Bringing threatre to the people

Crime and corruption and the way it is destroying people's hopes and dreams is the subject of a new play touring the Western Cape this week.

Written and directed by Thami Mbongo, the work is called Things Are Bad - or in Xhosa, Ijumpile lendaba.

"It tells the story of how young men get together and how this escalates into crime which gets even more serious when the police become involved. The men then get involved with the notorious numbers gangs," explains Maurice Podbrey, the producer, on behalf of the Canadian-funded Mopo Cultural Trust.

Says Mbongo, a UCT graduate: "For me, I read every day about crime in our townships and too much about police and our government and this while we are waiting to hear who our next leader is going to be.

"What is the government going to do about crime and corruption? I thought it would be a good idea to put all these things in a play, so that the play would open up discussions about all the people involved. So that people can ask themselves what role they can play to put a stop to crime."

Mbongo says his play is not anti-government or anti-ANC.

"The point," Podbrey says, "is what are the people in power doing about crime and corruption?

"The people who put them there must recognise what's happening," Podbrey adds, saying that a discussion has been held after every show.

"The response (from township audiences has been great, with the play being performed in 'tsotsitaal', Xhosa, Afrikaans and English, depending in which area we're performing, from Khayelitisha to Ocean View," Mbongo says.

"The play is not so much about the 'number' gangs inside the prisons, but rather about the ex-prisoner who, after he is released, sees his family doing well, being successful, but all he has is his 'number'."

Mbongo explains that people come to the play because it reflects what they have to deal with every day. Significantly, as opposed to television, the theatre experience allows them to discuss the issues raised.

It would also be good Mbongo says, to have the so-called role players, such as prison warders, politicians and officials as well as policemen coming to the performances.

Podbrey adds that it would be "marvellous" to have the play performed inside prisons.

A central theme in the play, Mbongo explains, is the idea of individuals taking responsibility for their lives, and not pandering to the expectations placed on them, effectively looking at the negative effects of peer pressure on the youth.

"Young people think it's cool to be involved in crime, but they don't know what life is like in prison,"the playwright says.

"Also, young people in townships tend to think what other people expect of them and they do things to please others.

"Instead one has to sit down and ask oneself 'what do I really want in life'."

After the run with this production, Mbongo will go to Denmark, hosted by the Danish government, to give drama workshops in Copenhagen.

The members of the cast in Things are Bad are Mfundo Hashe, Phumzile Mangali, Earl Mentor, Andile Nebulane, Mziwandile Nofemele, Amina Nordien and Asanda Rilityana, all graduates of the Arts and Media Access Centre in Harrington Street, Cape Town.

- Things are Bad will be performed on Thursday at 11am and 1pm at Desmond Tutu Secondary School, Mbekweni (Paarl) and at the Mbekweni Community Hall, at 8pm.

On Friday it will be performed at 2pm at Khayelitsha Site C in the Moses Mabhida Library and on Saturday in Nyanga at the Zolani Centre at 3pm and at 7pm.

For further inquiries contact Natalie Harper on 021 465 3660, or 082 3385187.