‘Third World Express’ a world-class experience that inspires hope
A NEW musical, Third World Express, is a theatre masterpiece that draws inspiration from the iconic poem of the same title by Dr Mongane Wally Serote and it’s on at the Joburg Theatre until Sunday.
For Shadrack Bokaba, the show producer, the journey started in 2016, when he first posed the question of the possibility of staging the Third World Express to Serote.
In his response Serote said: “We need inspiration and discourse that will move us forward as Africans here at home and in the diaspora. We need to develop the ability to innovate and to regenerate the energy of our continent with a cultural renaissance that will be informed by our music. We have no choice but to do that.”
At the helm of this melting pot of South African music, dance poetry, art, history and heritage is choreographer extraordinaire and theatre maker Gregory Maqoma, who spoke to IOL Entertainment about bringing this vision to life.
“Usually I dream of these things and I allow them to manifest over time, but this one I was approached by Shadrack Bokaba,” he explained.
“Initially, he wanted me to choreograph the work and to envision it as a jazz musical. And then he gave me ntate Wally Serote’s poem to read.
“Reading that poem, a lot of images and metaphors came to me and then I said to Shadrack, ‘we need to really make something that can resonate with the world’. Something that would pay homage and give justice to ntate Wally and the poem itself because the poem is turning 30 this year.”
Maqoma said it was important for him to highlight the legacy of this poem through this musical because it marks a significant change in the history of South Africa.
“The poem touches on pertinent things that we are battling with as a country ... the hope, the new dawn that was announced when South Africa was first going into a new democracy.
“In all parts of the world people were coming back home, they came with the hope that we are going to build a new South Africa and just the premise of what that democracy was for all of us. But that hope failed us as people. So, it was important for me to tap into that disappointment of the hope and how we justify the position we find ourselves in as a country.
“There is so much that is broken. Systems are broken. People are broken. We’ve been let down.”
Maqoma added that although the story may be set in South Africa in the ’90s, the message is universal and relevant, even today.
“I wanted to create a mirror for those coming to watch the show because the story will resonate with many people around the world.
“There’s just nothing foreign in this piece. I think the only foreign thing is that we forgot to dream. And we need to dream again, we need to aspire for greatness in this country because we are a great country. And we end a piece with a dream and in that dream, we are saying, ‘this is what our country could be’.
“So, I’m not leaving people in the misery in which they live. We can still see the future. We can still wake up from all of this and create a South Africa, a world we all want to see. I want people to come and watch this show and walk out with a sense of hope and that’s what I hope I can give to people as a gift. They must walk away with that renewed energy.”
Music director Mark Cheyne will showcase his original compositions and arrangements, which will be infused with iconic South African songs, including Hugh Masekela’s Stimela, Letta Mbulu’s There’s Music in the Air and Miriam Makeba’s Soweto Blues.
The show also features Vuyani Dance Theatre and members of the National Philharmonic Orchestra, alongside some of Mzansi’s top jazz artists: Billy Monama, Sydney Mavundla, Sisonke Xonti, Lucas Senyatso.
Third World Express tickets are available at Webtickets from R200.
As Mzansi gets ready for Heritage Day this Saturday, we look at theatre productions that help celebrate our cultures and traditions.
Mr Hare meets Mr Mandela Where: Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre and Studio.
When: September 27 to October 9. This is a stage adaptation of a book by Chris Van Wyk, directed by Daniel Geddes. The cast of four dynamic, actors bring to life a tale about bravery, honesty and persistence, as well as the significance of being literate and the importance of reading – something dear to the late Madiba’s heart.
The Spirit of Afrikan Dance and Music Where: Soweto Theatre.
When: September 24. Curated by Gauteng Dance Manyano, the show will “affirm and continue to preserve our cultures for generations to come”, says Njabulo Jimmy Sibiya, creative arts practitioner.
“It serves as a cornerstone of continuing our living heritage.”
CAPE TOWN
Isingqala Samanzi/The Call of Water
Where: Baxter Theatre.
When: September 22 - 24. Presented by Staatstheater Augsburg, in association with The Baxter, Isingqala Samanzi forms part of a special collaboration between South Africa and Germany.
The production takes the audience on a journey of water crisis awareness, with puppets hand made by the Cape Town-based Ukwanda Puppet Company.
In this play, the world-famous fountain figures of the Augustus Fountain in Augsburg, Germany, meet Inkomo Yamanzi (the cow that brings water), and Roman deities meet ancestor worship.
What at first glance could hardly be more different, on closer inspection proves to be less of a contrast than an affinity of the essence.
Written by Andreas Hillger it’s performed by an ensemble of six performers, three South Africans and three Germans: Sipho Ngxola, Thomas Prazak, Karoline Stegemann, Siphokazi Mpofu, Luyanda Nogodlwana, Franziska Rattay, and directed by Dorothea Schroeder. DURBAN
Heritage Day Organ Concert Where: St Paul’s Church, Durban. When: September 24.
Two organ maestros – Melvin Peters and visiting organist Tim Gunter – perform in a joint Heritage Day Organ Concert. Gunter is visiting from Durban’s sister city, Bremen, where he is a church musician.
The pair have been performing together regularly since 2010. Apart from performing a programme for piano and organ together, they typically also take part in group concerts, and workshops with students, working with various genres including jazz, choral works and German Romantic pieces.