The audience at the Rhodes Theatre eagerly awaited performances from the BUA Poetry Society, Rhodes Drama students and the Bantubonke Drama Group yesterday evening as part of the 50th Commemoration of the Sharpeville Massacre.
The audience at the Rhodes Theatre eagerly awaited performances from the BUA Poetry Society, Rhodes Drama students and the Bantubonke Drama Group yesterday evening as part of the 50th Commemoration of the Sharpeville Massacre.
Organised by Yolanda Itamba in association with the Dean of Students Office, the event aimed to inspire a personal awakening of the preservation of human rights and democracy in contemporary society through performing arts.
The BUA poetry society silenced the audience with a combination of a capella and spoken poetry. Mixing English and Xhosa added depth to the performance, and their haunting voices created a melancholy atmosphere.
Their piece paid tribute to those who were repressed during apartheid, and asked why people let themselves be repressed for so long.
The Rhodes Drama Department performed a piece called Sonder ‘n Pas. The performance, choreographed by Robert Haxton and Nadine Joseph, sought to re-enact through interpretive dance the emotions which gripped the protestors at Sharpeville.
The incorporation of heavy breathing as accompanying music and the use of red lighting gave the performance an intense atmosphere.
The mood was lightened considerably by the humorous performance given by the Bantubonke Drama Group who re-enacted the events of the massacre.
Suddenly, a pantsula dance interrupted the story telling and dramatisation. The captivated crowd yelled and cheered as dancers jived to the sounds of Scooter’s remix of The Logical Song. Guest speakers at th
event included Prof Paul Maylam, head of the history department at Rhodes;
Dean of Law Prof Jonathan Campbell; and sociology lecturer Babalwa Sishuta. Reprising some of his earlier seminar, Maylam described events leading to the blood bath that would haunt South Africans for the next 50 years.
Campbell gave an eloquent reading of the Dennis Brutus poem, Sharpeville. Describing it as “a powerful, devastating account by Brutus”, the emotion was audible in Campbell’s voice.
A poet, educator, journalist and anti-apartheid activist, Brutus was awarded an honourary doctorate by the university last year, just months before he died.
The event ended with a short talk by Sishuta. Focusing on the after effects of Sharpville, and the current state of the nation, she drew the audience’s attention to the lack of government action concerning social issues today.
Asking “Are we really a democracy?”, Sishuta said, “Democracy does not mean freedom for all the sacrifices that were made at Sharpeville have yet to bear fruit.”
