In Congo, where she was born, in Belgium, where she grew up, to Quebec, where she became an actress, Nzinga traces the rich journey of Tatiana Zinga Botao. But this creation with its crossed stories also evokes the epic of the queen whose name it bears, and from which her family is said to come.
Born around 1580, Nzinga (or Njinga) reigned over the African kingdoms of Ndongo and Matamba (partly covering present-day Angola). Strategist and warrior, she became an icon of resistance against the Portuguese colonizers. “He is a truly well-known figure of resilience in Africa, especially in Angola and Congo,” explains the actress. A woman who fought, extremely stubborn and very determined. I clearly descend from her because I have all these characteristics. And sometimes, it’s not always good! But it’s because I’m stubborn and determined that I manage to accomplish what I want. »
Tatiana Zinga Botao asked her accomplices, the authors Marie Louise Bibish Mumbu – also of Congolese origin – and Alexis Diamond, to write the text as a trio. Initially, the project was to be about the Congo, where she often returns, her family living there. A country where “many” Canadian mining companies are based. “And finally, I realize that I am going through the Congo and through Nzinga to talk about myself, about my trip. »
This “romanticized historical autofiction” deals a lot with emancipation, she believes. “It’s never named. But the more I work on [la pièce], the more I tell myself that it’s a story of women who want to emancipate themselves. Of their father, of their life, of their role as mother, of their status. »
Throughout its trajectory, the show also displays the figure of an exile who departs from the clichés, from the image of the migrant who fled war or poverty. “At the beginning, to summarize, I said that it was another story of migration. It is not because we are black or that we come from a country where part of it is at war that we suffer. A lot of things are projected onto me because I’m black. All black people have a different story. I come from a wealthy family, my parents helped me change direction. I was very privileged. You have to be privileged, all the same, to be able to go on stage to tell your story. »
The Belgian had never felt the desire to become an actress before coming here. A twist of fate. Holder of a master’s degree in journalism, she was doing an internship at the Belgian embassy, where the other intern was auditioning at theater schools. She gave him the answer. “And all of a sudden, it revealed a lot of business to me. I think I felt stuck in my life. And it was super liberating. Suddenly, I just wanted to be an actress. » And finding her “very good”, the director of the Montreal Drama Conservatory at the time, Raymond Cloutier, encouraged her to try her luck.
Graduating in 2014, Tatiana Zinga Botao admits that she got a place in the theater. ” I am lucky. Even if it’s not the kind of roles I wanted: I often play “the friend of” or a secondary character. And I wanted more. » And because she prefers to create her own projects rather than depend on those of others, she co-founded a company in 2017: the Théâtre de La Sentinelle, whose mission is “to put black people on stage, in the forefront , in leading roles”. She adds: “The meeting with Lyndz [Dantiste] and Philip [Racine] really changed my relationship with the profession. I suddenly felt like I belonged. And understood too, because we shared the same concerns, the same instabilities. And I no longer have the same posture: when I left the Conservatory, it was as if the profession had made me at the mercy of others, I was waiting for someone to call me. I had lost all my personality, it’s crazy. When I’m so the opposite [de ça]. I want to do my business, and I’m not waiting to be told yes or no. »
Talk for real
Having given birth to a son a month ago, Tatiana Zinga Botao led two creations at once. Which was not planned. “It’s a nice coincidence. And also stubbornness on my part. I really wanted to do the show. » An “enormous task, I realize it now”. This is why the performer shares the role with another actress. Further along in rehearsals, Leila Donabelle Kaze will begin the series of performances.
“Nzinga, I feel like every woman can make it their own. Leila was also born in Africa, but she has her own story, which is different. So she can appropriate it in another way. So, it’s really cool. It’s the story of all women, ultimately. »
The show features a lot of interaction with the audience. ” We play together. I don’t know how far I’m going to leave [les spectateurs] to take up space. But it’s all the time in interaction with the public: if I go too fast or they don’t follow, I have to stop and start again. Because I give a lot of information. »
This is a second solo for Tatiana Zinga Botao, after Who wants itin the skin of Antigone, performed successively and co-directed with his two colleagues from La Sentinelle. The trio had put a lot on their shoulders, she notes. “But it proved to me that I really liked it, showing myself naked in front of an audience. There is a frank relationship there, on both sides. We don’t have the choice to be honest, it’s very intimate. It seems that the audience members forget that they are [spectateurs] and I forget that I’m the person on stage, and we can only talk to each other for real. It really threw me off balance, but I think it helped me just as much. I understood this: ultimately on stage, we don’t play that much. We’re talking for real. Ultimately, it’s a bit of a one man show, sometimes. »
And to tell the truth, she often does it. The actress tends to deliver what she thinks. ” And Nzinga made me realize that it’s okay to say what you think. There is something in theater that is not far from politics, I find. There are alliances, strategic alliances, we break ties… And I learned that it doesn’t matter if I refused to play in a certain place or if I dared to say that I was not agree with something. We therefore want to be accepted when we are an actor. But I realized that I can be a little more of a politician than an actress too. »
Frank speaking can produce good results, judges the co-director of Calls me Mohamed Ali (which will be revived at the Théâtre du Nouveau Monde in winter 2024). “From the moment we talked about the lack of diversity – I don’t like that word, it doesn’t mean anything – we started putting it everywhere, and not for the right reasons. So it really saddened me, and I said it. But it brought me more good things than bad. It’s just that in Quebec, it’s a little difficult to be like that. It takes diplomacy. I’m not very diplomatic. There is something very rebellious and direct about me. But I’m learning! »
Tatiana Zinga Botao also deplores the working conditions on stage. “I would change the entire theater in Montreal,” she says, laughing. I think it’s a hard and very beautiful job, and we don’t get paid enough. We do 120 hours of rehearsals with almost no pay. It was once we arrived at show that we are finally getting paid. As I often say, we need to have a little more respect for our profession. »