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Zamalisa Mdoda on bravery and building her name away from home
Count to Five has been shortlisted for a Pop Corn Writing Award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Scotland.
Zamalisa Mdoda’s play, Count to Five, has received favourable reviews for how authentic she has written and portrayed the five characters. It has been shortlisted for a Pop Corn Writing Award. Picture: Supplied
Society’s openness to therapy and unshackling itself from stigmas around seeking help has become commonplace. With art being a reflection of society, this has been palpable in countless artworks worldwide.
For her play Count to Five, South African playwright Zamalisa Mdoda utilised the psychotherapy counting method designed for trauma resolution.
“I am a huge advocate for therapy. I don’t think it solves everything but having tools to combat the difficulties of mental illness has been so important to dealing with my own illnesses and trauma,” Mdoda told The Citizen.
The one-woman show Count to Five just wrapped up its run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland. In the play, Mdoda portrays fictionalized versions of her younger self, her 20-year-old self, Theodora, God and a personification of her anger as a Black woman, embodied by her present-day self.
“Theodora, the houseless character, is a woman. Her vocal delivery is harsher and probably read as masculine because her voice is worn down by the life she lived,” explains Mdoda.
“My only critique was at the end of the show she [Mdoda] apologized saying it was her first performance at the Fringe. This performance was quite strong and there was no need for any apologies,” averred a reviewer after watching Count to Five.
Bravery recognised
Count to Five has received favourable reviews for how authentic she has written and her dexterity in her portrayal of the five characters. So moving was the story, that it has been shortlisted for a Pop Corn Writing Award.
The award, which is run by the Popcorn Group in partnership with BBC Writers, champions brave and imaginative writing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
“I think for me specifically, being nominated for the most vulnerable piece of writing I’ve worked on is the most encouraging thing of all. It’s the kind of validation that tells me I am still free to push the envelope and can trust that someone will still understand and appreciate that effort, even if it’s just Rodrigo, who has championed this story long before the nomination came in,” averred Mdoda.
The aforementioned Rodrigo Jorge is the co-writer and director of Count to Five who has nudged Mdoda to tell the story for some time now.
“Rodrigo has been lovingly nudging me to do the show since we finished our Screenwriting Masters degree at the London Film School in 2021. It was February of this year when the nudging became more insistent,” shared the thespian.
The play was completed in June this year and they sent the script for the Popcorn Awards later that month.
Mdoda said the Popcorn Award recognition is particularly encouraging for her and Jorge, who are both foreigners in Europe.
“As foreigners (Rodrigo hailing from Brazil and me being South African) trying to make a name in the UK, bravery is something we have had to relearn with this play, just to remind ourselves of the kind of work we’d like to make given the freedom to do it our way.”
Mdoda said the play served as a vessel for her to be more authentic in my writing.
“As a writer of stage and screen work, I tend to create highly conceptual pieces where the personal elements included are mostly thematic,” she said.
“With Count to Five, I am exploring characters born from personal experiences and pulling inspiration directly from my own life has been freeing in a way I can’t wait to explore more in the piece and in future work. The writing was more cathartic than taxing but performing the characters can take a toll. That’s the job though. I’m just grateful to be able to do it again after so long.”
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Away from home
Mdoda has been based in the UK since the end of 2020 and says it has gradually grown on her, although she tries to come home at least twice a year.
“I like to think of myself as a global citizen and my love for home and fondness for the UK is founded on the fact that I can leave either when the time comes. I’m grateful to have that experience of travelling and settling in other countries,” she said laughing.
She is the younger sister to Anele Mdoda and Thembisa Liyema Nxumalo. The latter has celebrated her victories from afar, even being recognised by the Popcorn Awards.
“Thembisa is the thespian I revere the most in this world. I grew up in a household where she was on the frontlines in the battle to study drama and then I got to grow up and see her do incredible things in theatre, film and TV,” averred Mdoda of her sister.
“I can’t properly articulate what her support of the show means to me. I just know that she and our eldest sister Unathi are the reason I feel a little braver in this world.”
Count to Five is yet to have a run in South African theatres and Mdoda said this is something she is working on.
“It’s not a show that is fully traditional South African theatre in any sense and I’m excited to see the reception it gets at home. Those crowds are the people I am most curious about. That’s the theatre scene that raised me.”
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