Publications
Partners
We, the Zulu nation, have a saying: "Into emnandi iyaphindwa (good experiences should be revisited)." The return of the play Sophiatown to the Market Theatre in Joburg deems the above saying borderline oxymoronic. The play will be staged from 27 February to 24 March.
READ: Why the magic of Sarafina! still endures
The production is epic, from the set to the music to the choreography all the way up to the costumes. The bitter script is a revisit of how apartheid and colonialism did not start and end with land theft back in the 1700s.
In the 1950s, while the struggle for freedom and equality was on every black South African’s mind, Sophiatown residents' homes were ripped apart by gun-wielding, heartless apartheid police. They were then dumped in Meadowlands, Soweto, where they were packed like sardines in matchbox houses.
The artistic director at The State Theatre, Aubrey Sekhabi, steers this award-winning production that first captured the hearts of South Africans 37 years ago.
The feisty and mentally liberated princess, played by Princess Sechele, defies all the rules and regulations society has set for women since the beginning of creation, while Terrence Ngwila delivers a realistic portrayal of what yesteryear’s man (Mingas) stood for in romantic relationships, family relations and the expectations of his community.
Mncedisi Hadebe, who plays journalist Charlie, takes audiences through the lives and times of the reporters who were worshipped by the communities for their fearlessness and targeted by the apartheid regime for telling the truth of their oppressive ways.
Throw in the mix a young displaced white girl living among suspicious natives who are uncertain of her true intentions and you have a rounded rainbow nation story.
READ: Mamma Mia! Back on Mzansi stages to capture hearts with laughter and love
Sophiatown is an emotional one for me as my first City Press article last year was a review of this production when it was staged at The State Theatre in Pretoria. The play is not only about the bloodshed and the tears of my people during the liberation struggle, but it is also symbolic of how change will never fall like manna from heaven but is a direct result of resilience and persistence.
