ICW: Karen Mavundukure, Actress

Tarantino Live is an exciting new rock musical-rock concert-film spectacular, the likes of which the UK has never seen. Or at least that’s what I’m piecing together after my chats with four of the stars of one of London’s newest shows, brought here from LA by For The Record. With a super diverse cast of some of theatre’s greatest talents, and a killer soundtrack played live every night, it promises to be a great night out - even if you don’t know Tarantino’s films! TBP got to speak with cast members Tara Lee, Anton Stephans, George Maguire, and here you get to enjoy the chat with Karen Mavundukure. We talked about the show, making an iconic character her own, the audition process, finding empowerment in this role, what being Black means to her, and more. Read/Listen below!

Brianna (TBP)
What is Tarantino live? Because I think it's quite a new concept. To the UK. I don't think we've ever had anything like it before. So tell us a little bit about it!

Karen
Tarantino Live, from my perspective, it seems to be a celebration of some of Quentin Tarantino’s best work, classic films. It celebrates his art of storytelling. And some of the most iconic scenes in some of these movies, which I feel like audiences will be brought back to with the ones that we visit like Pulp Fiction, Django. Also, while celebrating the immaculate soundtracks that go along with them. So it's merging the world of musical theatre with his world of filmmaking and celebrating art to be quite frank. Yeah, that's, that's from my perspective. One thing that I've gotten from it as I've been participating is, it's a celebration of some of these absolutely wonderful works.

Brianna (TBP)
Awesome! And how do you fit into it?

Karen
I play the role of Jackie Brown. So it's a role that I've never played before. And she's quite a strong character, you know, with the film and how her storyline goes, she ends up, you know, swindling the bad guys in the end and winning, and walking away with the cash and she's not afraid to defend herself. So it's a very empowering role. And also then participating in other smaller roles as Patina in Django, getting to stand beside Django himself. That's a whole thing that I'm really enjoying. I think that's my favourite part of the whole show, the Django scenes. Yes, so I played that part, I also play Jungle Julia. And we're just diving into the different universes of his films. So it's, yeah, I play a strong willed woman in all of them!

Brianna (TBP)
We love to see it, more of that on stage please!

Karen
Yeah, yes. I'm very, very excited about my little Jackie Brown handgun. I've never ever ever, obviously, being from the UK you only ever watch action films on TV, but to actually step into that and have your little handgun and you know, sticking people up, it's been it's great.

Brianna (TBP)
So I was wondering, how do you approach a character that is so iconic? Like Pam Grier was literally like Golden Globe nominated Screen Actors Guild nominated for this? How do you make it yours, rather than just an impression of her?

Karen
You just stay true to the intention of Jackie Brown as a role in that, there's a lot of things - I feel like the reason the role was so iconic, is there's a lot of things that you could relate to in her role. She was an air hostess, and, you know, just living a typical normal life and found herself in the situation when she was trying to create a better life for herself. And, you know, we're used to the heroes being these, you know, superhero muscles, very intelligent types, but she just used her common sense. And won at the end of the day, and I feel like that, in itself was a different kind of storyline that we hadn't seen before. So yeah, she did an amazing job and I loved watching her do it, but I was like, You know what, it'll be fun for me to also step in, and, you know, put my own spin on it because I am a normal person as well and I'm a plus size woman and we seldom ever get to see, you know, our casting bracket in that position of being the lead, being the person who ends up winning at the end of the day and being, you know, the main, the lead, the one that you're rooting for so, it's been quite fun stepping into it, but obviously watching her, it gave me the confidence to do it.

Brianna (TBP)
I was gonna say, as you said that about you don't often get to see plus size women do it. There's really, there's almost no roles, the only one I can think of - and I'm sure you've done it - was Dream Girls. You were Effie in Dream Girls.

Karen
Yes. But even in that one I was a victim.

Brianna (TBP)
Yes. There's no like, strong women in that role. So how much joy has this been to step into that and just be like, “This is a show that really gives me a chance to be seen.”

Karen
It's been, I would say career changing to be honest. There is a running joke on set, because every time I see - because we have a lot of props. We have things like we've got in the toy guns, the shot guns, the thing and I'll pick it up and I was like, having a moment because I was like, I never thought I'd ever play a role where I'm getting to be the bad guy or the good guy or you know, holding such weapons and, you know, taking charge because I've never seen that for me. Yeah, and for me, it's been so exciting. I mean, the directors a little worried like “You've really fascinated with the whole weapons thing”

Brianna (TBP)
(Laughs) Like “do we need to be worried about this?”

Karen
I just never thought I'd be the one to step into that because it's never in - we're usually side-kicks.

Brianna (TBP)
Or comedic relief.

Karen
Exactly. So I'm used to funny, but I'm not used to holding a gun and making someone you know, freeze, and hurting them. So I've been really, really enjoying it. And I do feel like we do need to see a lot more of that. And I hope that audiences, you know, when they come to see it, it doesn't stand out to them. It just is a thing that is normal. But yeah, it's been so much fun. So, so much fun.

Brianna (TBP)
I'm glad to hear it. That's the one thing that everyone has said is that this cast is just such good energy. Like you're having so much fun showing up each day.

Karen
Yes, I mean, there's been a lot of work. But I think that's also what's made us realise how good Tarantino’s work is. We’re putting in long hours, we finish at 10pm. And everyone feels the same. They're like, okay, it's 10pm it's time to go home and we’re like “oh, can we just can we keep pushing ahead, we still have a lot more work to get the scene perfect and ready to show the world” because it's such iconic work, and it's so fun to do, there’s great energy on set. And everyone wants the same thing. And that's to present this new concept and for it to obviously be successful and people to enjoy it as much as we have.

Brianna (TBP)
I'm really excited to see it, because I had no idea when I sat down with Tara Lee earlier I was like, I have no idea what the heck this thing is gonna be like I can't even imagine it. And now having spoken to like Tara and Anton and now you I'm like, No, I'm buzzing. I can't wait to get down and see this thing. It's gonna be brilliant.

Karen
The funny thing is, we felt the same way. First day of rehearsals. We were like I don't know what I agreed to. Because when you look up anything about the show, it has just been in LA. So there wasn't much in terms of stuff you can see online. It was just Tarantino. That was - Tarantino musical that was the message. So we all came just hoping for the best and we're blown away with what we've created.

Brianna (TBP)
I'd love to know what was your first experience with the arts that made you go “I want to do that actually. That's for me.” What was the one thing that sticks out for you?

Karen
Um, when you say the arts do you mean theatre or do you just mean being a performer in general?

Brianna (TBP)
Just in general. It could be theatre, it could be music, like whatever it was that sort of sparked that for you.

Karen
Britney Spears Hit Me Baby One More Time.

Brianna (TBP)
Great answer. Best answer I’ve been given.

Karen
(Laughs) And I specifically - because I grew up in Zimbabwe, so there as a child, my main form of entertainment was the TV. And I remember the first time, I would have been maybe seven, eight, I saw Britney Spears Hit Me Baby One More Time, and I immediately went into the back garden and started recreating the whole music video, and becoming obsessed. And I remember then it dawned on me that oh, she's in America. That's why she's able to do all this stuff, and I'm in Zim, and I'll never be able to be a performer like that. But still, I then started listening to music, like the Whitney Houston’s, the Mariah Carey’s. And then it's when I came over - I came over when I was eight or nine to UK. That's when I was like, wait, I'm one step closer. It’s not America but it's closer. And from that point on, I was just focused on achieving - I just wanted to recreate the way I felt watching her.

Brianna (TBP)
Have you done that? Do you think that you've, you've recreated that feeling for yourself yet?

Karen
I've done more than I thought I would. The road that my career has taken has surprised me. I didn't think I would do things like Dream Girls, or even this type of show, starting to do Quentin Tarantino work - my dreams, then were hyperfocused on being a pop star. But then I discovered a whole new world of, you know, musical theatre, acting also, that's something that I really, really enjoy. So from that little experience, I discovered a whole industry where I could just enjoy creativity and being creative. Because now I think it's not just about being a performer, but creative as a whole, so yes, I do and I hope to achieve even more.

Brianna (TBP)
I'm sure you will. I'm sure you will. Your voice is stunning. With a voice like that - and I haven't seen you act yet, but I'm sure if your voice is anything to go by? You're gonna go so far.

Karen
I do look forward to the future. I mean, obviously, after lockdown, everyone was kind of like, oh, where's this industry gonna go? But it's been a good start back up. And yeah, right now I'm hoping with this show - because it's been an experience, a learning experience - that I get to learn while playing around with one of the most iconic works. I get to learn something and carry that forward into hopefully many more jobs afterwards. So yeah, it's been it's been quite a journey.

Brianna (TBP)
So if you got a call tomorrow, that was like, okay, when Tarantino live ends, your dream show is waiting for you and we want you in it. What would that show be?

Karen
That is a good question. Oh, oh, ah options. There's so many options. But the answer to that is, it's a show that was on - it’s not a musical theatre show. It's a series that was on BBC One. But it got cancelled many many, many, many years ago. And it was called the Number One Ladies Detective Agency.

Brianna (TBP)
Yes!

Karen
That is the dream for me.

Brianna (TBP)
Oh my god that would be amazing.

Karen
That would - I was so heartbroken when they cancelled it. But that, when I think of anything that would be, I would have made it by that point.

Brianna (TBP)
Well, you’ve put it into the universe, and the universe does crazy things when we put out what we want.

Karen
Someone needs to turn it into a musical.

Brianna (TBP)
Someone needs to bring that to stage. This is a note to all musical theatre writers: Go watch the show. Do your thing. And then give her a call.

Karen
Absolutely!

Brianna (TBP)
So obviously, this isn't musical theatre in the traditional sense. Like it sits somewhere between musical theatre, a rock concert, and something else like it's this whole - it's new, it's kind of crazy. So how was the audition process for it? Was it different to what you did say for Dream Girls? How did it compare?

Karen
Yes, it was different because I'll be very honest, I had watched a lot of Quentin Tarantino's films, but I hadn't watched all of them and the specific role that I was doing, I hadn't watched it. So they sent us a - or well, they sent me a script. And in the script, basically, it was, now I've watched the films, it was a scene where Samuel L Jackson is trying to convince a character who was played by Chris Tucker, to get into the car. And I had to be Samuel L. Jackson. And you know, Samuel L. Jackson, he's quite a hard character to emulate, especially the way he does it, but I didn't know at the time that that's what that was from. So I had to be a gangster and I had never, I had never ever ever ever done a script like that before, but it was so much fun. And I think that's what probably stood out too, was I just went full guns blazing. How I would imagine Karen you know if she was a gun wielding gangster trying to go and rob people. But yeah, I did that scene, which was so much fun. I didn't think I'd get it. Because I was like, oh, never done this before, but I'm gonna do my best. They're probably gonna get someone else who actually sounds like a gangster. And then I got to sing I’m Every Woman.

Brianna (TBP)
Ooh what a song!

Karen
The song is very high. I was recording and I was like, ooh, listen, I understand if they want someone to be even higher. But yeah, I just submitted that. And I forgot about it. Because after that script, I was like, ain't no way. Naaah. Maybe if they send me a damsel in distress type of script. But, ya know, within, like, two days, they were like, they want you.

Brianna (TBP)
That was quick!

Karen
And it's the one time that I was like to myself, see, you're not as - because I thought I did a bad job. And you know, it's not good enough. And you're like you sometimes you get in your own way. Just putting your best foot forward, they obviously saw something they liked. And I got the offer, then I was like, yeah, hell yeah. I don't know what this is…

Brianna (TBP)
But yes.

Karen
But yes, I don't mind gun welding gangsters. But then we got to the show and then I realised I was doing Jackie Brown. She does do her own gun wielding but it's not Samuel L Jackson!

Brianna (TBP)
It’s a different level to what Samuel L Jackson was doing!

Karen
Yes. Then I was like, Oh, that makes sense. But I feel like they probably did that on purpose to test us to see how far you're willing to push boundaries in terms of what we've set for ourselves as actors. So yeah, it was an interesting process.

Brianna (TBP)
So we’ve got two more questions, one about you and one about the show. The first is, what does being black mean to you?

Karen
No one ever asked me that before.

Brianna (TBP)
And it's like you don't ever think about it until the question’s thrown at you right?

Karen
Yeah. Because I've never really thought about it. What does black mean? What does being black mean to me? Culture. I'd say one thing that I enjoy about being black is the rich culture that we have, whether you're looking as, as black British or African or black American, there is always that undercurrent of culture that is unique to black people. Like one experience that I always am fascinated about whatever job I go into is if there is another black person, it's like we magnetise towards each other it's an unspoken bond or I don't even know what to call it. Like an ally.

Brianna (TBP)
It's like a recognition of like, I see you and I know that you see me.

Karen
Exactly. And you see me for who I really am, which is an ordinary person. Yeah. I find I can be myself around, you know, fellow Black people. So I think when you say what does it mean to me? I feel like I don't even know what the word is. There isn't a way of quantifying it, to be honest. But I'll maybe - I'll say culture, because maybe that's the one thing that does tie it. Yes.

Brianna (TBP)
And so to wrap up, we're gonna go back to Tarantino. Why should audiences come and see it? And what can they expect?

Karen
I think audiences should come and see Tarantino if they want their minds blown, if they want to see something that they've never seen before. If they want to - not if - it's gonna be a show that will take you to different universes of Tarantino. You'll drown in it and reminisce on some of the most fantastic scenes, because I didn't realise how many scenes I had that stuck in my brain. The moment we're performing them I was like, wait, I know this! And you're more appreciative of the way Quentin presents his work but also the way he displays human behaviour. So I do hope audiences when they come to see this, they'll see the creative nature of his work, but also get to experience human beings in different situations, different universes and walk away inspired.

Tarantino Live opens today, June 9th, and runs until August 13th at Riverside Studios Hammersmith. Get your tickets here! Use code BP20 to get 20% off your tickets.