Makhanda at NAF: Rhodes Drama Department
Preview: Wounds
By Ndalo Mbombo
The Rhodes Drama Department is bringing a double bill to its Festival productions this year. Featuring two directorial debuts by postgraduate students, Wounds consists of The Four Seasons, directed by Masters student Nikita Baloyi, and The Dinner, directed by Honours student Swelihle May.
The Four Seasons
Baloyi is an emerging theatre practitioner interested in ritual theatre. “I’ve realised that ritual does not necessarily refer to the ‘traditional South Africa’ rituals,” she said. “The kind of ritual theatre that I am interested in is finding healing — whether it’s for the performer or for the audience.” The Four Seasons is a ritual play that tells realistic stories of gender-based violence in South Africa. It follows four Black South African women who have personally experienced, know of or have supported someone through this trauma. The play explores themes of womanhood, sisterhood and violence, highlighting how trauma shapes identity.
The Dinner
For May, this is not only his directing debut but also his writing debut. His play is inspired by the romantic experiences of friends and peers as well as his own. “Oftentimes, the people you love the most are the people you’ll hurt the most,” he said. The Dinner is a climatic conversation between a couple with an 11-year age gap, a lecturer in his early 30s and his former student in her 20s. Their relationship has reached a tipping point, and starts to unravel. Questions of infidelity and partner negligence are highlighted, and the audience will watch how passion can very quickly turn into suffocation. Will the lovers salvage what’s left of their relationship?
For more information and to book: https://tickets.nationalartsfestival.co.za/en/events/869/wounds
