LIVING LEGEND

A Botswana actor based in the United States will on November 20, be featured among 47 highly experienced performers in the United SoloTheatre Festival to be held at the Theatre Row in the heart of the New York City.
The performers will be from seven states, six countries, three continents and will feature 21 one-man and 26 one-woman shows.
United SoloTheatre Festival is the world’s largest solo theatre festival.
Award winning Donald Molosi’s rise to fame was when he played Botswana’s first president, Sir Seretse Khama. In New York, he will perform Today It’s Me, a commemoration of Ugandan musician and AIDS activist Philly Lutaaya.
Actress Kgomotso Tshwenyego had a chat with Molosi to find out why he plays African legends and generally what makes him tick.
Q. In a country where HIV/Aids is a concern to both the government and filmmakers, why Seretse?
Before there was AIDS, there was Seretse. Before we were known for high AIDS statistics, we pioneered the way as Africa’s shining example of non-racialism and democracy. So, in a way, apart from feeling that we do not celebrate our heroes enough, I also wanted to put into the world of arts something that shows that despite our AIDS crisis, we are still people with decent lives, values, hope and humanity. That amidst all the fear and horror caused by AIDS, we still manage to fall in love, that AIDS is not the single Botswana story. There are stories of triumph, of inter-tacial marriages, of heroes and gods and those are also valid as Botswana stories.
Q.You seem to have a passion for African legends, what brings this about?
I am passionate about remarkable people because studying, researching and portraying them in the creative process teaches me what the human spirit is capable of. African legends appeal to me all the more because their stories are not told, or at least not well-told.
It is a dangerous gap in the curriculum of most African countries that a child can finish high school without ever learning about their history and its legends. How many Batswana young people know Sir Seretse’s “Motho le Motho Kgomo” initiative that resulted in the building of the University of Botswana? How many Batswana know why the zebra was specifically chosen as the one animal in our coat of arms? It is only through informing ourselves and acknowledging our legends and heroes that we can begin to move forward without departing from the core values of Botswana which I personally hold dearly in my heart.
Q. What made you decide to perform outside Botswana?
I haven’t performed in Botswana since 2005, I know, but it was not a conscious decision, that would be a sad choice. To be frank with you, lately I do not get cast in local productions in Botswana for some reason. You know that, Ausi K. Batswana don’t support other Batswana. But I am about to do my original shows in Botswana soon, so that is something people in Botswana can look forward to.

You won an Award for the Seretse Production, tell us about it.
I won the Best Actor Award for playing Sir Seretse in “Blue, Black and White.” at the Dialogue One Theatre Festival two years ago. I was happy that people enjoyed the performance, and that the play had reached a certain calibre I sought.
Q.How did you get to win this award?
The usual deal. You get nominated and then winners are announced. I performed at the festival and that was already enough for me at the time. Then when the award came I was ecstatic. I remember that inspiring me to write even more solo shows.
Q.Do you think you have done enough, with your performances as Seretse to tell the outside world about Botswana?
Yes, I did the best I could and toured four continents telling Sir Seretse’s amazing heroic story. It is a role I will keep on coming back to, for the rest of my life so I look forward to tell the world Sir Seretse’s story when I am 30, when I am 50. Many people who saw my performances in Brazil, Paris or New York had never heard of Botswana before and now are regular tourists in Botswana! Of course I was not doing it for marketing per se, but clearly performance is an effective marketing tool. I hope more people in power recognize that.

Q.Take us through your journey performing in a foreign country.  Any challenges that you met and how did you overcome them, if any?
There is always the basic challenge of not being home. You run into language barriers, but the hardest is trying to create performances that can speak to such a diverse audience. I think I have not had worry too much about performing in a foreign country really because when I perform I get into the story so deeply that it almost does not matter where I am, I will still tell the story to the best of my ability.

Q.What motivates you to wake up every morning?
I am super-aware of mortality because a lot of the people who made me the man I am have passed on, so I look at life as a chance for me to fulfil their prophecies for me, and my prophecies for myself, God’s prophecies for me. I do not waste time complaining about things I cannot change. I get up and do something, and try harder – it is that constant appreciation of life, that fervent desire to keep getting better that gets me out of bed.
Q.What has been the highlight of your career?
Every project is special in its own way but I have to say that performing as Sir Seretse was a big deal for me. It was the highlight of my solo-perfromance career and I hope to be able to reach even higher as a solo performer, in years to come.
Q.Tell me about your family and experiences growing up?
I grew up in a small family. I grew up in Mahalapye and it was a typical and great childhood. I was a happy child, a curious child and I enjoyed a lot of support from my immediate and extended families as far as life skills go, and values to live by.
Your educational background
I graduated from Maru a Pula School in 2003, and The Taft School in the US in 2005 with enough theatre experience to pursue professional acting. So, I attended Williams College in the US where I studied Theatre as well as Political Economy. I further trained in England at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts (LAMDA) to focus more on classsical acting.
Q.Is there anything else that you do besides acting?

ON STAGE: MOLOSI

I am a political scientist, I write fiction and poetry, I write songs and I sing. Some of my works have been published in journals. These are things I have learnt to do professionally but have not yet put them center-stage because I have been focused solely on acting as far as the professional sphere goes. I am doing all these other things but so far only in my private life. Hopefully with time I will marry all of them together at a professional level.

Describe yourself in one sentence
I am alive.

Your words of wisdom
Live and let live. Send out good words and energy and the universe will return it to you.
Q.How do you relax?
I do yoga by myself. I also love doing the dishes, it calms me down.
PERSONAL PROFILE
Full names: Donald Leungo Molosi
Date of Birth: December 11, 1985
Place of Birth: Mahalapye
Nationality: Motswana
Favourite dish: Phaleche, morogo le koko ya Setswana.
Favourite movie/comedy: I have many. Like Last King Of Scotland, Elizabeth, Precious, Avatar.
Favourite Actor/Actress: Too many favorites to name. I love the work of Kate Winslet, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and of course the amazing Meryl Streep.
Favourite Music: Any music really. As someone who writes music, I listen to everything to have a wider appreciation.
Motto: To quote Alan Kulwicki, “Work to become, not to acquire.”