Cleaning up the dusty
streets of South Africa... (Review by Verne Rowin Munsamy)
This year marks my sweet 16th anniversary at the Grahamstown, now Makhanda, National Arts Festival. I remember being a 2nd year student in 2000, walking around with a notepad and backpack, watching shows all day. Caroline Smart, our editor and chief, took a chance on this eager-beaver young writer and I have never looked back. I started this Festival as a young university second-year student and have progressed to a professional writer-director but the most joy lies in submerging one's self in art, theatre, dance, and the culture of performance shared by like-minded individuals.
I have seen this Festival grow and adapt to remain poignant in these shifting times. NAF has a remarkable ability to nurture talent, challenge societal norms and adapt with the shifting times. My first review this year is for the thought-provoking masterpiece offer by AFDA Johannesburg titled, A Scar Named Home. The show is directed by one of their lecturers, Manoko Tlhako and her vision and passion to speak about the failing South African government and institutions is excellently executed by her postgraduate students.
This devised theatre piece, rich in the iconography of physical theatre features, focuses on prevailing systems of failure that are disadvantageous to the South African youth. The story starts with the quartet singing an energetic South African classical township song and the actors playing hide and seek. This game of hide and seek is important as it foreshadows the concept of seeking for liberation that is in hiding and out of reach.
The set has four chairs that are used in myriad ways to exemplify bags, baskets, hiding places, and in the physicalised choreography. They use bandanas in different ways throughout the show and costumes and props. I am quite fond of a prop that's used in multiple ways and this cast does well with this physical style of theatre.
From the onset we are introduced to the idea of a disappointment in South Africa. We are constantly reminded that home is meant to be a place of safety, comfort, where dreams reside and is also a state of mind; however, our home (South Africa) has become a place of fear filled with corruption and chaos.
The first focus of trauma is highlighted through the ambition and dreams of getting a university education that are stripped away by the withdrawal of NSfAS funding. This is an ongoing plight that affects students across the country.
The second is the fight to find a job and the high levels of unemployed youth in our country. The punch line to this story arrived in the job being obtained, after 180 interviews, through sexual abuse by the company owner. It highlights the abuse faced by individuals who are so desperate to find employment.
The story shifts to mention the high levels of crime in our country due to the lack of opportunities for the youth and the repossession of homes by banks when people failed to keep up with instalments. The last section deals with the corruption in government with regards to social grants.
These four young performers Agisanang Galetuke, Azwi-Hilton Mashapa, Kamagelo Ramaboya and Molatelo Sebabi are extremely powerful in their performances on stage. They displayed the skills of well-rounded artists with triple threats of acting, singing and dance. They reminded me of why I made the 14-hour drive to Makhanda, to watch theatre that was representative of culture, but also questioned and challenged societal "abnormalities". An excellent show to start my 2026 writing journal of the festival. - Dr Verne Rowin Munsamy
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