April 26, 2004
By Lucille Davie
PUT together seven talented women, a bunch of props on stage and a drum and you have Thokoza, an a capella show dealing with one of South Africa's most sensitive issues - women abuse - in an exuberant and humorous way.
On at the Laager Theatre at the Market Theatre for four days, Thokoza takes the audience on a journey into the challenges that face women, including rape, absent and abusive husbands, single parenthood, and poverty.
But it's not a downer; the journey celebrates the triumphs and joys despite the odds,with plenty of laughs, creative dancing, fun costumes and heartfelt singing.
Thokoza is the creation of Dieketseng Mnisi, an actress for over 20 years, recently back after performing in Sarafina, Township Fever and Zulu, in Europe and the US. Mnisi took the cameo role of Lady MacBeth in Welcome Msomi's Umabatha, a role that earned her an FNB Vita Best Performance Award in 1996.
Voted the "best musical" and "best new work" at the Windybrow Arts Festival in 2002, Thokoza opens with the seven performers in sarongs and t-shirts, white doeks, with white masks over their mouths, and bead accessories. The backdrop is a long table and a washing line encircling the table, from which the women make their costume changes.
A domestic scene in which the women are suppressed by the tedious monotony of the home, and lack of support from their husbands, their message is emblazoned on a banner: "It is enough".
The dialogue is in several languages, and solos, sometimes in a surprisingly baritone tone, are presented with deep feeling as the women sing their way through calming babies, doing domestic chores, and being wives. All the time fingers click, feet stomp, lips hum, a drum is tapped rhythmically, and faces are full of expression.
Halfway through the show the doeks and masks come off, and liberation shines through.
The musical ends with the women asking for the simple, dignified things that everyone wants: peace, respect and integrity, through a show of posters expressing their feelings: "Say no to women abuse", "Expose the culprit not the victim", "Speak out, women". The audience went wild, giving them a standing ovation.
The musical is part of an April Newtown Decade of Democracy festival, offering a range of exciting theatre, dance and music in the CBD.
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