Mbongeni Ngema’s ‘The Zulu’
Mbongeni Ngema’s eagerly-awaited new narrative piece opens the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown next week…
Expectation mounts as Mbongeni Ngema, a major icon of South Africa’s show business industry, prepares to return to the stage as an actor for the first time in many years with the unveiling of his ground-breaking new show, The Zulu. This will be presented by Committed Artists Foundation in association with the National Arts Festival, with funding by the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF). The Zulu will open this year’s National Arts Festival with a world premiere run in the Rhodes Theatre in Grahamstown between 27 and 29 June 2013, prior to touring South Africa.
Famed for the string of international stage block-busters he has created and produced, South Africa’s master of theatre Mbongeni Ngema here taps into his own richly-nurtured background of traditional story-telling, learned as a small child from his great-grandmother. His spell-binding one-man show, directed by Christopher John and designed by Sarah Roberts, melds memories of his childhood, spent in the heart of Zululand, with the grandeur of his heritage, bringing vividly to life the historic panoply of the Zulu nation.
“The Zulu follows the story of my musical of the same title, only in more depth,” says Ngema. “My new show has been in the creative pipeline for several years. It is inspired by the experiences I had as a small child, listening to the wonderful stories of heroic deeds that my great-grandmother, Mkhulutshana Manqele, shared with me. Her skills as a story-teller kept a wealth of our history alive, both about our family background and our proud roots as members of the Zulu nation. It is due to her that I have followed a career in theatre.”
At the opening of The Zulu, Ngema tells how his great-grandmother got her name from her father, who was in King Dingaan’s regiment of Umkhulutshana. When Ngema grew up in the hills of Nongoma in Zululand, she was a very old woman. She was blind, and in her mind’s eye remembered pre-colonial Zulu life.
“No one knows how old my great-grandmother was, but from all the historic events she referred to when she was a young girl we could only speculate that she must have been born around 1862. She married my great grandfather before the Zulu War of 1879. We know that she was over 100 years old when she died in 1972, but no one could tell her exact age…. All we knew was that she was as old as history.”
Indeed, it is the very history of the Zulu nation that springs to life as Mbongeni Ngema shares his important new play with today’s audiences, performed to the accompaniment of well-known Maskandi artist, Matshitshi Ngema.
Following its performances in Grahamstown, The Zulu will tour to Empangeni in Zululand for performances at the Imbizo Hall from 25 to 28 July 2013 prior to a short run at the Swaziland Theatre Club in Mbabane from 8 to 11 August 2013. The Zulu then tours to Gauteng, for a season at the Rostrum Theatre, Tshwane University of Technology in Pretoria from 29 August – 15 September, before commencing a season at the Market Theatre in Johannesburg from 18 September to 26 October 2013. The production can then be seen at the Baxter Theatre in Cape Town from 27 January to 22 February 2014. Further dates, to be confirmed, will see the production touring to the United States for a season at New York University’s Aaron Davis Hall in May 2014.
Tickets for The Zulu’s South African tour are R150 (Tuesdays and Sundays), R180 (Wednesdays) and R200 (Thursdays to Saturdays). Book through Computicket on 0861 915 8000 or online at www.computicket.com.
For more information visit our Facebook page, Mbongeni Ngema’s The Zulu, or log on to http://ngemasthezulu.blogspot.
ARTIST PROFILES
Mbongeni Ngema was born in 1955 in Verulam, KwaZulu-Natal. Separated from his parents at the age of 11, he lived with his extended family deep in rural Zululand, and then on his own in the townships around Durban. From the age of twelve, inspired by his father, he taught himself to play the guitar. His pursuit of theatre began when he worked in a fertilizer factory where he was enlisted to play guitar accompaniment for an amateur play which a fellow-worker had written. One of the actors fell ill and Ngema was asked to replace him. Later he joined the acting company of the country's then major black theatre innovator and entrepreneur, Gibson Kente. Ngema studied Kente’s style and at the same time began to discover the classics of theatre literature of internationally renowned scholars such as Stanislavsky, Peter Brooke and Jerzy Grotwski. Ngema soon broke away from Kente’s company with a fellow actor, Percy Mtwa, to write and rehearse a play of their own, Woza Albert! They auditioned the play for the Market Theatre in Johannesburg, and were accepted. Woza Albert! went on to tour internationally to wide acclaim. Between the legs of the tour, Ngema founded his Black-owned company, Committed Artists, and began to work on his next piece, Asinamali. This he presented featuring five inexperienced young men whom he rigorously trained as actors. Asinamali toured South Africa, then moved to New York City for its American premiere. For his direction, Ngema was nominated for a Tony Award. Next was Sarafina which went on to become a major international musical. After an engagement at the Market Theatre, it travelled to New York City’s Lincoln Centre and then quickly moved to Broadway where it stayed for two years before embarking on a major US tour. In the meantime Ngema assembled a second company in South Africa and sent them touring in Europe, Australia and Japan. The Broadway production was nominated for five Tony awards and the original cast recording was nominated for a Grammy. Sarafina also won eleven NAACP Image Awards, and was adapted into a feature film starring Leleti Khumalo, and other key members of the original company, as well as Whoopi Goldberg, Miriam Makeba and Ngema himself. The next two decades charted a further string of international Ngema block busters. These included Township Fever, Mama, Maria-Maria, The Zulu - The Musical, 1906 Bhambada The Freedom Fighter, The House of Shaka, and Lion of the East. Each bears fresh evidence that few of Ngema’s peers come close to commanding his capacity for thrilling mass audiences, while at the same time addressing the sensibilities of theatre connoisseurs. His uncanny grasp of minimalist theatre techniques, gleaned in his earliest days as a budding creative spirit while he learned his craft by observing and working with early mentors such as Lucky Mavundla and Gibson Kente, are married to a sure-fire command of big-stage production values. Mr Ngema’s work continues to manifest strong biographical links with his own theatrical beginnings. These have now come full circle with the production of his long-awaited narrative piece, The Zulu.
Matshitshi Ngema is a noted traditional music songwriter, performer, actor and choreographer who hails from Mthunzini in KwaZulu-Natal. He worked with Barry Leitch (‘Mkomaas’) at Shakaland as a lead dancer and traditional Zulu dance instructor. Following that stint he joined Mbongeni Ngema’s Committed Artists Company, touring Germany, Australia, and New Zealand in the hit musical, Mama. By 1996 he had gained enough experience to venture out into a solo musical career and released his self-penned debut album, Mantombazana. In 1999 he featured in Mbongeni Ngema’s musical, The Zulu, which toured Europe. In 2004 he was a featured artist during the Presidential Inauguration of Thabo Mbeki alongside Mbongeni Ngema, Jonas Gwangwa, Hugh Masekela, and many others. In 2005 he performed in House of Shaka at the Market Theatre and Emperors Palace in Johannesburg. Thereafter Matshitshi returned to the recording studio to work on his sophomore outing titled, Nongoma, released in 2008 under the fledgling Committed Artists independent label. His fame in South Africa grew with the accolade of winning the award for Best Performer of Maskandi Music, presented by Ukhozi FM. Subsequent recording projects such as his album of traditional music titled, Utwayi, have endorsed his successful career at the forefront of South African music, whilst continuing with live concerts and shows.
Distinguished stage director and academic Christopher John was born in Zimbabwe and is currently head of The School of Live Performance at AFDA in Cape Town. He has extensive experience working as an actor, teacher, and director with important Western and African theatre companies. He studied acting at the Central School of Speech and Drama and under the name Christopher Hurst worked as a professional actor in Britain; working with the Royal Shakespeare Company, in the West End, and on Broadway. In 1986, he returned to Zimbabwe and worked in the townships of Bulawayo with Cont Mhlanga at Amakhosi Productions playing in Mhlanga’s Workshop Negative and teaching acting. He also worked with ex-combatants making plays at Simukai Collective Farming Co-operative. The Tabex Encyclopaedia Zimbabwe credits him with making an important contribution to the debates about decolonizing theatre in Zimbabwe in the 1980s. In 1997 he moved to South Africa to lecture at the University of KwaZulu-Natal where he ran projects in Bhambayi in Inanda using theatre and video to help heal a community torn apart by political violence. For twelve years he led a Prison Theatre project at Westville Correctional Facility in Durban. He has worked for Mbongeni Ngema’s Committed Artists as an actor and teacher, appearing in 1906: Bhambatha the Freedom Fighter and Lion of The East. In 2008 he was a Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence at California State University Polytechnic, Pomona. He has a Doctoral degree from the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
One of South Africa’s leading stage designers, Sarah Roberts was born in KwaZulu-Natal and was educated at Pietermaritzburg Girls High School. She graduated with BA Honours from the University of Natal (Durban) in 1976 then spent two years in Cardiff courtesy of an Emma Smith Scholarship. With a Post-Graduate Diploma in Practical Theatre Studies and an MA nearing completion she joined the Wits Drama Department in 1982. She has recently submitted a PhD thesis and celebrated that accomplishment with a trip to Tanzania, Kilimanjaro and the Ngorogoro Crater. A member of the Wits Theatre staff at its inception, she forged professional links with a range of emergent South African collectives and individuals with whom she still collaborates. Career highlights in theatre include Mbongeni Ngema’s Sarafina! (and some 12 subsequent new musicals developed by Mr Ngema), John Kani’s Nothing But the Truth, the concert stage for the Inauguration of President Mandela and Bravo Africa- The 3 Tenors in Concert. She prefers working in live theatre and events to the medium of film and television although she has some experience in both media. She designed the acclaimed film Chikin Biznis. She has worked extensively on live televised events from award ceremonies to the launch of Zakumi (the 2012 World Cup Soccer mascot). A multi-award winning designer, she is currently developing costumes for the first licensed non-replica production of Starlight Express which opens at the Joburg Theatre July 2013, and working on a project with Maishe Maponya, in addition to Ronnie Govender’s new play, Botoo.
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-Interviews and photos available on request-
ISSUED FOR COMMITTED ARTISTS FOUNDATION
BY WILLIAM CHARLTON-PERKINS
COPY DOG EDITORIAL ENTERPRISES
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