Abstract
As the auditorium darkens a man at a computer appears, spotlit before us. Frustrated by the isolation of contemporary communica- tion he jumps up and summons us out of our theatre seats and on a journey. An ethereal voice sings from above as we tentatively cross the stage. We are led along a passage where we are confronted by a woman washing cloths, wringing them with anguish as she speaks of her pain. Further along, at another Station of the Cross, a teenage girl tries to rid herself of the horror of rape through cleansing gesture and language. Young men gather for initiation as we are led into a court- yard illuminated by braziers with a mound of earth centrally placed. As we experience the initiation of the protagonist we are drawn into the singing and dancing, into the warmth of the flames, the rough- ness of the earth that covers him and the tingling freshness of the cleansing water. (Isivuno Sama Phupha [Harvest of Dreams], 2007)
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© 2015 Mandla Mbothwe and Hazel Barnes
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Mbothwe, M., Barnes, H. (2015). Creating Communitas: The Theatre of Mandla Mbothwe. In: Fleishman, M. (eds) Performing Migrancy and Mobility in Africa. Studies in International Performance. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137379344_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137379344_4
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-47872-9
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-37934-4
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