Zodwa Nyoni

Writer

Agent

Simon Blakey
  • +44 207 908 0977

Zodwa is a playwright and poet.  She was the 2014 Writer-in-Residence at the West Yorkshire Playhouse via the Channel 4 Playwrights’ Scheme.  She has previously been Apprentice Poet-in-Residence at Ilkely Literature Festival (2013), Leeds Kirkgate Market (2012) and Writer-in-Residence at I Love West Leeds Festival (2010).

She was recently under commission as part of the Manchester Royal Exchange’s New Stages Writing Initiative.  She was also part of the 2015 Creative England iWrite Regional New Voices Initiative.

Zodwa is published by Methuen Drama

Plays include

THE 5TH PAN AFRICAN CONGRESS         Under Commission
TalawaTheatre and Royal Exchange

BIG LITTLE WORLDS        Under Commission
LAMDA

THE DARKEST PARt OF THE NIGHT        14th Jul – 11 Aug, 2022
Kiln Theatre
Dir. Nancy Medina

★★★★
WhatsOnStage, The Times, LondonTheatre1

DUTY         2018
National Trust and Paines Plough

CARNIVAL CHRONICLES   2017
Leeds West Indian Carnival
Also director

ODE TO LEEDS           2017
Commissioned by the West Yorkshire Playhouse
Information here

‘… more than just a literary event; it is a coming-of-age play with political undertones about the more deprived areas not normally covered in the theatre…an absolute must see’   ★★★★★ Reviews Hub

‘(Nyoni’s) political vehemence and her relish for language have a thrilling urgency’  The Times

‘…political, heartfelt and at times heart-breaking’ Yorkshire Post

‘From the moment the five launch into their first poem, there’s an air of electricity and vibrancy…that never dims’   ★★★★ The Stage


WEATHERED ESTATES         2017
Commissioned by Hull 2017 City of Culture / Roaring Girls

BOI BOI IS DEAD             2015
Co-production between West Yorkshire Playhouse,
Tiata Fahodzi & Watford Palace Theatre
Dir. Lucian Msamati
Finalist: Susan Smith Blackburn Prize 2015

‘Zodwa Nyoni’s first full-length play is a triumph’ ★★★★ Yorkshire Post
‘…gripping, humorous, poetic and finely acted’★★★★  The Observer
       ‘…Zodwa Nyoni out as a talent to keep a close eye on.’    Backseat Mafia               

 

TV Includes:

Dance School
Current 1 x 30’ Episode
Channel 4 / Duck Soup Films

CASTLVANIA: NOCTURNE
Current 1 x 22’ Episode
Netflix / Belmont Family Productions

Films include:

ORIGINAL FEATURE FILM   Current
Treatment
BFI / BBC Films

THE ANCESTORS    In Production
Short Film
Redbag Pictures/BFI Shorts

ON BELONGING  2019
Young Vic – My England
Writer

MAHOGANY     2018
Commissioned by National Trust and 24 Design Ltd
Produced by TripleDot Productions
Writer & Director


Radio credits include:

SONNETS IN THE CITY: LOVE AGAIN
BBC Radio 3
Read by Maxine Peake


Short plays include:

NINE LIVES
Bridge Theatre
Oran Mor (Play, a Pie and a Pint),
West Yorkshire Playhouse & Houses of Parliament
UK Tour & The Arcola Theatre, London

“Lyrical and newly relatable portrait of an immigrant in Britain.” ★★★★ The Telegraph
“A vivid and compassionate study.” ★★★★ WhatsOnStage

A LETTER TO YOU  
Dir. by Matthew Xia
Manchester Royal Exchange

TANGLED ROOTS
Canada Water Culture Space, Trinity Arts Bristol
& DePaul University (Chicago), supported by the Arts Council

COME TO WHERE I’M FROM
A Paines Plough production with The Drum
Theatre, Plymouth and West Yorkshire Playhouse

HOME HAS DIED
Lift Off Festival
Leeds Beckett University, eKhaya Arts Center, South Africa
and National Gallery Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

THE NIGHT SHIFT
Young Writers’ Scheme, West Yorkshire Playhouse
Supported by BBC Writers Room.

THE POVO DIE TILL FREEDOM COMES
Street Voices 3 project, Freedom Studios
Theatre in the Mill, Square Chapel and The Bush Theatre


Education:
University of Leeds  – MA in Writing for Performance and Publication
Leeds Metropolitan University – BA (Hons) Art, Event and Performance

Call Simon to discuss Zodwa or other Writers

+44 207 908 0977