Malindadzimu review – a poignant quest to confront Africa’s past

Hampstead theatre, London
Charm and camaraderie lie at the heart of a smart, soap opera-style attempt to unpick issues of history, heritage and empire

Malindadzimu is a mother-daughter soap opera that takes in the enormous story of Africa's imperial legacy. It begins in an NHS emergency room in Nottingham where a depressed teenager has taken an overdose, and continues in Zimbabwe, where the teenager and her mother contend with cursed lands and the restless spirits of Africa's past.

It is an achievement that these divergent features come together so coherently, with testy power battles between Faith (Shyko Amos) and her only child, Hope (Kudzai Mangombe), that segue into an ancestor" spirit striding the stage.