The Convert at Central Square Theater

Award-winning actress and playwright Danai Gurira -- best known as Michonne on AMC's The Walking Dead -- penned this powerful and provocative play, now coming to Cambridge's Central Square Theater. The acclaimed drama, produced by Underground Railway Theater, explores the religious and cultural clashes sparked by British colonialism in southern Africa, as well as the lingering legacy that continues to affect Zimbabwe today. Set in 1896 during the first rush of colonialism in the region, The Convert centers around Jekesai, a young Shona girl forced into an arranged marriage, who escapes her situation with the help of an African Christian convert. When cultural tensions boil over, she's torn between the new religion that saved her and the familial ties of her native culture, and must decide where her heart truly lies.