Wounds, Theatre
Venue: Rehearsal Room, Monument Building
Next Performance: Saturday 28 June 18:00
By Nomfundo Mbatha
Wounds, a production from the Rhodes University Drama Department, addresses issues such as love, violence and trauma. It holds up a mirror to South African society with the staging of two plays; The Four Seasons by Nikita Baloyi and The Dinner by Swelihle May. Each play explores deeply personal and politically urgent themes, through bold storytelling and raw performances. With these overlapping themes the two directors merge intentions, sending out a message and amplifying awareness.
African women who have personally experienced sexual assault. Photo: Supplied
The Four Seasons offers a sacred theatrical experience that centers on the stories of Black South African women who have endured gender-based violence. The production draws from real-life experiences of trauma, survival, and solidarity, shining a light on the intersecting struggles of womanhood, marginalisation, and healing.
Baloyi, when asked about the inspiration behind the play said, “For me it is about experience, and how the stories that we see on TV, but there’s more stories out there that we don’t know about, So I think that’s where my interest was on all these stories and make it visible that it is an ongoing cycle.”
How would you describe a fight in a cage?
May describes The Dinner as two lovers trapped in a cage, fighting, where it explores how passion in relationships can become suffocation and where power dynamics are at play. He said that people tend to point out the bad in each other during conflicts rather than taking steps towards making the relationship work. “I wanted to explore how sometimes in conflict with the people you love the most, you can be the meanest to them, and how we find it easy to lash out and go out of our way to hurt them,” he said.
Wounds is healing and illuminating. It combines artistic expression with the responsibility of telling real stories
