September 21, 2004
By Ndaba Dlamini
A HILARIOUS production that sees two unemployed Kanyamazane youths attempting to answer the philosophical question of what would happen if Samora Machel rose from the dead to discover that his former wife Graça is now married to Nelson Mandela, "Vuka Machel" promises intriguing entertainment at the Laager Theatre in Newtown.
The two youths, who have taken up a profession of filching chickens from the neighbourhood to make a living, take the audience through a comical journey as they conjure up and act out improbable situations to wile away their day.
Waiza and Bhoboza, played by the versatile couple Xolile Gama and Vusumuzi Nyathikazi respectively, spend their day on the dusty streets of Kanyamazane, a township in Mpumalanga near the western border with Mozambique.
They squabble over who gets to smoke the best part of a shared cigarette, and drink the last drop of beer in a bottle, boasting of their prowess as lovers with non-existent girlfriends and idly surmise the result of their musings. The two chicken thieves consequently get into a gruelling boxing match to demonstrate which of them would win the hand of the lady.
According to Mncedisi Shabangu, the director of the play, the concept of the play came about one wintry evening when they were sitting around a fire. "At home we had chickens and they all disappeared one by one, but I could not understand why. Then one evening somebody told us how he steals chickens. We had a good laugh, but for me everything clicked into place."
Shabangu says the play attempts to raise consciousness about the nature of a man who lived to liberate Mozambique, only to be killed on South African soil. "In Mpumalanga, there is the Samora Machel monument. It's an honour to have such an establishment, but I always ask why. What is the significance of the monument when nobody knows about it? The play attempts to raise Machel's flag and say aluta continua!"
"Vuka Machel" was staged at the Market Theatre in 2002 and was a big hit in Zimbabwe at the 2003 Harare International Festival of the Arts. In 2004, the play wowed audiences in Swaziland at the Matiwane Manana Performed Arts Festival. It's on at the Laager Theatre until 10 October.
For more information, contact the Market Theatre publicity department on 011 832 1641.
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