Nguvu yaMbegu… Entabelanga 2019
Title
Nguvu yaMbegu… Entabelanga 2019
Department
Theatre
Keywords
Theatre
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Production Type
Fourth Year Acting Student Production
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Description
“History works through people and we have availed ourselves for histories to work through us”. Steve Biko
At the heart of the story of the ‘Bulhoek Massacre’ eNtabelanga, is an old story of land and religious dispute between black African people and the white colonisers. It is the demand of Enoch Mgijima, the African Itola and Isanusi, to remember and practice independent and self-sustaining life, free from colonial laws, on land that unjust officials had taken from the AmaXhosa people. This followed the defeat of the Amaxhosa during the wars of dispossession between 1779 and 1878, the Nongqawuse cattle killing of 1856 and1857, the formation of the Union in 1910, and the land act of 1913. In one of his visions, Mgijima saw the first world war to come that ultimately resulted in the sinking of the SS Mendi in 1917 and the loss of so many African lives.
The tragic story of what is known as the Bulhoek Massacre, which took place eNtabelanga near Komani (Queenstown) in 1921, when 193 people were shot dead because they refused to leave the mountain of prayer that they lived on, is one of South Africa’s, and specifically the Eastern Cape’s, most notorious colonial crimes.
Nguvu yaMbegu...eNtabelanga is a Swahili title meaning the power of the seed. It claims the resistance and the resilience of memory. The performance seeks to resist and revolt against certain dominant aspects of our lives that preserve the continued erasure of black identities. It is an attempt to water the long-buried seed by walking through the past. It is performed by eight final year students in the Centre for Theatre, Dance and Performance Studies at UCT who also played a role in creating the work.
At the heart of the story of the ‘Bulhoek Massacre’ eNtabelanga, is an old story of land and religious dispute between black African people and the white colonisers. It is the demand of Enoch Mgijima, the African Itola and Isanusi, to remember and practice independent and self-sustaining life, free from colonial laws, on land that unjust officials had taken from the AmaXhosa people. This followed the defeat of the Amaxhosa during the wars of dispossession between 1779 and 1878, the Nongqawuse cattle killing of 1856 and1857, the formation of the Union in 1910, and the land act of 1913. In one of his visions, Mgijima saw the first world war to come that ultimately resulted in the sinking of the SS Mendi in 1917 and the loss of so many African lives.
The tragic story of what is known as the Bulhoek Massacre, which took place eNtabelanga near Komani (Queenstown) in 1921, when 193 people were shot dead because they refused to leave the mountain of prayer that they lived on, is one of South Africa’s, and specifically the Eastern Cape’s, most notorious colonial crimes.
Nguvu yaMbegu...eNtabelanga is a Swahili title meaning the power of the seed. It claims the resistance and the resilience of memory. The performance seeks to resist and revolt against certain dominant aspects of our lives that preserve the continued erasure of black identities. It is an attempt to water the long-buried seed by walking through the past. It is performed by eight final year students in the Centre for Theatre, Dance and Performance Studies at UCT who also played a role in creating the work.
Script Type
Devised
Year Created
2019
Opening Date
3 April 2019
Closing Date
6 April 2019
Start Time
20h15
14h00 (06/10/2019)
14h00 (06/10/2019)
Ticket Price
R70 / R50 (students/pensioners)
Performance Venue
Geographic Location of Performance
Cape Town
Producer
CTDPS
Director
Assistant Director
Chuma Sopatela
Choreographer
Cast
Anathi Rubela
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Katlego Lebogang Mhlongo
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Luhle Macanda
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Lungile Lallie
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Luthabo Maduna
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Lwanele Nicholas Nqambi
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Mamello Makhetha
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Zizo Solontsi
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Musical/ Sound Composer
Vocal Coach
Bongani Magatyana
Set Designer
Bridie Bird
Lighting Designer
Shamiel Abrahams
Costume Designer
Production Manager
Ronel Jordaan
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