Community groups tackle topics of history and ethics in Xhosa plays

Babalwa Mncedi, Islor ka Haas and Melo Milano star in Okwamanzi Art Junctions 16/08.

Kamvalethu Youth Group and Okwamanzi Art Junction will present two original Xhosa plays at the Milnerton Playhouse on Friday January 17, at 7.30pm, and Saturday January 18, at 6.30pm.

Kamvalethu Youth Group, from Joe Slovo, will stage Ukhakhayi.

Written and directed by Sixolise Sophazi, the play is a tribute to the great king of the Xhosa people, Hintsa kaKhawuta.

The king was shot and killed by a British soldier in the Eastern Cape in 1835, during an attempted escape after being taken prisoner by the British for refusing to agree to their demand of 50 000 heads of cattle. The new generation is trying by all means to find information about the king’s skull so that he can be buried in peace.

In the second play, Okwamanzi Art Junction from Dunoon will stage 16/08. Written and directed by Islor Ka Haas, Babalwa Mncedi and Melo Melani, the play is about a woman from the rural part of the Eastern Cape who embarks on a journey to Rustenburg after receiving the news of her son’s sudden death in the mines.

While travelling, she has flashbacks of herself when, as a teenager at boarding school, she became pregnant and, in fear of her strict father, she left the baby in a rubbish bin, vowing to take her secret to the grave.

Over 30 years later, what was hidden has resurfaced and once again the woman must make another decision.

Tickets cost R40 each and proceeds will go back to the groups to further their artistic aims.

To book, email bookings@milnertonplayers.com or call 082 267 1061.