Mpume Mthombeni in Empatheatre‘s highly-acclaimed Isidlamlilo/The Fire Eater.
Image: Val Adamson
Empatheatre's Isidlamlilo/The Fire Eater, a one-woman show brought to life by Mpume Mthombeni and theatre-maker Neil Coppen, comes to the Baxter Flipside from Wednesday April 9 to Saturday April 19, at 7.30pm with matinees at 2pm.
Standard Bank Young Artist Award winner Neil Coppen, in collaboration with Mthombeni, have written the script, which is based on a range of testimonials shared with them and the Urban Futures Centre (UFC) during their Empatheatre research processes.
Set in a women's hostel in downtown Durban, 60-something-year-old Zenzile Maseko (performed by Mthombeni), is a grandmother partially disabled and declared dead by the Home Affairs’ decrepit system. It is within the confines of this cramped room that Zenzile reckons with Nkulunkulu (God), recalling the unbelievable series of events that have unfolded across her lifetime. It is soon revealed that she operated as one of the IFP’s most feared assassins (nicknamed Impundulu/The Lightning Bird) in the build-up to the 1994 South African elections.
It’s a past Zenzile has spent most of her adult life trying to erase, praying nightly to Nkulunkulu and begging him to cleanse her of her past sins. However, when Home Affairs mistakenly declares her dead and is unable to reverse the error on their system, she finds herself cast into the middle of a Kafkaesque nightmare, forced to reawaken the vengeful spirit of Impundulu/The Lightning Bird, to secure her survival.
Mthombeni, Coppen alongside Dylan McGarry, are the co-founders of Empatheatre who’s focus is on forging creative responses to complex social concerns and historical events.
Lighting design is by Tina Le Roux, sound design by Tristan Horton, set design by Greg King and set dressing by Dylan McGarry, Neil Coppen and Wendy Henstock. There is an age restriction of 14 years.
Book through Webtickets online or at Pick n Pay stores. For schools or block bookings of 10 or more contact Carmen Kearns on 021 680 3993 or carmen.kearns@uct.ac.za or Mark Dobson on 021 680 18 or mark.dobson@uct.ac.za