With no camera in hand *I just thought I’d watch and walk away but I feel compelled to share because the play is that good*, I joined a friend to go watch Egoli at The Market Theatre last Friday. I appreciate art that is contemporary, prophetic and historic and various forms of art are able to deliver on all three levels so well that I get goose bumps and a lump in my throat. I struggle writing about anything that hits close to home, because I fear the rage and emotions that will sufface as I write about any subject that makes my emotions rise. I am scared I’ll be labelled as a mad – black – woman if not worse – I guess I am not emotionally intelligent yet, so I’ll thread carefully on this one!
I am of the belief that we tap into different types of art that are reminiscent of our past, current and future not because we relish the place, but because past injustices and inequalities of a black man are still deeply rooted in our communities, work places and our social spaces. Some of us find solace in art and hope that one day as Azania weeps and soldiers on in the path of redefining herself, the future generations will live in an equal world.
In celebrating its 40th anniversary of storytelling, The Market Theatre revived the poignant play – Egoli directed by Phala Ookeditse Phala. With an impressive cast featuring Hamilton Dlamini, Lebohang Motaung, Alfred Motlhapi, Billy Langa, Faith Busika, Katlego Letsholonyana and Mohlatsi Mokgonyana – this group of actors pull all the stops to make the play an award deserving production.
I found a quote that fully describes what I thought each of these actors did with their roles in the play and it says; “Art is self – annihilation. The artist dissolves in the art, becomes the art’’.
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The 7 – crew play painstakingly and provokingly takes you through what an unequal city Johannesburg is due to the gains of capitalism which are yet to improve the lives of the people who dig its gold. It tackles issues of poverty, inequality, class struggles, emasculation of the black men and the broken families that migration created in our societies.
After the play I had a word with a few people, to keep my emotions in check I had to hear what others thought and here is what they said…
“Well I would say that this is a play some people will consider as a period piece, but the pertinence of this work when you look at what is happening to the lives of miners today in South Africa. This doesn’t make this an old play, this play is as contemporary as a work that was written 3 – months ago and I would love South Africans young and old to come and walk again on the artistic memory that is in sync with the collective consciousness of what is happening in SA today”. –James Ngcobo, Actor.
“I thought it was very genius of Phala to actually stretch the two men play like that, now it looks like a movie. It’s gone beyond theatre, it’s literally gone to another dimension and some of the themes that the play works with are very much relevant that ‘the sweat turns to blood, that the city of gold the city of hatred…’ We come from this city; I was born in Johannesburg myself so a play that is about 30 – years – old still makes a lot of sense. Especially given the whole Marikana issue and seeing the current issues of the miners, the play works on so many themes. The one that I really liked is his sort of juxta positioning of Johannesburg, a place that we call home being a living grave. So in this country we live in…it’s a living grave gantle, gantle. So Egoli embodies that and it shows you so many dynamics that happen between men and women and between society, so many dynamics occur to people who have to leave home and go work…it’s about people traveling from Soweto to ‘Eco land’ in Sandton and having a bridge fall on them, it’s so many things which I think Phala did a very good job to bring them out.” -Mak Manaka, Poet.
“The play pisses me off – it pisses me off…it’s the situation… the black situation and the situation of our people, the situation of the mine workers and the situation that seem to not change. I think we need a 360 – degree mind revolution and we need to take over. It’s time, what I am seeing is that the more we dig deep with those shovels it’s like we are digging deep into scars, scars that are going to drown us and we get buried into those scars and the sad part is that we don’t turn to wear the gold that we are digging – we get to be buried in dust – we perish into thin air like morning fog, today we are here and tomorrow we are gone. That should change. The solution is decolonisation, that’s what needs to happen in this country and we should not forget about those who sell us for pennies, mentioning a few – Cyril Ramaphosa.” – Ayanda Mabhulu, Artist.
I cried, I laughed, I cringed and I was overly emotional because this play is like a direct reflection of our society. I felt pain for all the men who live in terrible conditions in hostels, who dig the belly of the earth and still don’t have enough for a house or money to send back home. I wept for the women, sons and daughters who see these men occasionally because they have to keep digging deeper into the earth that breaks their backs and exposes them to conditions which causes them to contract silicosis and TB.
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I hope you guys will go and watch Egoli – it’s thought provoking and it will leave you feeling all sorts of emotional if you are a cry baby like me.
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Pics source: The Market Theatre
By Zintle Daraza
@ZDaraza