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The true beauty of Mzansi lies in our ability to break into song and dance even in the face of adversity. My township upbringing was always inclusive of the anthemic Meadowlands that has been one of our people’s favourites for decades.
I probably speak for hundreds of my peers when I say, little did I know that behind the melody lie the blood, sweat and tears of former Sophiatown dwellers who were removed from their homes in Sophiatown, or Kofifi, only to be dumped in Meadowlands, where houses had eerily cold and rough cement floors.
Prior to being mesmerised by the actors’ interpretation of Malcolm Purkey’s words, we were serenaded by the enchanting kwela tunes of the Golden Future Faces choir on the opening night of the stage play Sophiatown at The SA State Theatre on May 7.
READ: Sandile Memela | Let the music play on
If smartphones existed across the threshold, I’d love to see a video of the late great Baba uJabu Khanyile performing alongside the choir’s rendition of his Mmalo We, because nothing would ever convince me that hearing them pay their respects in that impeccable manner didn’t prompt the Zulu in him to come back and dance in his typical Zulu style.
The play Sophiatown itself is a nostalgic piece marinated in love unpursued, an adolescent girl’s zest for life intertwined with her loveless relationship with Bantu education and an African Robin Hood who wears his heart on his knife-wielding sleeve.
For someone like me who grew up in the 90s, it is almost impossible to imagine Yeoville as a larney suburb housing wealthy Jewish families, but the arrival of Ruth Golden in Sophia paints a clear picture of the class of people who previously inhabited the now dilapidated drug haven that is greater Hillbrow and Yeoville.
It doesn’t get more South African than watching gangster Mingas and gambler Fafi upskilling a white girl’s tsotsitaal! One cannot help but wonder: With language and township culture having evolved so much over the years, has the meaning behind fafi numbers remained intact? Not that it matters, because the truth is variable; although those are not exactly the kind of words you want to instil in an impressionable teenager such as Lulu.
Speaking of impressionable, Princess may have been slightly fearful of Mingas’s knife and fists, but the feisty beauty was daring enough to find a wealthier Prince Charming and ride off (quite literally) into the sunset with him. I don’t know how many women would have been brave enough to do that back in the 1950s, but, once Princess discovered her worth, there was no looking back. It is rather saddening, though, that Jakes and Ruth lived during an era when her worth to him could never be permitted to surpass his obligations to the struggle of his people.
READ: Kunene and The King packs a punch
Versatility is quite important in the entertainment industry, as it deems a performer more employable. The stamina required to not only act and sing but also dance is something the universe sadly did not bestow upon everyone, but the Sophiatown cast have all three skills on lockdown.
It is always refreshing when plays that tell such emotionally weighty stories are accompanied by song and dance. That offers the viewer some relief from the inevitable roller coaster of emotions conjured by works of this nature.
For us South Africans in particular, a nation where music and movement are such crucial ingredients in our story telling, audiences almost have an expectation that stage plays should be accompanied by a little bit of leg shaking and hip swaying. Gibson Kente would be proud!
