(Magnet Theatre's production of G7: OKWE-BOKHWE runs in Cape Town and at
the National Arts Festival, Makhanda. Photo Credit: Mark Wessels)
Multiple award-winning Magnet Theatre presents G7: OKWE-BOKHWE directed by Mandla
Mbothwe and starring the talented graduates of the fifth Magnet Theatre
training programme.
G7: OKWE-BOKHWE (Like/Of a Goat) will be
performed at the P4 Studio at Hiddingh Hall campus in Cape Town from June 12 to
22, followed by a run on June 27, 28 and 29 as part of the Main Programme at
the 2019 National Arts Festival, Makhanda.
This powerful production is based on the
historical records of the Gugulethu Seven, seven young members of Umkhonto
weSizwe (MK) who were ambushed and heartlessly killed by the South African
security forces on the morning of March 3, 1986, during the anti-apartheid
struggle years. The Gugulethu Seven memorial was built on the site of the
ambush to commemorate the life and death of those activists.
G7: OKWE-BOKHWE was originally devised by
Mbothwe with the fifth cohort of trainees on Magnet’s Full Time Training and
Job Creation Programme 2017/2018 and performed at the Gugulethu Memorial site.
The Magnet Theatre trainees now return as graduates and third year interns to
perform the production for the 2019 tour.
The production is a powerful active memorial
that attempts to engage with a process of healing the pain of our collective
past. The production is also regenerative, allowing the wounds of our history
to be exposed, validated, and attended to. Drawing on the powerful language of
the body, song and ritual G7: OKWE-BOKHWE
honours the Gugulethu Seven and celebrates the power of theatre’s ability to
heal.
“What is memory, what does it do and what
happens when the past meets the present? Our job as storytellers is to explore
these questions and interrupt the sense that there is nothing we can do,” says
director Mandla Mbothwe. “As with this production, breaking out the forcibly
archived stories should be at the centre of the journey to becoming a more
human-faced nation.”
Directed by Mandla Mbothwe, with Movement
Direction by Jennie Reznek and assistant direction by Zukisani Nongogo, Design
is by Linda Mandela Sejosingoe,
Choreography by Mzo Gasa, Music by Babalwa Makwetu, Lighting Design by
Themba Stewart with Text and Poetry created by the company and originally
co-ordinated by Vuyokazi Ngemntu.
The cast features Magnet Theatre graduates:
Abigail Mei, Carlo Daniels, Luxolo Mboso, Siyavuya Gqumehlo, Sivenathi
Macibela, Sizwe Lubengu, Sityhilelo Makupula and Yvonne Msebenzi.
Magnet Theatre is one of South Africa’s best
known independent physical theatre companies that has been operating in and
outside of South Africa for the past 31 years. Aside from its professional
work, the company runs multi-layered educational programmes that are aimed at
the transformation of young people’s lives and the theatre industry as a whole.
Magnet Theatre runs the only suite of bridging programs in theatre arts for
unemployed youth in the Western Cape. In March 2019, Magnet was recognised by
the provincial Western Cape Government with an award for outstanding
contribution to Arts and Culture in the Drama category.
OKWE-BOKHWE runs at the Rhodes Box
Theatre at the National Arts Festival, Makhanda on June 27 at 19h00; on June 28
at 16h00 and 20h00; and on June 29 at 14h00.
Tickets for the National Arts Festival R80 with
R75 concessions and can be booked at https://www.nationalartsfestival.co.za/
Age advisory PG (not for young children)
The Magnet Theatre is generously supported by Rand
Merchant Bank, Oppenheimer Memorial Trust, HCI Foundation, HCI Foundation
Community Transport Support Programme, Western Cape Government Expanded Public
Works Programme, Potjie Foundation, Ampersand Foundation, with support from the
National Arts Festival.
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