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Inside/Out with playwright and die-hard Dynamos fan Daniel Maposa, Director of Savanna Arts Trust
Kubatana.net
March 29, 2011

Full interview with Daniel Maposa - Read and listen

Describe yourself in five words?
Quiet, reserved, shy and committed to my work.

What's the best piece of advice you've ever received?
From my mentor Nicholas Karonda, he said always be true to yourself.

What's the most ridiculous thing you've ever done?
I cried when a woman said she didn't love me. I cried in front of her. For a man that's ridiculous.

What is your most treasured possession?
I don't know if I can call my son a possession. I love him.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
When people look down upon each other, because one is poor, or regarded as unintelligent or uneducated.

Do you have any strange hobbies?
I go to watch Suluman Chimbetu or Dynamos by myself; I don't wait for anyone to come with me.

What do you dislike most about your appearance?
I have learnt to appreciate everything that I am. When I was growing up people used to make me feel that I was not handsome. But then I realised that I'm created in the image of God, and this is what I am. I'm good looking.

What is your greatest extravagance?
I spend a lot on clothes. I just like to look good.

What have you got in your fridge?
Chicken, soft drinks, tomatoes and water.

What is your greatest fear?
Failure.

What have you got in your pockets right now?
My wallet - I think it's penniless, a pen and my car keys.

What is your favourite journey?
My artistic journey. I started from nothing with nothing until I became one of the guys who built Savanna to what it is today. At times I thought of leaving and working somewhere else or becoming a teacher but every time I wanted to quit, something would happen. It's a journey I never thought I would take but here I am with no university education. I only finished my first degree this year. All along I could not afford to pay for that degree. I did my postgrad this year too.

Who are your heroes in real life?
Those women in the streets in Mbare, in Glen Norah where I grew up, widowed women, who wake up every morning and struggle to send their children to school. And they realise their dream, when their child is at university against all circumstances. That was typical of my mother and father.

When and where were you happiest?
When I launched my first public play at Theatre in the Park, Heaven's Diary. All of us were afraid that it would be a flop. But after the performance most of the people wanted to talk to me.

What's your biggest vice?
I think I try too hard to impress everyone. At the end of the day it turns against me.

What were you like at school?
Quiet and introverted.

What are you doing next?
I'm working on a play that takes National Healing and Transitional Justice from a different angle. I'm using the point of view of a woman who has been raped, and decides to keep the baby.

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