BWW Reviews: UCT Drama's UNONQAWUSE a Game of Two Halves

It seems apt, given that it is Africa Week, that the Drama Department at the University of Cape Town is closing their winter season with a production of H.I.E Dhlomo's THE GIRL WHO KILLED TO SAVE, also known as NONGQAUSE THE LIBERATOR and presented here as UNONGQAWUSE, THE GIRL WHO KILLED TO SAVE. A notable play by a notable playwright when it comes to South African theatre history, THE GIRL WHO KILLED TO SAVE is rarely seen performed live; indeed, the key piece of information that I remember about the play from Drama lectures at university was that the piece was written to be a literary work, so much so that it is practically unstageable. While this production does not succeed fully in proving that thesis wrong, director Mfundo Tshazibane takes the piece forward by presenting some scenes in translation and infusing parts of the production with a spellbinding sense of ritual.

THE GIRL WHO KILLED TO SAVE was written by Dhlomo in 1935 and displays the playwright's trademark Progressivist philosophies in its justification of white policies and openness towards Western modernity. Set against the backdrop of the 1850s Xhosa cattle-killing movement and the subsequent famine during which tens of thousands of men, women and children perished, the play examines 'the ways of delusion and credulity' and 'the tyranny of superstition and ignorance' that Dhlomo portrayed as being the cause of these events. Prior to the action of the play, Mhlakaza, a great sangoma, has presented his daughter, Nongqause, to Kreli, the chief of the Xhosa people. Nongqause has claimed to communicate with the spirits of her people's most famed heroes, who are in despair at the thought of the oppression of their progeny under colonialist rule. The play begins in 1857, at which point the situation escalates so that orders are given to kill all cattle within eight days, when it is said that a natural miracle will cause the overseas oppressors to be driven into the sea. Scenes that take place within the Xhosa community as well as at the home of the British commissioner and in sites where the two cultures converge all chart the downward spiral into starvation, despair and disbelief.

True to expectations, the play reads rather awkwardly today, sometimes due to Dhlomo's tendency to place theses in his characters' mouths without tailoring the words to suit character or situation and sometimes due to his slavish attempt to mimic the conventions of Victorian drama. Tshazibane has countered this from the outset by pulling the play right out of a traditional proscenium setup, with the audience placed on three sides of the performance with all the men on one side and all the women on the other. The circular stage, designed and painted by Keith Christian and Leigh Bishop, and lights, by Mari Borstlap, is all browns and oranges and ambers and, with the music, drumming and vocals provided a group of musicians placed just above the performance space, one enters an atmosphere that feels almost tangibly and authentically African.

Out of this atmosphere, we launch into a couple of scenes set in and around Kreli's court, which take place in Xhosa. The cast, consisting of Nolovuyo Sam, Given Mkhondo, Yanga Jikela, Yanga Mkhonto and Lebo Shabalala, tackles their roles with an immense sense of dignity, investing in the roles of Kreli, Mhlakaza, Nongqause and several other unnamed characters, notably an old woman and one of the chief's councillors, so that they take on an agency they are perhaps denied in Dhlomo's representation of them so as to serve of his Progressivist agenda. There is some excellent status by the young ensemble in these scenes.

When the play shifts to the scene that involve the British commissioner, Charles Brownlee, his wife and the missionaries, the production becomes a game of two halves. There problems that arise here are all related to the choice to have the same actors from the first scenes perform the whiteness of these characters. Firstly, there seems to be no reason for the choice conceptually: the decision seems to be born out of the necessity of performing this play with this company of actors and the play gains no resonance as a result. Indeed, the choice begins to detract from the cultural conflict that is at the heart of the play, making things appear as if the clash primarily has to do with gender. Furthermore, the actors seem not to connect with these characters in the same complex way they do with those they played earlier on and things tend towards parody rather than offering another side of the story. Once again, this waters down the central conflict of the play. Perhaps the play itself is limited in its viewpoint, but since this production is more revisionary than traditional, it is a pity that these parts of the play were not approached with the same depth of approach as those that involve Kreli, Mhlakaza and Nongqause.

What is presented in UNONGQAWUSE, THE GIRL WHO KILLED TO SAVE is the seed of a brilliantly revisionist production of Dhlomo's dramatization of this most disturbing chapter of South African history. This play offers a rare kind of cultural exchange, with the Xhosa scenes enriching the experience and playing in a manner that is not at all alienating to those who do not understand the language. I would love to see what is proposed here played for all its worth, taking into account both parts of the narrative, in a professional production in a major theatrical venues in Cape Town. An excellent production that takes UNONGQAWUSE, THE GIRL WHO KILLED TO SAVE to the next level could take place of pride alongside productions that are more overtly engineered to celebrate our cultural heritage and history.

UNONGQAWUSE, THE GIRL WHO KILLED TO SAVE runs until 25 May 2013 at The Arena Theatre on UCT's Hiddingh Campus in Orange Street, Gardens, at 19:30 nightly with a 14:30 matinee on Saturdays. Tickets can be booked through Webtickets.

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