(Mpilo Nzimande as Alpheus and TQ Zondi as Franz)Kline Smith, a journalism and performing art honours student at UKZN Pietermaritzburg, will take the university’s contribution, Mob Feel to the National Arts Fest in Grahamstown in a few week’s time.
Two robust Storytellers (TQ Zondi and Mpilo Nzimande) mesh the age-old traditions ... of storytelling with physical theatre to create an intimate revisiting of the incidences of gang violence and ethnic rivalry that took place in the township of Westbury, Johannesburg in the 1950s.
A young girl (Pertunia Msani) carefully observes the Storytellers as they weave the narratives of the past. She attempts to speak but is restrained, until finally her silence is substituted with fury. Throughout, live music by Mércio Langa enhances the feel of the play.
The performance is a love-story about violence and passion, about Linga, a Xhosa, and Mapula, a Sotho, (a Lethebele and a Russian!) forbidden by rival families to exchange even the slightest of glances.
Evocative, vivid and poetic language and imagery is used to articulate the detrimental effects of mob mentalities and township violence, and the dangers of losing one’s sense of individual feeling and responsibility when caught up in a mob feeling.
Mob Feel> will have two performances at the Hexagon Studio Theatre in Pietermaritzburg on June 25 and 26 at 18h00 prior to the company’s departure for Grahamstown where it will have several performances in the Rehearsal Room at the National Arts Festival. The production runs for an hour and there is an age restriction of 13.
After their return from the Festival, there will be further performances at the Hexagon Theatre on July 25 and 26, and a performance in Durban at Howard College Theatre on July 27 at 18h00.
More information on the blog http://klinesmithmecs707.wordpress.com/2012/03/16/mob-passion-can-themba/ or Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MobFeel
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