Zimbabwean Danai Grira appears in a New York play which on 30 May was attended by the US President and First Lady, Brarack and Michelle Obama. The play, Joe Turner’s Come & Gone opened at the Belasco Theatre on Broadway on 16 April. She played a small role but it won praise for the actress from critics.
Grira (29) currently lives in the US. She was born there of Zimbabwean parents. Her father taught Chemistry at Grinnell College till Grira was 5 years old when the family returned to live in Zimbabwe. She then returned to the US to study for an MFA from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.
In 2006 she returned to Zimbabwe with fellow actress Nikkole Slater to present their co-authored play, In The Continuum, at the Harare International Festival of the Arts (HIFA). A year earlier, in 2005, the play had been named by the New York Times as one of the top four plays of the season.
In 2007 she co-starred in the Oscar nominated movie, The Visitor. The movie did well at festivals around the world and won several awards. It was also screened at the 2008 Zimbabwe International Film Festival (ZIFF) to much acclaim.
Source: ZEDD eNewsletter
