The Convert

It's 1896 in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and Jekesai, a young Shona girl, escapes a forced arranged marriage by converting to Christianity and becoming a protégé to an African Evangelical. As anti-colonial sentiments spread throughout the native population, Jekesai is forced to choose between her family's traditions and her newfound faith. This Student Edition of Danai Gurira's 2012 play The Convert includes a commentary by Aviva Neff.

Chronology

Commentary

Playwright
Overview of her other works; connection to Blank Panther

Cultural/Historical Context & Themes
British Colonialism, enslavement, the collision of indigenous religions & Catholicism, the loss and rediscovery of faith, women's rights & gendered hierarchies, war, race, "civilization"
Relationship to other art & literature on colonisation (such as Nottage's Ruined and Soyinka's Death and the King's Horseman)
Religious radicalism: then and now

Characters
Jekesai/"Ester" as a lens for experiencing the rise of Christian colonialism
Mai Tamba's religious duality
Chilford as the "model" convert

Place
Mashona & Matabeleland / Rhodesia

Language
Different forms of language (including Chishona)
Language and culture and its links to politics and identity

Play in performance
Costume, music and movement

Influences
George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion
Black Panther

Productions and adaptations
Overview of production history and critical casting, including its world premiere at the Goodman Theatre, Chicago, and the play's place in Kwame Kwei-Armah's inaugural season at the Young Vic, London

PLAY TEXT

Notes