Charmaine Mudau

Career

She was in Form One, when she started being practically involved in the arts but her love for it stems way back to the days of her primary school level when she used to follow local dramas and dance groups from which she developed an intimate bond with the arts.^[1] She was fortunate enough to become a student at Schools Playwrights and Actors Academy (SPAA) then later Centre for Talent Development (CTD). Ever since she started theatre she has managed to be part of exciting festivals in Zimbabwe like Yocaf and Intwasa Arts Festival.

Mudau gained exceptional arts administration skills and events coordination skills during her industrial attachment period at the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe. The elegant actress has become the inaugural Fellow for the Nhimbe U40 Cultural Leadership Programme as she has been strongly involved with the organisation in the past, with the Schools Playwright Actors Academy now Children in Theatre and Television (CiTT) from which she later graduated to the Centre for Talent Development (CTD).

She also took part on the “Unified Women Project” which saw rich cultural exchange between Nhimbe Trust and Young Vic UK, held in Bulawayo 2017. Her passion for arts made her a prime candidate to become the inaugural Fellow for the Nhimbe U40 Cultural Leadership Programme.^[2]

She has not looked back since she won plaudits for her eye-catching performance in the 2015 National Arts Merit Awards- winning theatre production UMbiko kaMadlenya. In her blooming career she has also featured in productions such as Young Vic Unified women project (a collaboration between Zimbabwe and UK young actresses) made possible by Nhimbe Trust, Addicted, Umpilo yinkinga, Dancing in the Dust, No More Plastic Balls. Some of the Live Literature Project productions she featured in includes, The Lion and The Jewel, The Wretched Ones, The Importance of Being Earnest and The Sun Will Rise Again. She also featured in a stage play written and directed by Raisedon Baya about love and fear for commitment which premiered at the Bulawayo Theatre (Intwasa Extra) on December 30, 2017 titled The Arrangement.^[3]

She took part in the SADC theatre camp in 2018 which was a Savanna Trust initiative. She has also been involved in many exchange programs for personal growth in and outside the country. She has performed in more than 20 theatre productions in her more than 8 years of experience on stage, which includes, The Last days of King Africa^[4] , Garden of dreams, and Imbokodo, which was an all-rounder NAMA nominated production with 2 actress nominees, 1 actor, best production nominee and best director nominee (2019 plays). She has also performed in festivals like Yocaf, Intwasa Arts Festival, Mitambo International Theatre Festival. She has since ventured into film having Out of Class as her first appearance being a cameo role, followed by Another wedding, an MNet commissioned feature film where she played a lead role, then recently played a lead role in a Geraldine commission short film, Zoey: A girl called life.

Zimbabwe, South Africa Collaboration on the Amavuso Project

Arts organisation, Nhimbe Trust have launched a collaborative project that highlights the “Blesser/ Blessee” phenomenon. Nhimbe partnered South Africa’s Sibikwa Arts Centre to come up with the project titled The Amavuso Project that fosters an online discussion on the exchange of money in relationships between men and women.

The project, supported by an ANT Mobility Grant from Pro Helvetia Johannesburg financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), will be created and performed by an all-female creative team from the two countries, South African actresses Dineo Komane and Eutychia Rakaki, and from Zimbabwe are Donna Ncube (Donna N) and Charmaine Mudau.

Mudau said the ‘blesser’ and ‘blessee’ phenomenon means different things to different individuals depending on which side you are on! I hope we will manage to probe a fruitful discussion and get to understand what different people think about it. "I am looking forward to challenging myself as an actress and to learning a few things from my fellow thespians."^{[5] [6]}

Adjudicator

She has also adjudicated in prominent drama competitions in the country such as National Association of Secondary Heads (NASH) drama competitions, Isiphiwo sami organised by Inkululeko Yabatsha School of Arts (IYASA), Plan High School Drama competitions by Plan Zimbabwe and Intwasa, Geraldine Roche Drama Competitions.

Awards

• Bulawayo Arts Awards 2020 Outstanding Film/TV Actress (Scars/Amanxeba) winner
• Nominated for the Outstanding Theatre Actress (Imbokodo) and Outstanding Film/TV Actress (Scars/Amanxeba) in the Bulawayo Arts Awards 2020
• Featured in a NAMA award winning production 2015, UMbiko kaMadlenya.
• Multi award nominee Bulawayo Arts Awards (2018 and 2019)
• NAMA 19th edition winner for Outstanding Actress for Theatre (Imbokodo), and nominee in the Film and TV (Another Wedding) category, becoming the first person ever in the history of National Arts Merit Awards to be nominated for both categories.^[7]
• Played a lead role in an MNet commissioned feature film, Another Wedding, produced for Zambezi Magic.
• In 2019 she was part of 5 theatre practitioners from Zimbabwe who travelled to Rwanda (East Africa) for a regional dialogue and Spain (Europe) for the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP25) for Theatre for Policy Advocacy (TPA).

Achievements

• She was recognised and honoured by Zimbabwe Theatre Academy for her commitment and investment towards the development of theatre in Zimbabwe.

Picture Gallery

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  Charmaine Mudau NAMA Award

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  NAMA Award

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  C Mudau

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  Charmaine Mudau Graduation

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  Charmaine Mudau in the cast

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  Charmaine Acting

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Video

References