A MUSICAL WITH A DIFFERENCE

By DINEO MOKGOSI (Above)

This summer’s season of the Sand Du Plessis Theatre performances has just kicked off with four-day run of “Unbreakable Thread-Ubuntu vs Fear”.

This contemporary musical drama was directed by renowned theatre director Regina Nawa and written by Mothusi Mokoto and stars numerous accomplished theatre actors and television actors whose faces will be familiar to patrons who follow the theatre scene and are able to catch a glimpse of television every now and then.

The play is set at the Mthunywa household in Rocklands Bloemfontein, on the morning of January 08, 2012 and the family preparing to host Morena, friends, comrades and a few community members for a short ceremony. To prepare for the important day, Mkhulu Mthunywa, together with Morena, a Sangoma and a priest go to the heroes’ section of the cemetery to pay tribute to the fathers and mothers of our liberation struggle in a traditional ritual.

Upon their return from the cemetery, they arrive in the midst of diverse cultural dance festivities, from guests. In a short sermon, prior to the main festivities at the stadium, Moruti takes us through the journey of the formation of the ANC as a covenant made between the organisation and God on January 08, 1912.

As the elders later leave for the main festivities at the stadium, a conflict arises between Mkhulu and his granddaughter, Phetogo. The granddaughter is expressing frustration at the many unanswered questions she has been asking Mkhulu about the death of her parents in the struggle. She had been hoping that since Mkhulu had been writing a book on the liberation struggle, it might be the perfect place to find answers.

The main characters were played by Danny Jassoni, 34, as Mkhulu and Excellentia Rethabile Mokoena, 22, as Phetogo. Jassoni has acted in theatre productions such as Mid Summer Nights Dream, Julius Caesar and Maru; and also acted in television shows such as Molo-Fish and Ga Re Dumele on SABC 2.

“I thought the show went well. I believe people got the message. The message of Ubuntu which is what we should strive for in our everyday life. Let’s not forget who we are as the youth, as a people. In as much as there are differences now, there is still a lot to be done to rectify the wrongs of the past”, Jassoni said.
Mokoena has appeared in productions such as Op Soek Na Piet Khumalo and Mpumelelo.
“I’ve learnt a lot through playing this character. It hurts to find that people had to go through this for me to be here today. Youth need to be educated about our history”, Mokoena said.

Although poorly attended, the show ironically was a magnificent piece of theatre. The dancers executed a series of synchronous movements which brought euphoria into the Sand Du Plessies theatre as patron’s screamed at the sight of the dancers.
There is a dance scene which stands out as a masterpiece of choreography by Brian Mazibuko, the MK military training scene. “That is my favourite scene. We used Russian techniques with our choreography to do the scene”, Mazibuko said.
However, the amplication of the background music sometimes made it hard to hear what some actors were saying.

Stand out actors included Free State born actor and singer, Pesa Pheko, who has acted in big productions such as the Lion King and Sarafina, Sbongiseni (Khehla) Mguni, Katlego Khunou, Brian Mazibuko, who was also the choreographer, Abram Dithebe (Small) and the pint-sized 19-year-old singer from Welkom, Dikeledi Letebele.
Unbreakable Thread is an African National Congress (ANC) Centenary celebrations production that uses drama, music, reflection of historical experiences through movement and dance to showcase the values of Ubuntu.

The musical drama will showcase at the Sand Du Plessis Theatre until January 28, and every person, young and old will benefit immensely from attending the show piece.