Zimbabwean playwright, theatre director and arts educator Thabani H. Moyo has spent decades exploring the intersection between education and performance. Through the Centre for Talent Development (CTD), founded in 2014, Moyo has helped transform literature set-books into live theatrical experiences designed to deepen students’ understanding of the texts they study.

By Trevor Mawaka

In this conversation, he speaks about theatre as an educational tool, indigenous literature, nurturing young performers and the future of Zimbabwean theatre.

Trevor Mawaka: What inspired CTD to transform literature set-books into a festival platform?

Thabani H. Moyo: The catalyst came from my classroom experience. Learners were reading books, but many struggled to see the world inside them. I began asking what would happen if we took literature out of the textbook and put it on stage.

That thinking led to our Literature Performance-Based Workshops. The response convinced us this was not merely a theatre project but an educational methodology.

Trevor: How does live performance improve students’ understanding of literature?

Moyo: Reading gives you information; performance gives that information life. When learners see characters making decisions, hear dialogue and experience tension in a scene, the text becomes something they can emotionally and intellectually engage with.

The performance becomes a starting point for questions: Why did this character behave this way? What does the scene tell us about society? What evidence can I use in an examination?

Trevor: What is the focus of this year’s festival?

Moyo: The central idea is “Theatre | Literature | Learning” using performance as a bridge between the classroom and lived experience.

We are placing strong emphasis on Ndebele language, literature, heritage and indigenous knowledge. The festival is not theatre for theatre’s sake. Every performance must have an educational purpose.

Trevor: Why is bringing indigenous literature to the stage important?

Moyo: There is a powerful moment when learners see their own world represented on stage. Indigenous texts carry languages, customs, histories and social experiences they immediately recognise.

But I don’t want to create a false opposition between African and Western literature. Both can provoke thought. Bringing indigenous literature to the stage is also an act of cultural affirmation. It tells young people that their language, history and cultural knowledge deserve serious academic and artistic attention.

Trevor: How does CTD develop young performers?

Moyo: Youth development is part of CTD’s DNA. We recruit and train young people interested in theatre through workshops and give them opportunities to participate in professional productions.

Some discover that acting, directing, writing, stage management or arts administration can become serious careers.

Trevor: What about students outside Bulawayo who have limited access to theatre?

Moyo: This remains one of our biggest challenges. We have deliberately taken Performance-Based Workshops beyond the city, reaching schools and communities in places including Plumtree, Beitbridge, Victoria Falls, Kwekwe, Masvingo, Filabusi and Maphisa.

Our ambition is simple: geography should not automatically become a barrier to accessing quality educational theatre.

Trevor: Is digital distribution part of CTD’s future?

Moyo: Yes. The future has to be hybrid live theatre for its immediacy and energy, and digital platforms for reach and accessibility. We cannot insist that every learner must travel to Bulawayo to benefit from our work.

Trevor: After decades in education and theatre, what still inspires you?

Moyo: I have been teaching since 1996, and I still get excited when I see a learner suddenly recognise something through performance when the laughter stops, the room becomes quiet or hundreds of learners respond emotionally to a scene. That moment tells me learning has happened.

Literature is not dead ink on a page. It is people, conflict, history, language, culture and ideas. Theatre can educate, literature can transform, and young people must be given opportunities not only to consume stories, but to become the people who tell them.