Ganga Nyoko! Inzima Nyoko!, Theatre
Venue: Gymnasium
Review and interview
By Rosa-Karoo Loewe
“Changing your goals when your hometown is calling for you.”
It’s a familiar story: a young man leaves his Eastern Cape hometown for the promise of Johannesburg.
He returns years later, with a medical degree and a sense that those he left no longer see him as belonging.
The rift between leaving and staying behind.
Ganga Nyoko! Inzima Nyoko! — performed entirely in isiXhosa — was staged at the Victoria Girls’ High School Gymnasium as part of the National Arts Festival’s Fringe programme over the weekend.
Directed by Siphenathi Siqwayi and performed by Sibuyiselo Dywili and Siyamthanda Bangani, the 90-minute two-hander unfolds in the early 2000s, set in a rural Eastern Cape town.
Two childhood friends, portrayed by Dywili and Bangani, explore themes of communal responsibility, masculinity, and queerness after years split their one path into two opposing futures.
The text is an unflinching exploration of how homophobia and oppressive silence shape young lives.
Dywili, 25, from Cape Town, though originally from Cacadu (Lady Frere), said he wrote the play in 2019 as an ode to his childhood best friend, and wanted to show audiences the power of acceptance and love over prejudice.
Dywili said: “The play is an ode to a friend of mine who I’ve seen suffer while they were still in the closet [had not openly disclosed their sexual orientation].
“And I was also painted with the same brush. We have experienced bad things happen to us.
“As an encouragement to go out and be you and live your life to the fullest and not care what people think, I wrote this play.
“From the writer’s perspective, I decided because this was happening in Cape Town, to change the setting to the Eastern Cape, where we are both from.
“If it’s hard to come out in Cape Town, it’s twice as difficult in the Eastern Cape.”
The term “coming out” refers to the process of openly sharing one’s sexual orientation or gender identity with others, such as family and friends, or the broader community.
“Most of us migrate from the Eastern Cape in search of greener pastures, and unbeknownst to us, we get caged by the pressure of the city,” Dywili said.
“One of the only times we get that nudge to go back is when someone has died.
“But when you return, people have moved on. There’s this feeling that perhaps you are no longer part of this community.
“When you come back as a fully fledged gay person, it’s a big perspective.
“One, it’s ‘you have left us’, and two, it’s ‘you are not a part of us’.”
Though the narrative centres on queer identity, Dywili said it also touched on ambition and fractured dreams.
“It’s not just about sexual orientation. It’s about trying to make things work where you are, while acknowledging the past you’ve left.”
Ganga Nyoko! Inzima Nyoko! premiered in 2019 in Kraaifontein and was published by Junkets Press in 2021.
That year, it won best production and best actor at the Baxter’s Zabalaza Festival, and in 2022, director Siphenathi Siqwayi won the Fleur du Cap Theatre Award for best new director.
The production was also nominated for best new SA script and best performance by an ensemble.
Performer Bangani, 27, from Paarl, described the play as a powerful mirror for rural audiences. Bangani said, “This story needs to travel to the Eastern Cape. It needs to be seen by people in the rural areas to see a representation of themselves.
“Homosexuality was seen as taboo, even demonic.
“So now, bringing it here, where some people possibly lived through those experiences, whether on the receiving end or as relatives or parents who find it hard to accept their children. It’s an amazing place to stage it. They will relate, one way or another.”
Despite being performed entirely in isiXhosa, the emotional clarity of the show transcended language barriers, Bangani said.
“We have had diverse audience members in Cape Town in tears who didn’t speak a word [of isiXhosa], but understood everything.
“The play is painted visually, even if you don’t understand the dialect, you get to feel what the characters are feeling.”
He also noted the significance of bringing the play to Makhanda.
“It’s exciting and nerve-racking. I’ve been here as an audience member, but this is my first time performing.”
Earlier performances of Ganga Nyoko! Inzima Nyoko! have sparked multigenerational discussion.
“When the play has been presented in rural areas, the elderly people are the ones who are receiving this story.
“And the younger ones — the supposed enlightened — are the ones with all the biases,” Dywili said.
“At Amanda Theatre, one elderly man said the play helped him understand his sister, who is a lesbian and has been hugely misunderstood at home.
“Watching the play, he found comfort and relief.”
While this show has ended its run, the full programme and tickets to other shows is available at www.national arts festival.co.za.
