For four days only, celebrated playwright and perceptive poet Maishe Maponya will be taking Soweto Theatre patrons down a journey that spans 41 years of the black lived experience.
Maponya has condensed the tortuous journey into 70 minutes of music and the spoken word with flashbacks to 1977 in the aftermath of the Soweto Uprising, the banning of the World newspaper to the more harrowing and recent latrine death of five-year-old Michael Komape.
The emotive performance, which is expected to tug at people’s heartstring, is titled “Da’s kak in die land”, which is also the title of a poem dedicated to the late Komape, a Limpopo pupil who chocked to death in a pit latrine in 2014.
In the rendition of this poem, the audience is invited to respond, making some parts of the show participatory in the traditional storytelling chants that egg the performers to continue. Other poems are fused with songs to caution the future leadership of the threats to freedom if they stray away from the noble course of being servants of the people.
Maponya will be ably assisted by some vibrant young artists to add a youthful interpretation and futuristic energy, which are rare commodities in today’s performances. The performers will be backed by Medleko Meropa ya Africa musicians to create a fresh and rich experience that ferries the audience from the ravages of the struggle against apartheid and “black on black” violence, to the “scarred hopes” of the democratic dispensation and the “charred reality” of our freedom.
Asked what patrons should look forward to over the four days, Maponya responded: “People should expect to be taken on a serious cultural journey into our history as a black people. The performance will mix the spoken word with traditional music such as dinaka (horns) and other natural sounds.”
This commemorative event will also include “The People’s Dialogues” on Saturday 20, which is a public forum aimed at interrogating the role of the writer in society, “freedom of expression” and social justice and conscience of communities.
There are only 4 shows starting on Thursday, 18 October, and ending on Sunday 21 October 2018 at the Soweto Theatre. Seating is limited. To book tickets, please call 0861 670 670 or 010 446 1462. www.sowetotheatre.com
