26/08/2026
TRIBES GONE BABEL TURNS 10 NEXT YEAR.
And somehow, it feels more relevant now than when it was written.
One of the most ambitious contemporary Zambian plays of its generation, TRIBES GONE BABEL first stunned audiences across Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa in 2019. In 2023, it received four Ngoma Award nominations — Best Production, Best Director, Best Script and Best Actress.
But perhaps the most interesting thing about this play is that it refuses to stay in the past.
At its heart is a kingdom tearing itself apart because of tribal suspicion, misinformation, revenge and the dangerous manipulation of grief. It confronts the politics of belonging, the treatment of refugees and outsiders, the weaponisation of identity, betrayal, colonial exploitation, power, blind loyalty, masculinity, and the devastating consequences of leaders who allow emotion to replace reason.
A prince wants revenge for his parents.
A people are turned against one another.
A trusted adviser manipulates an entire kingdom.
And while they are busy destroying each other, an outsider waits to take everything.
Sound familiar?
The writer has often described Tribes Gone Babel as the play closest to his heart — perhaps even his best.
We respectfully disagree.
Because if there is one thing Clive Gilbert Nyirenda’s work has taught us, it is that the next play keeps getting bigger.
But we cannot deny this:
TRIBES GONE BABEL is like wine. It keeps getting better with age.
Ten years later, its questions still bite. Its warnings still matter. And some of the things it imagined feel uncomfortably familiar.
So perhaps next year should not simply be a celebration of a ten-year-old play.
Perhaps it is time to bring it back.
To the stage.
To a new generation.
To new audiences.
With new eyes, new actors, new ideas — and the same fire.
PRODUCERS, THE KINGDOM IS WAITING.
Who is brave enough to bring TRIBES GONE BABEL back to life for its 10th anniversary?
How should we celebrate this?