One-handed recipe stirs thought
I use culinary terminology to introduce characters to demonstrate the misconstrued perceptions of beauty that have been imposed upon black women
LEANETSE Seekoe has written and performs in her debut play, 4 cups 1 tbsp – “a spiritual and political awakening of black womanhood told through dance and poetic narration” – which is on at Theatre Arts Admin Collective in Observatory from Tuesday to Saturday at 7pm. Direction is by Slindile Mthembu. Seekoe, 25, was born in Bloemfontein and her family moved to Joburg. Mthembu, 26, was born and raised in Joburg. They met at high school in 2006.
Seekoe graduated from UCT in 2013 with a drama degree. She subsequently trained as a teacher and then taught creative arts at a high school in Cape Town. In-between, she registered for an MA in English and Comparative Literature at the University of Fort Hare.
She hopes to complete her thesis, “A Black Performer’s Plight: Examining the Position of Black South African Speech Accents in Performance Spaces: A Case Study”, by next year
“The topic basically implies that within the multilingual classroom and succeeding into the performance spaces, black South African speech accents seem to be under the threat of imminent endangerment. These performance spaces can include radio platforms, television and film industries, as well as theatre spaces,” she said.
4 cups 1 tbsp came to the boil when she started her MA and discovered her passion for writing. Said Seekoe: “It is a one-hander. I introduce 10 characters in 12 monologues… The main character, ‘The Woman’, lives in a house that is divided into three rooms: kitchen, delivery room and bedroom. Symbolically the house represents a womb because onstage there are jars filled with water, buckets and bowls of water and a washing line that holds up white dresses, some of which are wet.”
There are two colours on stage: the white colours represent white supremacy and the red colours represent womanhood. Physical movement has been utilised to enhance some of the poetry, and an example of how dance manifests in the play is for the character, ‘Water’. Basically, the character is having a sexual encounter with her abusive boyfriend. She explains this is the only time when he is soft and kind to her, but when he is done, he becomes aggressive again.
“In the dance, the movements are repetitive – to show that the character encourages her boyfriend to have sex with her as often as possible, just so that she can have his romantic attention.”
As for the title of the play, Seekoe said: “I use the vocabulary of a recipe guide or culinary terminology to introduce characters: Temperature (200), Milk, Method, Taste, Ingredients, Water and Fruit. ‘Ingredients’ prepares a frosting out of black hair products for her cupcakes.
“The purpose of this image is to demonstrate the misconstrued perceptions of beauty that have been imposed upon black women in society. But when a character does not have a name, it is either because the character speaks from a voice-over or because it is a monologue that is not from my personal experience…”
The issue of “patriarchy and racism” against women in the performing industry is taking centre stage at the moment with the Harvey Weinstein revelations and people like Bill Cosby outed. The play is about fast-track- ing the conversation.
Said Mthembu: “Patriarchy and racism is endemic all over the world and artists are not exempted. The leading directors and producers of most productions are men. Women play a subservient and a secondary role. Exploitation is rife with expected sexual favours in order to climb the success ladder. In South Africa, it is coupled with femicide and misogyny.
“It is so much entrenched among the black population, and women themselves play a major role in promoting it. The concept of white monopoly capital transcends all forms of industry, including arts. Almost all major entertainments are white male-owned and black women hardly feature. The one way we can solve this is to continue to encourage women to work with one another and not against each other.”
Added Seekoe: “Absolutely. And in terms of the Bill Cosby issue, I was shocked that so many women had gone through the same thing for so long and not one of them found the courage to step forward and expose him as a notorious predator. There is a culture amongst women where we are comfortable with being honest to men about ourselves and other women, but hide our true thoughts and feelings from one another… We don’t have a safe zone amongst us as women and we are reluctant to claim one.
“Thank goodness that we are developing theatre spaces as one of the main forums that encourage these types of issues. As for the Harvey Weinstein situation, I can imagine black actresses like Lupita Nyong’o feeling objectified as one of the few African-born actresses in the television and film industries. It is bad enough that few opportunities are offered to black actresses in Hollywood, so white men in leadership will exploit such disadvantages.
“Probably in a similar way, wealthy men initiate transactional relationships with young women from deprived backgrounds, or young girls who substitute the absence of their fathers with older men. These seem like common and recurring circumstances that have been accepted as too trivial to discuss with women from generations before us.
“Fortunately, we are in an era where voices have become much stronger, thanks to social media. But still, women are afraid to be honest with another about these things, because… where there is criticism and competition we don’t feel safe. And that is what women have learnt to feed themselves on: criticism and competition.”
Tickets are R60 tomorrow and there will be a noon performance to raise funds for production costs of the play. Tickets are R100 for the fund-raising event. Book at 062 121 9470. For other shows, call 021 447 3683 or buy at the door.