Cont Mhlanga was born in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe in 1958. He is the, recently retired, Artistic Director of Amakhosi Theatre, which is now Bulawayo’s oldest and most successful theatre company. His multiple award winning productions have toured locally and internationally. He has been described as “a product of urban township life”, in contrast to many other African playwrights who hail from the elite classes.
 
Mhlanga’s first plays – Children Children (1983), Book of Lies (1983) and Diamond Warriors (1983) – were performed in English. Their themes were political – about colonisation, the theft of Africa’s cultural heritage and its natural wealth. Citizen Mind, produced in 1986, urged a revitalisation of Zimbabwean traditional cultures, arguing that they should be the basis for future development. Cry-Isilio (1987/88) dealt with the capitalist system and its perpetual repression of workers, as well as sexual harassment of under-privileged women. Stitsha (1990) dealt with many serious issues of crime, unemployment, corruption, and the suppression of women. The play was taken on a European tour in 1990. Many more tours followed.
 
Mhlanga has won several awards for his work, including the Freedom to Create Prize in 2008, for practising protest theatre and challenging state ideologies in Zimbabwe for over 25 years. He has been the target of state surveillance, intimidation, harassment, arrest and detention for many years.