Set in KwaZulu-Natal, Long Way to Go is a new production which looks at the history of
Umkhonto We Sizwe (MK), the role it played in South Africa’s transition, and
the challenges facing veterans in a time of peace and democracy. The production
has two seasons – in Durban in the Playhouse Loft from May 2 to 12 and in
Johannesburg at the State Theatre from May 22 to June 2.
Long
Way to Go features a cast of eight including Peter
Mashego (Soul City, Heartlines, Woza
Albert, Asinamali, Lion King); Sabelo Makhubo (YizoYizo; Soul City; Isidingo) and Sandile Dlamini (Lion King, Going Up, Stokvel, Bergville
Stories).
“Whenever you mention UmkhontoWe Sizwe (MK)
the first thing that crosses your mind is the war against the apartheid regime
and the demand for change in bringing freedom in South Africa,” explains
project manager Xolani Majozi. “Long Way
To Go looks beyond the struggle and the suffering in the trenches. It
explores the meaning of freedom and looks at the deep physical and
psychological scars caused by the struggle for freedom and democracy in the
country.”
Jobe (Sandile Dlamini) and other three
partners are military veterans who, after returning from exile, find themselves
unemployed and unemployable. Jobe opens a small clothing factory with his
fellow comrades and military veterans in the backyard of his house in
Pietermaritzburg. They make school uniforms supplied to local schools and
uniforms for some government departments within the Pietermaritzburg area.
After realizing their father’s misery, Jobe’s
children persuade him to attend counselling sessions and visit the area where
they had a military camp in Angola as part of a healing process. The play takes
audiences through the journey of Jobes’s life and his children’s courageous
intervention trying to help their father make peace with his traumatic past.
Long
Way to Go is written by Nkosiyabona Zungu and
directed by Zwelibanzi Sibiya. It will be staged at the Playhouse Loft from May
2 to 12 and the State Theatre in Johannesburg from May 22 to June 2. Booking
for both seasons is through Computicket.
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