then it\u2019s\nabout waiting, with bated breath, for a call-back. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nShe can\u2019t\ntell about all her auditions, especially\nif filming hasn\u2019t yet happened, as\nsome producers are cautious about not letting information leak out.\nIn February she auditioned to appear in Ubisoft\u2019s new Tom Clancy\nvideo game version of Rainbow\nSix Siege<\/em>. Ubisoft ideally\nwanted a South African for the character Melusi<\/a>,\nand they thought Vongai might be the closest thing. \u201cThe\nnon-disclosure agreement was very tight.\u201d In the end, a South\nAfrican-Zimbabwean friend of hers, Sibongile Mlambo, got the role.\n\u201cYes,\u201d she admits, \u201cthere have been so many \u2018almosts\u2019!\u201d\nStill, these auditions are welcome, and an encouraging sign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nThis\nyear, though, America\u2019s film- and TV-production routine juddered to\na halt. The industry\u2019s \u2018Pilot\u2019 season runs January to April,\nwhen the broadcast networks purchase, cast, and shoot pilots.\n\u2018Upfront\u2019 season follows immediately in May, when the stations\npunt their pilots to news-media and advertisers. It\u2019s a crucial\ntime for actors, as they audition, clinch roles \u2013 and get paid. All\nof this, of course, was iced in March 2020. TV filming and\ncommissions have slowly restarted recently, but until major movie\ncomplexes in LA and the main boroughs of New York can reopen, the\ncashflow collapse will draw out the slowdown in film commissions. And\nBroadway and all New York theatres, having closed on 12 March, will\nremain shut until at least June next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nAs New York\u2019s bitter winter sets in,\nthe city is undergoing a seriously concerning second wave of\nCovid-19. Vongai is mindful to adhere closely to the health\nguidelines. Earlier this year she created a short video titledQuarantine<\/a>\nIs<\/em> as an entry into\nthe NY Theatre Salon\u2019s Global Forms Theatre Festival. It\u2019s just\nfour minutes long, but I found it affecting on a number of levels: a\nperformer unleashing a pent-up frustration at not being able to\nperform; an immigrant caught in Kafkaesque bureaucracy; a young Black\nwoman heeding the shocking murder of another young Black woman,\nBreonna Taylor; and Black people still trying to prevail in a\ncenturies-long push for genuine equality. Quarantine\nIs<\/em> is powerful, and leads\nto us talking about the possibilities of slam poetry events. \u201cA\nfew times I\u2019ve thought about going to the [landmark] Nuyorican\nPoets Caf\u00e9<\/a> in the\nEast Village. I would tell myself I would go, but I\u2019ve always just\nbeen\u2026.scared,\u201d she says,\nlaughing at herself. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nReturning to creating\nQuarantine Is, <\/em>she\nsays: \u201cThe [Black Lives\nMatter] protest had just started, and it brought so much out of me.\u201d\nVongai participated in the Broadway Advocacy Coalition\u2019s \u2018Broadway\nfor BLM\u2019 virtual events. \u201cAt acting school we don\u2019t even learn\nabout Black playwrights. [Acting] school prepares the Brad Pitts and\nLeonardo DiCaprios of the world to succeed, but it\u2019s not really\nfair to women nor people of colour. Having frank conversations about\nthese issues in the industry has been great \u2013 although also\nannoying to hear white people in the industry say things like \u2018Gee,\nI had no idea\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nVongai notes that Black actors may feel\nthat they have an optimal shot at roles being auditioned by a Black\ncasting director. But, during an all-Black online meeting, many\nfellow actors bemoaned that there are none. \u201cThat infuriated me,\nbecause there are<\/em>.\nI messaged all the ones I knew, to request permission to use their\nimages and create a post. It spread, so I was able to help my\ncolleagues.\u201d \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nShe admits she loves this sort of\nactivism. \u201cYes! Definitely. My longer-term aspiration is to be a\ngoodwill ambassador like Angelina Jolie, a UN special envoy. I\nbelieve in giving back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nThe\nconversation circles back to dreams. Vongai yearns for roles in films\nby her list of dream directors and film-makers: Ava Marie DuVernay,\nthe first Black woman to win Best Director at the Sundance Film\nFestival (Middle of Nowhere<\/em>);\nBarry Jenkins, 2017 Oscar winner for Adapted Script (Moonlight<\/em>);\nEmmy-nominated screenwriter Alan Yang (Tigertail<\/em>).\n\u201cThe stories they tell are about issues that matter. They remind me\nthat when I approach a script, it\u2019s not just about me. These\nstories have an impact on society and audiences. So I have to elevate\nmy acting, because I have to help other people\u2019s voices to be\nheard. I can\u2019t eff it up.\u201d \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nVongai\u2019s journey and her current stasis\nis emblematic of the thousands of unheralded people in artistic\nfields who have seen the global pandemic dampen their horizons and\nforce a reset to their goals. \u201cAs a society we only see actors as\nthe people who are winning awards \u2013 that\u2019s great, and I aspire to\nthat. But I\u2019m worried about the yet-to-make it folk networking in\nchat-room forums, auditioning, doing low-paid work in the meantime to\nsurvive.\u201d Like Vongai, they don\u2019t want to give up hope of a dream\nrole \u2013 or, at the moment, any role. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nAs she\u2019s saying goodbye to her 20s\nrelatively soon, I ask her what her future holds. Isolation has had\none upside: the time to do many other things. She\u2019s writing,\nplanning a podcast, formulating a business plan for a production\ncompany which she wants to register and set up in 2021. \u201cThis year\nhas taught us that life is so uncertain. I don\u2019t want to put things\noff anymore. So I want to adapt stories, to help other artists make\ntheir dreams come true, too. I want to produce stuff, even with\nminimal money.\u201d \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nDuring the conversation, Vongai\nmentions a casting agency,\nfleetingly, yet with a\nfragmentary, emotive pause: Telsey and Company. I find them easily in\na search, but their website does something strange: it opens on a\nRacial\nJustice Statement<\/a>. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nThe statement\u2019s words \u2013 and its\nprioritisation in replacing the home-page \u2013 are moving, for reasons\nI can\u2019t fully explain. Perhaps they emanate from a realisation\nthat, even in surreal, annus\nhorribilis<\/em> 2020, uplifting\ntransformations are happening, and dreams that will not die are being\nmade stronger.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Zimbabwean-born Vongai Shava is making a go of it in New York despite a global pandemic. For performers and artists around the world, 2020 has been a year of dissipated … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":4347,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[986],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4346"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4346"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4346\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4348,"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4346\/revisions\/4348"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}