Almasi Collaborative Arts has announced the 2026 edition of Africa Voices Now!, its annual festival of new African plays, which will return to Harare’s Jasen Mphepo Little Theatre from 17 October to 6 November 2026.
The second edition of the festival will showcase three brand-new Zimbabwean productions, 30 Acres by NAMA Award-winning playwright Tatenda Mutyambizi, Shards by Cynthia Marangwanda, and Quixotic by Tawanda Josh Vombo offering audiences fresh perspectives on contemporary Zimbabwean life.
The three plays explore themes ranging from land, family and corporate exploitation to existential uncertainty, ambition, music and youth culture, reflecting the diversity and complexity of Zimbabwean storytelling.
30 Acres, directed by Almasi’s 2017 Walter Muparutsa Fellow Gideon J. Wabvuta, follows Tete Getty, a UK returnee hoping for a peaceful retirement in her rural home, who becomes embroiled in a conflict between a large corporation and her local community. She must decide whether preserving her family’s legacy is worth the cost of confronting corporate exploitation.
Shards, directed by Almasi’s 2015 Walter Muparutsa Fellow Tafadzwa Bob Mutumbi, centres on Mhepo, a rising literary star whose debut novel, prestigious prize nomination and supportive father appear to signal a promising future. Her world is disrupted when a character from her own writing seemingly escapes the page, forcing her into a profound existential crisis.
Meanwhile, Quixotic, directed by Tadziyana David Bvumbe, follows aspiring Zim Dancehall musician 2 Raw, whose seemingly settled life — including a loving partner, an unborn child and a promising music competition — is thrown into turmoil when his mentor Bhema is confronted by the return of his estranged biological son, who is also 2 Raw’s former best friend.
The festival represents the culmination of more than a year of intensive artistic development by Almasi Collaborative Arts, which has built its programmes around professional training, mentorship, new-play development and international artistic exchange.
The organisation was co-founded in 2011 by Zimbabwean-American actress and playwright Danai Gurira and has, over more than 14 years, trained more than 250 African artists, developed 31 new African plays and facilitated international fellowships and postgraduate pathways for Zimbabwean artists.
Almasi’s work is guided by the Zimbabwean philosophy “Kudzidza Hakuperi” learning never ends, and its ambition to bring African narratives to the global stage.
Africa Voices Now! is a central part of that vision, providing a platform where new Zimbabwean writing can move from development rooms and workshops to professional public performances.
The 2026 festival follows the success of the inaugural edition in 2025, which brought Almasi’s long-running developmental work to a wider public audience. The first festival earned two National Arts Merit Awards, with Leonard Matsa receiving the NAMA for Outstanding Director for Can We Talk? by poet Batsirai Chigama, while Tatenda Mutyambizi won Outstanding Playwright for These Humans Are Sick.
The inaugural festival also recorded strong audience demand, with performances at the 60-seat Jasen Mphepo Little Theatre selling out and an additional performance of *lCan We Talk? being added.
The production has since gained international momentum and is now being planned for a New York production at the prestigious Public Theater.
For the 2026 edition, Almasi has continued its rigorous development model by exposing artists to internationally acclaimed theatre-makers.
The programme included directing and stage management training with Adam Immerwahr, theatre director, producer and artistic director, from April 20 to May 2; an acting and voice intensive with Scott Miller, distinguished professor at NYU’s Tisch Graduate Acting Program and founder of the Miller Voice Method, from July 13 to 25; and a directing workshop with Tony Award-winning director Rebecca Taichman from August 7 to 21.
The selected plays have also benefited from the Almasi African Playwrights Conference, the Almasi Writers Retreat, the Almasi New Play Collective and the ReWrite Masterclass facilitated by award-winning playwright, screenwriter and director Stephen Belber.
Almasi Collaborative Arts Associate Artistic Director Zaza Muchemwa said Africa Voices Now! was playing an important role in strengthening Zimbabwe’s dramatic arts ecosystem.
“The Africa Voices Now! Festival (AVN) plays an irreplaceable role in advancing Zimbabwe’s dramatic arts sector. By facilitating high-level artistic training and nurturing new African dramatic works, AVN addresses a critical need within the creative ecosystem,” Muchemwa said.
She said the second edition would provide professional development opportunities for local artists while giving Zimbabwean audiences access to high-calibre theatre.
Almasi co-founder and Executive Artistic Director Danai Gurira said she was excited by the quality of work emerging from the organisation’s development process.
“We at Almasi continue to pour into local talent and the fruits of the labour have never been more evident,” Gurira said.
She said the selected writers were offering audiences “a fresh, new, insightful and incisive look at the stories of our people”, adding that the artists had worked throughout the year with leading international theatre practitioners.
“We are energized here at Almasi by the progress made, and are excited to continue striving to bring the African narrative to the global stage,” she said.
The festival also highlights the longer-term impact of Almasi’s Walter Muparutsa Fellowship Artist of Excellence, which provides financial assistance, mentorship and international educational opportunities to exceptional African dramatic artists facing economic challenges.
Former fellows including Wabvuta and Mutumbi have gone on to become leaders within Almasi and Zimbabwe’s wider arts sector. The organisation’s latest playwright fellow, Kingsley Chinhanu, has also been accepted into the prestigious NYU Tisch MFA in Writing programme.
Beyond Africa Voices Now!, Almasi’s 2026 calendar includes workshops and intensives covering stage management, directing, acting, voice, writing and filmmaking, as the organisation seeks to strengthen Zimbabwe’s creative infrastructure and contribute to a sustainable entertainment industry.
With the festival’s second edition, Almasi is positioning Africa Voices Now! not simply as a theatre showcase, but as the public culmination of an intensive creative pipeline designed to develop Zimbabwean stories, artists and productions with international potential.
Tickets for Africa Voices Now! 2026 go on sale on 12 August 2026 through Almasi Collaborative Arts.
The festival runs from 17 October to 6 November 2026 at the Jasen Mphepo Little Theatre in Harare.
