Khwezi’s pain laid bare on the stage

The State Theatre in association with Village Gossip Productions will soon present Khwezi … Say My Name at the State Theatre.

Written and directed by award-winning playwright and director Napo Masheane, it’s adapted from Redi Tlhabi’s book, Khwezi – The Remarkable Story of Fezekile Ntsukela Kuzwayo.

Khwezi … Say My Name is the story of a young girl, Khwezi, who grew up in exile in a communal village of aunts and uncles who were fighting apartheid. In her quest to learn about her father, Judson Kuzwayo, and to preserve his political life story, Khwezi ends up in Forest Town, where she is allegedly sexually assaulted by her father’s former best friend, a leading politician.

“Through the rape trial, the audience becomes part of Khwezi’s court case against one of the most powerful men in South Africa,” says Masheane. “We are reminded that she was not just a body, metaphor or a face. Not a battleground or ripples of horror.”

“But that she had a real name: Fezekile Ntsukela Kuzwayo. In various explorations of rape, the audience is in the skins of the victims of this brutality,” she says.  “Our minds provoked and emotions interrogated, push us to tap deep into the harsh reality.”

Tlhabi called in during a live interview of the playwright by talk show host Aubrey Masango on Radio 702.

“I’m throwing my heart and soul into [the play]. I hope the State Theatre is giving you the freedom which talented professional women like yourself [Masheane] deserve to adapt, interpret and present the story the way you see it,” said Tlhabi.

In the musical play, Masheane uses strong language and powerful dance pieces choreographed by the award-winning Luyanda Sidiya. She draws inspiration from piercing spiritual sounds and music created by brilliant musician Azah, the protegee of Dr Philip Tabane’s famous band, Molombo.

“The play holds symbolic, provocative images and nostalgic visuals of various rapes,” says Masheane. “But above all, I have tried to hold dear the memory, the essence and feeling of Fezekile Ntsukela Kuzwayo as narrated by Tlhabi and those who witnessed her pain and her deep scars.”

“Khwezi truly represents many of us – even some of us who are yet to tell our stories of rape out loud,” she says.

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