Mandla Mbothwe’s new version of “iKrele leChiza… the Sermon” celebrates African spirituality while paying tribute to the deep humanity of the African people.
The production also seeks to address burning issues in the country which include gender-based violence, corruption and the sad reality of child-headed households in South Africa.
Directed by Mbothwe, “iKrele leChiza… the Sermon” is part of a six-year research project called “Re-Imagining Tragedy in Africa and the Global South (ReTAGS)”.
In a conversation with IOL Entertainment, Mbothwe said the production was inspired by his desire to retrace, remap and reconnect his work in terms of themes and aesthetics as well as investigate themes of rituals and restoration.
“’iKrele’ means the spear while ‘ichiza’ means a herb. The term ‘ichiza’ is mostly used by traditional healers or African indigenous herbalists,” he said.
“’Ichiza’ refers to the one that heals. The one that restores. I’ve put these two isiXhosa terms together, ‘ikrele’, spear or the sword, and can be seen as something violent, something that spills blood … something that does the opposite of ‘ichiza’, which speaks of no evil but healing, hope and restoration and this was done deliberately.
“We call it the sermon because it’s a gathering of people who are ready to pray.
“And prayer might mean many things. We should not reduce prayer, we should not reduce communion, we should not reduce fellowship, we should not reduce congregation into one dimension of religious practice.”
The play follows two siblings, a brother and sister named Luphawu and Mesuli, respectively, who find themselves navigating a child-headed home.
Their parents are stuck in liminal spaces between life and death: their mother is in an ancestral orientation room because she refused death until her body could no longer go on and their father is in a spiritual exile.
He seeks ways of finding their father as well as defending and restoring humanity in their home while Mesuli (wiper of tears/comforter) has to prematurely take on a maternal role in their home.
“When we started with the process of trying to bring this production, we had to ask the question ‘what is a tragedy in an African context?
“Tragedy in a drama or the theatrical sense but also we had to question where we are as Africans, as South Africans as, black South Africans, in terms of progression?
“Families are dismantled by poverty, by the system that you live in, by destroyed hopes and broken dreams, and then that part of the society breeds into the actual bigger society. If our homes are sick, we cannot expect healthy societies.
“So the play speaks quite a lot using the house as an analogy or also as a beginning or as a heart of ubuntu, also as the heart of a good society.
“The story seeks to understand where we are as a nation but also to reclaim certain things that we think might help the society to progress.
“We need to reclaim the African ways of dealing with issues, African ways of being a human among other humans, but in the face of capitalist society.
“The play also seeks hope because, at the end, the son decides to go and look for the father, who is stuck between worlds.”
The production has had three iterations, an initial recorded version; Sonic Passages, a digital mutation; and the live production.
“This production has evolved since 2021. When we started releasing it, Covid hit us hard and then we decided to do what we called ‘iKrele leChiza: The digital hybrid’.
“We filmed it in the theatre, then edited it in an episodic nature that will fit into TikTok.
“Then after that, we went on, doing another version, that we call it the Sonic Bridges, meaning that we've recorded the musicality of the show and the monologue with the intention of trying to make something that the audience can listen to a show in an audio version, while they’re driving.
“Covid has taught us all those kinds of things but also made us explore what I call the reclamation of the African collection of storytelling.”
“iKrele leChiza… the Sermon” runs in the Baxter Theatre from March 23 to April 8.
Tickets cost R120 and are available for purchase through Webtickets.
DURBAN
10 South African Sopranos
Where: The Playhouse Company.
When: March 26.
South Africa is internationally renowned for the wealth of great voices our country produces, on the stages of leading opera houses and concert halls across the globe.
“10 South African Sopranos”, by any standard, is a red-letter event on our country’s arts scene and features a stellar line-up of the country’s top sopranos.
Headlined by internationally acclaimed Pumeza Matshikiza and Sibongile Mngoma, the glittering event stars luminaries such as Nozuko Teto, Khumbuzile Dlamini, Siphamandla Moyake, Pumza Mxinwa, Zolina Ngejane, Sasa N Yende, Brenda Thulo and Khayakazi Madlala.
The concert also features luminaries such as Nozuko Teto, Khumbuzile Dlamini, Siphamandla Moyake, Pumza Mxinwa, Zolina Ngejane, Sasa N Yende, Brenda Thulo and Khayakazi Madlala.
CAPE TOWN
Before The Second Advent
Where: The Drama Factory.
When: March 29 - 30.
“Before the Second Advent” is a play in four acts (conquest, war, famine and death) that tells the story of familial trauma, illness, and religious fervour.
Set in an insular English/ Afrikaans Christian community, Heila visits her estranged, dying grandmother as she awaits the day of reckoning, which she believes will commence tonight.
Over the course of a tension-filled evening, the young girl bears witness to her grandmother’s feverish fixation with the arrival of her maker and the narrative unfolds as the two characters navigate their relationship, both seeking justice, redemption, forgiveness and atonement for past sins.
Produced by Casey Diepeveen and directed by Petronella van der Merwe, “The Second Advent” is written by Ydalie Turk.
JOBURG
Joburg Ballet presents “Dialogues”
Where: Joburg Theatre.
When: March17 - 26.
Scintillating classical ballet, stark drama and edgy contemporary moves come together in Joburg Ballet’s powerful “Dialogues”, an invigorating trio of world premières showcasing dance and dancing at its best.
After the success of her “Table for Two” for Joburg Ballet’s RAW programme for new choreographers in 2021, Joburg Ballet dancer Chloé Blair has been invited to expand the piece for the first season of 2023.
Rosie Wilkens of Vuyani Dance Theatre will create a new work, her first for Joburg Ballet, titled “Identity”, while, in a first for South Africa, company dancer Bruno Miranda will stage the 1896 ballet “Bluebeard Grand Pas”, a glittering showcase for dancing in ballet’s finest classical tradition.
For the rest of 2023, Joburg Ballet will present a bumper line-up including three full-length ballets.