July 26, 2006
By Ndaba Dlamini
LOOKING frail but obviously still full of artistic zest, writer and critic Es'kia Mphahlele had a chance to see one of his literary works, The Suitcase, being brought to life on stage at the Market Theatre in Newtown.
The Suitcase is a short story Mphahlele wrote in 1954 and was adapted for the stage and directed by James Ngcobo. A beautiful story of love and trial, The Suitcase is about the lives of ordinary black people, lives that have been twisted and contorted out of shape by circumstances.
Set in the 1950s and based on an actual event, The Suitcase centres on a young rural couple, Timi Ngobese, played by Siyabonga Twala, and Namhla Ngobese, played by Nqobile Sepamla.
Filled with ambition and hope, the couple leave their rural village for Umkhumbane - Durban's equivalent of Johannesburg's Sophiatown. Timi has dreams of making his fortune in the land of opportunities and returning to his rural village with all his worldly riches.
But this is not to be. Timi struggles to find a job and, to exacerbate the situation, Namhla falls pregnant. Stripped of his self-esteem and desperate to provide for his loving wife, he steals a suitcase left in a bus, an act that changes his life dramatically.
The play features experienced artists like Twala from the television series Scandal and the controversial play Cards. Mncedisi Shabangu and John Lata, who take the part of the storytellers and a range of other characters, are also accomplished actors.
Ngcobo, also an accomplished actor both on stage and television, has been nominated in the New Direction category in this year's Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards - the Rosalie van der Gucht prize - for his work on The Suitcase.
He selected The Suitcase for adaptation because of the enormous theatrical potential in this poignant and emotive story, he says.
But adapting The Suitcase for the stage has not only been a process of creating a piece of theatre. "For me, it is in many ways a gift. My first introduction to Morena Mphahlele's work was the delightful story Down Second Avenue, with its haunting yet absorbing weave of people living with adversity and hope in the streets of Marabastad. It is a slice of Morena Mphahlele's life, which he dishes out like a carefully planned meal. His knack of telling stories about people from such diverse backgrounds was my absolute attraction to this lyrical and great storyteller."
Born in Pretoria in 1919, Mphahlele began his career as a writer for the popular Drum magazine after World War II and published his first collection of short stories, Man Must Live in 1946.
He was exiled by the apartheid government for his critical writings in 1957 and went to live in Nigeria, France and the US where he taught at the University of Denver, receiving a PhD in 1968.
Mphahlele became professor of African Literature at the University of Witwatersrand.
Throughout his entire writing career, he has produced an impressive array of short stories, poems, essays and novels and remains one of South Africa and Africa's greatest literary writers and critics.
The Suitcase is an emotive production that borders on pathos and sentimental individuals are sure to leave the auditorium with moist eyes.
The play is on at the Market Theatre's Barney Simon Theatre until 20 August and tickets are available at
Computicket.
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