A Conversation with Playwright Zodwa Nyoni

Abstract

This interview with playwright and librettist Zodwa Nyoni explores the creative, cultural and spiritual foundations of Tears Are Not Meant to Stay Inside, the first African opera written and staged in the United Kingdom. Conducted by Sam Kasule in February 2025 (via Microsoft Teams), the conversation traces Nyoni’s artistic evolution from poetry to theatre, film, television and now opera,
highlighting her commitment to storytelling rooted in African performance traditions, diasporic identity and black women’s experiences. Nyoni discusses the opera’s development process, its grounding in Zimbabwean healing rituals, the challenges and possibilities of multilingual composition, and the collaborative dynamics between writer, composer and director. The interview also reflects on broader questions of representation, cultural specificity, and the complexities of creating African work within Western institutions.