as british as watermelon

“My name is mandla. It means power. I gave it to myself.”

Writer and performer mandla rae has a selective memory and is scrambling to piece together a life mostly forgotten in the name of survival. Through the exploration of mandla’s fragmented asylum and migration memories, as british as a watermelon asks questions about belonging, trauma and forgiveness.

Told through an unflinching autofiction narrative weaving poetry and storytelling, set within a chaotically colourful, sensory performance space made entirely for the camera with filmmaker Graham Clayton-Chance; you are invited to watch as mandla rises from the dead to reclaim a misplaced power.

mandla rae is a queer Zimbabwean writer, performer and curator. mandla is agender and has no pronouns. mandla’s work typically explores an intersectional existence enforced on the artists’ body as a result of the world we live in. mandla has been commissioned by many organisations across the country including the BFI, Journeys Festival International and Hope Mill Theatre to make written works. mandla is an Associate Artist for Outbox Theatre.