Out Of Africa

Arts & Entertainment Stage Theatre & Performance

Staff Writer
June 29, 2021

Tarisai Vushe is the Zimbabwean-born, singer-actor, and psychologist, who first became familiar to Australians as a 20 year old in 2007 when she stunned audiences with powerful performances covering Whitney Houston, and Tina Turner on reality TV; Tarisai has been a powerhouse ever since.

From 2013 to 2016, Tarisai performed not one but three pivotal roles in Disney’s, The Lion King before thrusting herself into the Nelson Mandela Musical, Madiba from 2018-19 as a lead.

Tarisai is inspiring – with aspirations towards United Nations Ambassadorship – her passion and talent for singing, writing, and performing is obvious. Tarisai spoke openly about hardships faced during the pandemic and its devastating and lingering impacts on the performing Arts Industry.

Yet, it was during this period of uncertainty that, Out Of Africa was born.

Tarisai met with Playscript’s Artistic Director, Geoffrey Sykes in late 2020 to discuss her story of a childhood in Zimbabwe, migrating to Sydney, Australia at 14 years old, and growing up with dual cultural identities in a country grappling with the nuances of multiculturalism before catapulting herself into the entertainment industry on prodigious vocals, drive, talent, and grit.

With input from Zimbabwean keyboardist, Jonathan Chagaresango; Ugandan dance and song talent, Kenneth Tusubira; model and born performer Suzan Mutesi; Out Of Africa came together naturally and at an extraordinary speed, and will be stage-ready at the Seymour Centre Sound Lounge in Redfern in July, and Parramatta’s Riverside Theatre in August.

The performance length is a hefty 105 minutes featuring time-honoured African song and dance, with contemporary Australian themes infused with comedy, rap, folklore and history, and is something not to be missed.