(Adilah Bain; Esihle Ntonga; Amahle Zulu; Ntokozo Khoza & Tusumenzi Majozi)
(All pics by Dawn Rouse)
I feel sure that Gcina Mhlophe will be
very proud of this well-directed production. (Review by Caroline Smart)
Director Wendy Watson has assembled a strong and committed Durban Girls’ College student cast who do great justice to highly respected and talented South African playwright and storyteller Gcina Mhlophe’s multi-faceted script.
Have you seen Zandile? requires levels of humour, wild excitement, anger, teenage hysteria, gentleness and sadness. There are great performances all round, with the last scene being particularly memorable.
We first meet Zandile (Amahle Zulu) as she appears in the audience, bursting with energy as she makes her way to the stage. There she has some amusing moments with an invisible friend – moaning that she doesn’t have a lot of friends to play with. She then heads home to Gogo (her beloved grandmother), a lovely sensitive performance by Adilah Bain.
Amahle Zulu deserves strong accolades for her performance – handling all Zandile’s various moods with good control.
(Left: Adilah Bain & Amahle Zulu)
Gogo took Zandile away from her parents and has brought her up single-handedly. However, these gentle and loving growing-up days are suddenly shattered when she is kidnapped by her mother’s side-kicks and moved to the rural area of Transkei. Her mother, Lulama – a strong, firm and controlled performance by Esihle Ntonga - demands that Zandile follow tradition required for a woman – no education, marry young and work hard in the field.
Zandile is heart-broken and yearns for Gogo and the city of Durban. However, brightness comes into her now-teenage life when she meets up with Lindiwe. Tusumenzi Majozi brings a lovely energy to this role and their scenes together are a delight. However, Lindiwe soon moves to Johannesburg leaving Zandile back in her miserable existence.
The inevitable happens and Gogo departs this life. The news is brought to Zandile by an old woman dressed in black carrying Gogo’s suitcase and bearing the sad news. While Ntokozo Khoza has a very small role here, it is a vital one and she handles it with beautiful sensitivity and tenderness.
I feel sure that Gcina Mhlophe will be very proud of this well-directed production.
(Right: Tusumenzi Majozi & Amahle Zulu)
Greg King has worked his magic with the set as usual, creating an attractive earthy look with a good performance space in the centre. Free-standing structures placed either side of the stage indicate rooms – to the left is her beloved grandmother (Gogo’s) home and to the right, is Zandile’s room in her mother’s house in the Transkei. The set is adorned with beautiful brown/orange Zulu patterns. A backdrop shows a mountain range and clear sky.
Lighting and sound design is handled by the ever-efficient Megan Holder of MTS (Megan’s Technical Services)
By arrangement with DALRO, performances are on March 6, 7 and 9, 2023, in the Lecture Theatre at Durban Girls’ College starting at 18h00. There will also be two school performances on March 7 and 9 at 10h30.
The play lasts 1 hour and 20 minutes. Suitable for 12 years and above.
Block bookings are R60 a ticket. Tickets R60 for scholars and R80 for adults and can be booked via Quicket.
Durban Girls’ College is situated at 586 Musgrave Road, Essenwood, Berea in Durban. – Caroline Smart
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