THE 2ND ANNUAL AMAZING WOMEN’S ART EVENT (AWAE15). At Makukhanye Art Room, Makukhanye Centre, Khayelitsha on August 8. TRACEY SAUNDERS reviews
AMONG the many events to commemorate National Women’s Day was a day of entertainment directed and performed mostly by women. While the event had been billed as an exclusively female event there were a few anomalies, but as the male poets and singing duo dedicated their performances to women they were given a warm reception and it appeared as if their gender was not held against them.
The event was attended by approximately 200 people, and there was standing room only in the Makukhanye Art Room. The extensive five hour programme included poetry, hip-hop and several theatre performances. The plays were short pieces. One particularly brief play lasted 10 minutes, drawing a spontaneous shout of “short, but sweet’ from the audience.
Themes addressed were overwhelmingly about issues that women face daily, including domestic violence and rape. Masibambisane Bafaz i was one such performance.
It concentrated on the strength of women and their ability to persevere and survive when supported by each other.
The incorporation of well choreographed and energetic dance routines in their performance provided a very visual interpretation of the theme. The cast were all dressed in black until the end of the sequence when they donned white shirts bearing testimony to their survival.
Each actress wore a shirt exclaiming, “I survived”, alongside the words rape, domestic violence, depression and a variety of situations that they overcame together. The opening play Sacrifice, directed and performed by Thandokazi Mbewu, was a heartfelt monologue by a woman recounting the multitude of sacrifices, small and large that she has made for her family.
Addressed primarily at a figure composed of an electric fan and some cloth, one wasn’t entirely sure if she was communing with her mother or her deceased child, an indicator perhaps of the multi-generational roles where women play a sacrificial part.
Zikhona Mzimba directed Random Politics, which was performed by Bongani Pontsana. This one man play about the fickle nature of politics drew screams of support from the floor. His bleak portrayal of people having, “no faith in luck, no form of success and no blessing”, was a phrase that resonated strongly with the audience.
Testament to the versatility of the set design was the transformation of a crate, which had previously been used as an altar in Antigone, to a television set, with the addition of a folded piece of wire. One of the theatrical highlights of the day which drew a standing ovation was a short extract from Fruit.
The play, the winner of the 2015 Zabalaza Festival held earlier in the year at the Baxter Theatre, was written and directed by Paul Noko from Soweto-based Dala Arts, and was performed by Matshediso Mokoteli. Trailers may be commonplace at the cinema, but watching a 10-minute trailer for a staged performances is not something one sees every day. This may just set a trend.
Other plays included in the programme were Umthwalo, directed by AnelisaVazana and Belinda Muzoke; Broken Radio directed by Chuma Mtshixa and The Switch directed by Nolufefe Ntshuntshe.
Musical performances of the day ranged from a cappella to hip hop and included a stirring solo performance by Linomtha Linoh, whose distinctive husky voice filled the room. An a cappella trio consisting of Lisa Sindo, Anelisa Vazana and Belinda Musoke marked their first stage performance – they were outstanding. I have no doubt that this as yet unnamed trio have a bright future ahead of them. Poetry continues to gain popularity and in addition to two professional slam poets Wandile Anele Rusi and Koleka Putuma, upcoming poets Sindiswa Fanele and Philasande Phinzi also took to the stage.
Many of the women involved in the day had participated in a workshop in May, which was aimed at improving the skills of women involved in the arts.
Both the workshop and the event were organized by Mandisi Sindo of Theatre 4 Change. An actor and director, he is passionate about establishing platforms where women directors, writers and actors are given equal opportunities to their male counterparts.
Often working in patriarchal communities where women are not always afforded equal opportunities Sindo seems an unlikely champion for the task.
The success of AWAE 2015 speaks for itself, however and I look forward to next year’s offering. One of the strengths of the event is that it is held in Khayelitsha, where most of the performers and directors reside.
This is made possible by the The Makukhanye Art Room, an extension of the Makukhanye Centre which provides educational support for students and runs several extra-mural classes in disciplines across the creative sector. The Art Room was recently the recipient of the set from the Shepherds and Butchers movie that Sindo was working on.
The incongruous sight of a deconstructed courtroom in the centre is one of the many indicators of the concerted community effort which is slowly transforming the rudimentary shack theatre in to an established venue. The event was indeed amazing and for several hours the stage and the day belonged to women.
In a recent blogpost the writer and playwright Stella Duffy, bemoaning the lack of women on stage in the UK wrote, “when we do not see ourselves on stage we are reminded, yet again, that the people running our world do not notice when we’re not there. That they think men (and yes, white, middle class, middle aged, able-bodied men at that) are ALL we need to see.”
If she was in the audience of the Amazing Women Arts Event she may have seen some light at the end of the tunnel.
l See www.baxter.co.za for more details on Fruit.