By Ndalo Mbombo
What started out as an exam production in his third year directing course at Witwatersrand University has since grown and found its way before a national audience. A reimagining of Yale Farber’s Molora, which is an adaptation of the Aeschylsus Oresteia Trilogy has found its way to the Festival. A story Farber situated in the context of the apartheid aftermath in South Africa, it speaks to the painful yet liberating pursuit of reconciliation in the face of brutality and fragility.
Sehole said, “What drew me to the story, was the writing which I found to be beautiful, the essence of the story which is reconciliation and what it means — it was also the intensity of the book cover which had Orestes (the brother) and Electra (the sister) on it.”
As Sehole’s first solo directorial debut, Molora is a culmination and an expression of his interest in physical theatre, directing and music. Thus the decision to incorporate representations of both Western and African music through the combination of a drum, cello, a keyboard and singing from the chorus on stage with the singers playing the instruments. “I wanted songs that will add onto the piece and amplify the message” he said.
“I wanted Molora to be an offering of prayer, because prayer is the one thing that softens our hearts.” The play is deeply spiritual and carries echoes of prayer from beginning to end, which Sehole said was as a result of a conscious decision he made to invite the audience into a space of spiritual intimacy while expressing his faith as a believer. “We need to constantly be praying, and the first scene was to reaffirm that, and to invite the Holy Spirit into this space so that there’s unity between the performers and the audience.”
