Elsie Lange
Doctor by day and comedian by night, Sunbury-based Chido Mwat’s debut Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) show is all about finding her voice.
As an introverted person, creating She-Nanigans The Show was a chance for the Zimbabwean comedian to step outside herself and tell her story, with the help of a hand-picked cast of actors and improvisors.
The cabaret show, filled with a range of performance styles including sketch, storytelling, music, dance and drag, is about telling people to treat her with respect.
“When I’ve been treated poorly, I haven’t had the courage to say anything, but this show has a through-line of how it is that I got to the point where now I can say, ‘Hey, please don’t speak to me that way’,” Mwat said.
Directed by 2018 Moosehead Winner Hayley Tantau and mentored by ABC’s Annie Louey, Mwat’s She-Nanigans The Show will donate 20 per cent of its ticket sales to the Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health, whose mission is to be the voice of migrant and refugee women in Australia.
She said her love of comedy started when she was young and said she’d spend her weekends at home watching late shows with Conan O’Brian and Saturday Night Live.
“I really felt what you’d call ‘seen’ by the comedians, they’d talk about all these jokes and things and I’d feel connected and less alone,” she said.
“That’s primarily why I did comedy, because it was that feeling of connection I could feel with other comedians.”
Mwat hopes the show will encourage and nourish a community of culturally and linguistically diverse women to find their voices.
She-Nanigans The Show is supported by The People of Cabaret, Creative Victoria and Regional Arts Victoria and will be happening at Motley Bauhaus in Carlton, April 4-10, and is wheelchair accessible. The show on Friday, April 8 will be Auslan interpreted.
Details: www.trybooking.com/events/landing?eid=855888&
