Show: Aaahh! Nguberhamba, Theatre
Venue: Settler’s Monument Building Rehearsal room
Next performance: 1 July 2025, 18:00 – 18:55
Review and interview
By Siyamthanda Mnyiwana
“Aaahh Nguberhamba” is a salutation to the king of the Mfengu clan, amaShweme. It opens a new isiXhosa-language play presented by Walter Sisulu University, written by student, Esenam unako Maja.
The play is set in a village during a time past, referred to as “the colonial period”. The depiction of traditional Xhosa culture and daily village life added an additional layer of interest, particularly to those of us raised in more modern times. The king’s son Sizwe gets a village girl pregnant before he goes to university. The young heir Sizwe promises to send letters every day and marry her on his return.
Here enters a plot twist.
While away at university, Sizwe discovers that he is gay and enters into a relationship with a man he meets there. Sizwe then returns to his father’s domain, only to be ‘outed’ at the inopportune setting of his coronation, by his gay lover’s arrival mid-ceremony.
The plan had been that Sizwe would join in union with his betrothed, the mother of his child. Instead, he is judged and called names by the villagers.
Experiencing the production depicting times past, through the reviewer’s eyes of a young Xhosa woman in 2025, was the realisation that people – both then and now – can experience negative (even life-threatening) reactions for living in ways that might challenge deeply-ingrained societal expectations. Sizwe was judged and called “isitabana” for his sexuality.
Sizwe’s deep internal conflict was palpable. He is stuck between marrying the girl and leading the people of the village, or claiming a path of being true to himself.
In an interview with the writer, he said that while the play touched on the practice and acceptance of diversity, it’s message was open-ended. “But, we are storytellers. I believe when we tell a story, audiences shouldn’t leave with one message. Some will get a certain message and another might get different one,”.
It is therefore for each viewer to make meaning of Sizwe’s quandary and journey.
