Dambudzo is a play in three acts. The central character is the Zimbabwean novelist and poet Dambudzo Marechera and the play is set in the days immediately before his death in August 1987. In the play he is visited by characters from his novels who help him to explore events from his short unhappy life. It is intended that the Theatre in the Park in Harare will stage the play in November 2007 under the direction of Cont Mhlanga. If funds allow the play will transfer, with the Zimbabwean team, to the UK in 2008.

Update 12th December 2007. Dambudzo ran for 20 performances in Harare to mixed reviews. Main criticisms were based on the events referred to (or not) in the play - the reviewers would have chosen differently. Also one said Dambudzo stammered incessantly - he didn't!

Update 28th August 2008. It appears that there is little likelihood of Dambudzo being performed in Zimbabwe in the near future. The play is now being substantially rewritten and the new version will be performed at the Dambudzo Celebration in Oxford, May 2009.

All enquiries to dpattison@hotmail.co.uk

See also 'No Room For Cowardice' Africa World Press (2001) ISBN 0-86543-960-5 by David Pattison and 'Dambudzo Marechera - A Source Book on his Life and Work' (1992) ISBN 0-905450-97-3 by Flora Veit-Wild. Both books offer comprehensive details of Marechera's life and work.