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Gavin Peter (Theory X)
Actor, Teacher & Director
Born in the city of Kitwe, in
the Zambian Copperbelt, Gavin hails from a dramatic heritage. Guided by
charismatic parents and gifted brothers, he began performing on stage at
age seven. Alongside his study of languages, namely French, English and
Latin in which he holds a Bachelor of Arts degree, Gavin consolidated
his performance skills with diplomas in Acting, Public Speaking and
Recital from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). He is
currently studying for his Masters degree in Education through the
University of Tasmania in Australia.
After many years of amateur theatre, where he played roles as varied as
King Duncan in Macbeth and Hamlet's Ophelia, Gavin turned professional
with the internationally acclaimed theatre troupe Over the Edge, a group
he had co-founded several years earlier.
He found solo and ensemble acclaim through their many successful
productions, which include political satires, full length self-penned
pantomimes, one act dramas and comedies, and most particularly, for his
role as Olivia in their version of Twelfth Night, which has toured
Edinburgh, Boston, New York, Germany and the Bath Shakespeare Festival
to great acclaim.
Gavin has had the opportunity to direct and produce many plays,
including West Side Story, The Glass Menagerie, A Midsummer Night's
Dream, Royal Hunt of the Sun and Our Town, as well as many, many African
and original scripts.
For ten years, under the patronage of the infamous Clive Barnes, Gavin
ran a creative and cultural programme at Prince Edward High School in
Harare, Zimbabwe. As Director of Cultural Activities, he developed and
organised internal, inter-school, regional, provincial and even national
cultural activities over several disciplines, including public speaking,
drama, poetry and debate. In 2003 Gavin was appointed as the Director of
Theatre Arts at the Harare International School, where he currently
teaches the Middle and High School programme and the Theatre Arts
programme for completion of the International Baccalaureate Diploma.
Most recently Gavin directed his first professional production, Colours by renown playwright Rory Kilalea. This one woman show highlighted three areas very important to Gavin, living with HIV, women and the story of the coloured people of Zimbabwe and received great critical and public acclaim. Together with fellow Over the Edge members, he helped create Zimbabwe’s first post-graduate school of theatre, Theory X. In June 2006 he represented Zimbabwe at the World Theatre Sports Cup Finals in Germany.
Gavin lives in Harare with his family, friends, dogs, music and imaginary friends. He lives by the beliefs that there is no day but today; that theatre is our most basic and highest art and that education is the only way – knowledge is the key.