Revolutionary comedy ‘Vuka Machel’ is a masterpiece

Vuka Machel rings in an exciting year of theatre at the Laboratory, including its flagship residency programme.

Vuka Machel. Picture: Supplied

Vuka Machel returned to the Ramolao Makhene Theatre at the Market Lab this month, giving more people a chance to catch this storytelling masterpiece. The production is a revolutionary comedy told by two chicken thieves from Kanyamazane in Mpumalanga.

Through the eyes of this infamous pair, the audience is taken on a journey in which Samora Machel wakes from the dead to find his wife married to Mandela and Mozambique suffering. He challenges Mandela to all sorts of fights. The biggest mistake he makes is to agree to negotiations at the World Trade Centre where Mandela challenges him to a boxing match.

Mandela is notorious for winning all his fights through negotiations. Originally created in 1998, and the winner of an FNB Vita Award for Best Director in 2003, Vuka Machel was last performed as a once-off presentation during the Market Lab’s 30-year celebrations, where it received such an enthusiastic response it was clear it needed a longer season.

Written and directed by Market Lab alumnus Mncedisi Shabangu, and performed by Mncedisi Shabangu and Xolile Gama, the play is a funny and insightful commentary on the lives and philosophies of two of Africa’s most influential leaders. Vuka Machel rings in an exciting year of theatre at the Laboratory, including its flagship residency programme.

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