Afrovibes: 20 Years of South African Democracy

Published: 26 October 2014
Reporter: Peter Lathan

Mamela
Biko's Quest
Rainbow Scars

From 4 to 8 November, Northern Stage and Live Theatre join together to celebrate 20 years of democracy in South Africa with performances of the best in South African dance, theatre and music.

From 4 to 8 November, Curious Monkey in association with Live Theatre, The Swallows Foundation UK & Isiseko Senkonjane presents Mamela, which means "listen" in the Xhosa language. The play follows a group of remarkable young women from the Eastern Cape of South Africa: the opinions, experiences and aspirations of those born towards the end of the Apartheid era, the ‘born-free’ generation.

A fusion of European and African theatre, this verbatim piece is a moving personal testimony and storytelling, fused with traditional African song and dance: a narrative for the 21st century.

On 6 November at Northern Stage, Artscape Theatre Centre presents Rainbow Scars by Mike van Gaan. During the era of reconciliation, Nelson Mandela encouraged South Africans to reach out and touch each other’s lives: white middle class Ellen Robinson and her family adopted a three-year-old black child called Lindiwe. Now, fourteen years later, she’s at high school, coming to terms with her life in a changing South Africa, her future carved out, but her identity uncertain. All seems well—until her older cousin seeks her out and forces her to confront her true heritage.

On 7 and 8 November at Northern Stage, The Steve Biko Foundation in association with JazzArt presents Biko's Quest, a large-scale dance performance celebrating the life, death and legacy of the inspirational campaigner, murdered at the hands of the security police during the apartheid era.

At Live on 8 November, Phillip Dikotla performs his one-man show Skierlik, which revisits the after effects of racially-motivated shootings that devastated the remote settlement of Skierlik in 2008.

Thomas moved away after his wife and three-month-old daughter were killed in the atrocity as the burden of living alone in the family home was unbearable. He returns on the long dirt road back to Skierlik, to face being back home in his tiny shack.

From 6 to 8 November from 11AM to late in Stage 3 at Northern Stage is the Township Cafe which provides South African food and music, along with free events, workshops, music and script-in-hand performances.

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