One of South Africa's most widely acclaimed plays – "Mother to Mother" – is being staged this week as part of the Puku Story Festival and being peformed for the first time ever in isiXhosa.
One of South Africa's most widely acclaimed plays – "Mother to Mother" – is being staged this week as part of the Puku Story Festival and being peformed for the first time ever in isiXhosa.
While the isiXhosa performances are restricted to Grade 10 -12 learners, there is one performance – in English – that is open to everyone and which takes place 10am in the B2 Arena at the Settlers Monument on Saturday 20 February. The performance will be followed by a discussion with the author, Dr Sindiwe Magona.
The play, which premiered in 2009, is adapted from the book of the same name by Dr Magona and is an English set work. Puku organisers hope that the local high school students will benefit both from seeing a book come to life on stage and hearing the story in, what for many of them, is their home languge for the first time.
There will also be post-performance discussions by actress Thembi Mtshali-Jones who, with director Janice Honeyman and the author herself, created the adaptation. These aim to give further insight into the process and into the work.
"Mother to Mother" was inspired by the murder of the young American Fulbright scholar, Amy Biehl, in Gugulethu on 25 August, 1993. The 26-year-old was stabbed to death during a violent mob attack the day before she was due to return home to California.
Magona was profoundly moved by the tragedy and horrified to discover that Amy was killed close to her house in Gugulethu and, more chillingly, that the perpetrator of the crime was a neighbour’s son.
Realising that it could easily have been her own son caught up in the violence of that day, she sympathised with both families and decided to write a fictional letter to Amy Biehl’s mother.
In a plea for understanding, she outlines the struggles of a mother trying to bring up children in the difficult context of political turmoil, poverty and crime. Organisers say, "Interrogating, as it does, uncomfortable questions about violence and redemption, Magona’s work resonates as much today as it did in apartheid South Africa".
The original performance of "Mother to Mother" was produced by the Baxter Theatre in 2009, and since then FreeVoice productions has toured it to great acclaim at the National Arts Festival, the National Black Theatre Festival 2011(USA), The Bermuda Theatre Festival, Edinburgh Fringe Festival and The Afrovibes Festival – UK/Netherlands (2012), the Market theatre (2013). It has also been performed at the Playhouse and the State theatre (2013) and as part of the Paul Robeson Art as a Weapon Festival in London (2013).
Thembi Mtshali-Jones' performance has been widely lauded as a tour-de-force. The Public Review, Liverpool described the play as “a superb production that everyone with a heart should see. At just an hour long, it should be taken to every high school. What a better way to make them understand this awful time in our world’s history?”.
Don't miss the chance to see this important South Africa work.
Time: 10am – 11:30am
Venue: B2 Arena, Monument
Tickets: R30
Tickets for all performances are available for sale to the public from the Puku Story Festival office, 1st Floor, Monument or at the venue on the day of the performance.
