The arts are alive and well in the Eastern Cape, and if you have not done so yet, now is the time to book tickets for the Mandela Bay Arts Festival, which will run from 21 February to 2 March 2025.
- I am particularly looking forward to The tyrant, a play by Xabiso Zweni. Zweni acts in it as well. Opposite him will be Anele Penny. I have recently seen them together on stage – an experience I will review in some detail below.
- The actress Lungelwa (Lungi) Magqamfana will perform her own powerfully feminist play Ibhinqa.
- Monde Wani will direct Qaqamba, a piece which he wrote as well. It is a modern-day fairytale, with some magical realism added.
- Luxolo Ngqunge will team up with Zikhona Mgoqi to perform Siphamandla Myeni’s poetic work Tastes like poetry. Too often, love stories end when the honeymoon is about to start. Ngqunge says the hard work of making sure our love will work should begin once the honeymoon is over.
If theatre is not your thing, there are many more options to choose from:
- Music
- Dance
- Cabaret
- Comedy
- Children’s theatre
- Storytelling and poetry
- Art, food and fashion exhibitions
- Workshops
Sizwe Banzi is dead with Xabiso Zweni and Anele Penny
I have recently seen Sizwe Banzi is dead in New Brighton, the township from which John Kani and Winston Ntshona hailed. Kani and Ntshona were the original actors in the play and the co-creators thereof.
Zweni and Penny delivered a world-class performance. The play was produced by Zukiswa Cakucaku.
Should you have any doubts about booking your tickets to the Eastern Cape, please continue reading.
In my recent discussion of The island, I explained why it was so special to see it performed in St Stephen’s Hall, New Brighton. Ditto with Sizwe Banzi is dead.
The St Stephen’s Hall might not be the most charming theatre, but the lighting and sound were excellent. Going back to church halls to perform protest theatre is wonderful. I so wish that many more people could see this piece.
Something about the creation of the play
Sizwe Banzi is dead may arguably be the play that made John Kani, Winston Ntshona and Athol Fugard household names. Fugard had previously been noticed for plays like Boesman and Lena and Blood knot, while Ntshona and Kani were much loved for their performances with the Serpent Players and the Circle Players. Somehow, Sizwe Banzi is dead made magic, however. It took their careers to another level.
In the early 1970s, Fugard owned a house in Schoenmakerskop, a tiny hamlet just outside Port Elizabeth (now called Gqeberha). That was where Kani, Ntshona and Fugard workshopped Sizwe Banzi is dead. According to Rory Riordan, who is researching Fugard’s life, the play was put together in a matter of days.
Its first performance was in The Space, a newly opened theatre in Cape Town, an initiative of the photographer Brian Astbury and his actress wife, Yvonne Bryceland. Might it be that Styles’s photographic studio could have been inspired by Astbury?
Sizwe Banzi is dead was so successful that an invitation to perform it in London’s Royal Court Theatre followed, together with a request for a second play. And that was how The island came about.
With Sizwe Banzi is dead, Kani, Ntshona and Fugard described the harsh realities of township life during apartheid, but added an enormous amount of humour, which allowed the audience to relate to the human tragedy while laughing with the characters. The play opens in a photographic studio owned by a man called Styles. Styles is a snappy dresser and a leader. He used to work in the factory of the Ford Motor Company as an interpreter and a leader of the factory workers. During a visit to the factory by none other than Henry Ford Jr, Styles realised that black people in factories would only ever be good enough to perform a somewhat humorous sideshow for the benefit of white people. He chose to become his own boss, and that was how he opened his photographic studio.
Enters Robert Zwelinzima/Sizwe Banzi
Styles’s chatter about the past is interrupted when one Robert Zwelinzima enters the studio to have his picture taken. It turns out that Zwelinzima’s real name is Sizwe Banzi, but due to the inhumanity of the passbook system, Sizwe Banzi was forced to take on a whole new identity. It works like this: Banzi, who could not read or write, was about to be arrested for being in New Brighton without the correct papers. One night, while in hiding, he goes out for a drink with his streetwise friend, Buntu. They stumble across the body of Robert Zwelinzima, who has been killed only a short while before. Buntu retrieves Zwelinzima’s passbook. Zwelinzima is listed as a resident of New Brighton, meaning he could live and work there. Should Sizwe Banzi become Zwelinzima, he would therefore be allowed to work and provide for his family.
That is how Sizwe Banzi’s passbook is planted on the dead body, while the new Robert Zwelinzima finds a new job and starts sending money to the family of Sizwe Banzi.
When an entire nation could die due to pass laws
We should not underestimate the meaning of the name Sizwe Banzi. The word sizwe refers to the nation, and banzi would loosely be translated as “big” or “wide”. It is not that hard to understand that people were dying nationwide because of the passbook system.
The name Buntu is important as well. Ubuntu refers to one’s humanity. Buntu is streetwise. His wisdom and humanity helped Banzi understand that he’d commit financial suicide if he were to refuse Zwelinzima’s identity.
Anele Penny and the humour
The play contains incredibly funny moments. When Buntu explains the vagaries of the pass system to Sizwe Banzi, it becomes a textbook case of absurd theatre.
Anele Penny played the role of Sizwe Banzi incredibly well. Because Banzi is a simple man, he says and does odd things. One finds oneself laughing at his actions, but at the same time the incredible pathos of his life cannot be denied.
Yes, there is humour, but often the audience is as equally perplexed by the ridiculous pass laws as Banzi is. His confusion, so wonderfully portrayed by Penny, helps the audience laugh, which comes with a release; yet, while laughing, the horror of the situation is undeniable.
Xabiso Zweni and his two roles
Xabiso Zweni is a tall, imposing man in real life, and on stage he exudes the confidence to command the roles of Styles and Buntu. Styles used to be a leader in the Ford factory, before opening his own studio.
Buntu is a learned, street-savvy character who helps Banzi realise that his only hope is to take on the new identity of Robert Zwelinzima. Zweni brought them both to life.
See them in action!
I sincerely hope that Sizwe Banzi is dead and The island will be able to travel the country during 2025. We need to be reminded of the inhumanity of the past, otherwise we will continue to make the same mistakes in the future.
In the meantime, I’d encourage everyone to book for The tyrant. You will have the privilege of seeing Xabiso Zweni and Anele Penny in action.
Please visit our town
The arts matter. Please support the Mandela Bay community.
We also have beautiful beaches and adorable baby elephants to visit when you are not in theatre!
Wamkelekile!
Kom kuier vir ons!
- Photography: Izak de Vries