(Bathandwa Gumede, Thembi Mtshali, Mondli Makhoba & Lungelo Ndlovu)
(Pic by Val Adamson)
After an absence of 45 years, Gibson Kente’s
musical drama How Long? returns to
the South African stage in a prestigious new production presented by The Playhouse
Company, an agency of the Department of Arts and Culture. The show will run in the
Playhouse Opera from May 5 to 27, 2018.
“It is fitting, as we salute Africa Month that
we honour the memory of Gibson Kente, one of the formative figures of South
Africa’s theatre scene,” said Linda Bukhosini, the Company’s Chief Executive
and Artistic Director. “We at The Playhouse Company are proud to have assembled
some of the best artists in our country. Directed by Duma Ndlovu with choreography
Somizi Mhlongo and musical direction by Phelelani Mnomiya, How Long? stars, among others: Thembi Mtshali, Phindile Gwala,
Khaya Dladla, Mondli Makhoba and Nqobile Ndlovu.
“At the request of Mr Ndlovu, The Playhouse has
commissioned the orchestration of Mr Kente’s music which will feature a six-piece
band and 13 piece orchestra ensemble, thus ensuring a musical collaboration
amongst artists of different races groups. This highlights the importance of
making social cohesion and nation building a practical reality, thus
encouraging a positive narrative of common artistic experiences among people of
different racial groups,” Bukhosini said.
A melodramatic musical play with political
undertones in Gibson Kente's famous township theatre style, the work is based
on the death of Khulu, a helpless grandmother, through brutal police action
under apartheid bureaucracy. Kente wrote the play as a response to pressure
from Black Consciousness structures that all cultural work needed to reflect
the material conditions of Black people in South Africa. Kente rose to the
occasion and How Long? exploded on
township halls and the black masses responded. The play was later banned and Kente
was imprisoned as a direct result. Part of a trilogy of the only political
plays by Kente, the work was written and last performed in 1973 before it was
banned.
“Gibson Kente was a man who generously shared
his wisdom and his theatre expertise with younger actors privileged to work
under him,” said director Duma Ndlovu. “In this regard, he helped launch the
careers of South African icons such as Darlington Michaels, Mbongeni Ngema,
Sello Maake KaNcube and Brenda Fassie. Shortly before he died in 2002, Gibson
Kente entrusted me with the responsibility of representing his music. To this
end, in 2004 I was instrumental in the Gibson Kente Foundation coming into
being.
“Where his contemporaries such as Athol Fugard,
who like him stood against social and political injustice in this country, took
their work into the cross-over arena which drew international limelight, Gibson
Kente chose rather to withdraw his work and take it to grass-roots audiences in
black townships, where the people saw his plays being performed in community
halls. This earned him the true epithet of the ‘Father of Black South African
Township Theatre’. As the custodian of the Gibson Kente Foundation, it is my
honour to keep Bab Kente’s legacy alive, and I am excited to be directing this
masterpiece, The Playhouse Company’s new production of How Long,” Ndlovu continued.
For many years himself one of the brightest
lights on South Africa’s cultural landscape, Duma Ndlovu is internationally
renowned as an acclaimed playwright, director and executive producer, working
in the fields of film, television and stage and many others. The Executive
Director and Founder at Word of Mouth Pictures, Ndlovu has over the years,
produced a body of work that reads like a lexicon of creativity in the annals
of South African Show business. From creating his early masterpieces such as Bergville Stories, to big stage
productions such as The Game - which
has been seen twice by Playhouse audiences over the past two decades - his
portfolio also includes being the South African casting director for Disney’s
mega-hit Lion King companies, and creating
hugely successful, long-running TV soap operas such as Muvhango and Uzalo, and
most recently, Imbewu The Seed,
currently screening on e.tv. Ndlovu is the custodian of the Gibson Kente
Foundation.
Choreographer Somizi Mhlongo has been in the
entertainment business for almost 30 years. His career began when he was 13
years old – he joined the Broadway musical Sarafina!
and travelled the world for five years with the production. He later starred in
the film adaptation of Sarafina!
which also became the first big project he choreographed. As a young star he featured
in the movie, Cry, The Beloved Country.
Somizi has rooted himself as a vanguard of the South African entertainment
industry, becoming the go-to choreographer for high-end stage and television
shows and hosting live events and music video productions such as SAFTA and SAMA
Awards, working as the lead choreographer for Miss South Africa pageants from
1998-2008 and appearing on his own show on Cliff Central.
Heading the cast of How Long? is actress Thembi Mtshali, revered leading lady of the
South African stage and screen. A Lifetime Achievement honoree at the 2017
Naledi Awards ceremony in Johannesburg, Mtshali-Jones commands a fan base of
thousands through her creations of many memorable persona in the entertainment
world over the years. She first became a household name with the popular
comedy, Sgudi Snaysi, and most
recently appeared in the drama series, Broken
Vows on e.tv.
While popular TV actor Khaya Dladlas’s widespread
celebrity status has earned him off-screen popularity as one of the most
popular emcees in the business, Dladla has 20 years experience under his belt,
focusing on a musical background, working with Mbongeni Ngema, Edmond Mhlongo,
and the late Themi Venturas, appearing in productions such as Oliver The Musical, Jabulani South Africa, and Master
Harold and the Boys, to name a few. He is widely known for his TV persona
in Uzalo as GC. He was Best
Supporting Actor 2015 at the Simon Sabelo TV and Film Awards.
Actress Phindile Gwala - self-proclaimed
"African queen"- is best known for her starring role as Nonny on the
soap opera Muvhango. The glamorous
young Eshowe-born star graduated from university with a degree in business
management before her rise to fame in show biz circles. Other roles in her
burgeoning portfolio include among others playing Lindi in the movie, Looking for Love, and appearing as
Carol in the stage production, Money
Maker.
While new-generation TV star, Uzalo’s actor-dancer, Mondli Makhoba,
brings his own pulling power to the cast of How
Long, He appears as Captain in Generations
–The Legacy, and is currently shooting the role of Shukela in Imbewu - The Seed. Other credits include
TV appearances have included Ganda in ISithembio
on Channel 161, and playing Balla Koro in Roots
on the History Chanel; roles in the Australian films, Paper Planes and Casualty;
and on stage, the South African stage musical, Amambazo, as well as three Australian productions, Skip Miller’s Hit Songs, Moving to a Shared Beat, and Conflict Under the Australian Flag.
Another noted young actress who is set to appear
onstage in the Gibson Kente classic is Nqobile Ndlovu, best known for her
starring role as Nobuhle Zungu in the SABC1 drama series Ingozi, which was created by Duma Ndlovu. Nqobile was also a member
of the choir in Ndlovu's SABC1 soap opera Uzalo;
and in his stage production The Game,
set in a female prison. She also played the receptionist, Bongi in the Venda soapie,
Muvhango.
Also featuring on the distinguished cast list of
How Long? are Vusi Majola, and rising young stars-in-making, Mduduzi Nombela, Nokubonga
Khuzwayo, Nokwanda Khuzwayo, Mlamli Ningiza and Lungelo Ndlovu.
The show will run in the Playhouse Opera from
May 5 to 27, 2018. Show times for this not-to-be-missed production are Tuesdays
to Fridays at 19h00, Saturdays 14h00 and 19h00, Sundays at 14h00. Tickets range
from R100 to R150. Public bookings are through Computicket or book at https://online.computicket.com/web/event/how_long/1202363702/0/85836586
Special school performances are available at R30 per scholar. Bookings for these performances are on 031 369
9460/07 or email sales@playhousecompany.com
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