TEN BUSH, presented by the Market Theatre, written and directed by Mncedisi Shabangu, co-written by Craig Higginson (main, drama, world premiere, Rhodes Box, today – Thursday at 7pm, tomorrow – Friday at 2pm and 7pm, Saturday at 11am and 3pm):
Reviewed by Leon Muston, Arts Editor
TEN Bush is an emotionally and politically charged drama playing out in a world where traditional beliefs clash with personal relationships.
The story is set in a village in Mpumalanga, where centuries ago a battle took place when 10 tribal leaders united to fight their Basotho enemies.
But Chief Maluza (Hamilton Dlhamini) went against the plan, withdrawing his soldiers, leaving the others to be ambushed and killed.
Later he returned and settled at the spot, where now he and the other nine leaders haunt the village.
Maluza appears to Martha (Tinah Mnumzana), telling her to give birth to a daughter, and once that virgin daughter reaches womanhood, to sacrifice her, lifting the curse.
But Martha is unable to conceive and asks her husband Simon (Sello Sebotsane) and blind sister Khabonina (Zandile Msutwana) to have a child which she will raise as her own.
But a fall-out in the family leads Khabonina to keep the child, bringing it up with Albert (again, played by Dlhamini) as the father. Albert lost his wife years earlier, when she was murdered, having been accused of witchcraft.
At this point the story fast-forwards to the point when the daughter, Duduzile (Lebogang Modiba) has her first period. Now that Duduzile is a “woman”, Martha becomes determined to get custody, in order to go ahead with the sacrifice.
While the adults are battling, Duduzile meets the man of her dreams, Makungula (Xolile Gama), who she is unaware is the son of the chief.
Initially the two are rather shy around each other, not allowing a relationship to develop, until the point when Martha, Simon, Albert and Khabonina are appearing before the chief, asking him to rule on the custody issue.
The two take the opportunity to sneak off and have sex – of course meaning Duduzile is no longer a virgin.
But will this stop Martha’s devious plan?
It’s a very unusual production from an acting perspective – whenever a character is not central to the action, the actors remain just outside the acting area, throwing props to the central actors, or holding up branches or other objects to add to the scenery.
Also, I’d hate to be the one to have to clean up at the end of the production, as all sorts of liquids and solids get thrown around the stage at various points, Duduzile in particular getting soaked with a sticky liquid.
The acting cast is quite strong, managing to change between characters convincingly and also fairly good at singing at the few points where this is necessary.
The one minor criticism is that it takes quite a while before anything exciting happens – the first 20 minutes or so seem to drag.
But by the end it proves to be a thoroughly entertaining story which will also provide food for thought regarding the place for traditional practices in a modern world.
Tags: ancestors, chief, human sacrifice, Mpumalanga, Theatre review, virgin, world premiere
