‘Sugar Daddies’ takes to the road to visit schools
THE 2013 Playhouse Community Arts Festival (CAF) closed at the weekend and on a high note, with Ekhaya Multi Arts Centre’s Sugar Daddies.
As the name suggests, the play tackles the growing social issue of older, often married, men who date younger girls. Studies have shown that these relationships are also linked to the increased spread of HIV/Aids from older men to younger girls and from these young girls to their boyfriends of the same age.
I watched the production with a group of schools on Thursday afternoon. As would be the case with a bunch of young hormonal and playful teenagers on a field trip, the Loft Theatre was a rowdy and jovial space before the lights went out and the play started. But the mood quickly changed as the youngsters got hooked into what was unfolding on stage.
Lesiwe, a pastor’s daughter, has a new friend at school, Thembeka, who’s also the new girl. The girls are opposites. Lesiwe is being brought up by both her parents, is focused on her studies and is a child-like 16-year-old.
Thembeka’s life circumstances have forced her to grow up before her time. An orphan, she’s had to live with her poor grandmother who cannot afford to provide for Thembeka, so the girl has found a way to take care of herself.
She has a series of sugar daddies who take care of her needs (money for school fees, clothes, entertainment) and she takes care of theirs with sexual favours.
As the two girls negotiate this newfound friendship they must overcome much, including an unexpected twist.
Kudos to director Edmund Mhlongo and his team for tackling a very pertinent issue head-on, yet with such sensitivity. The dialogue of the play was laden with factfilled information that often drew reactions from the young audience.
Also, at the end of the play a question and answer session with the cast revealed just how engaged the schoolgoers were with the play as they answered questions about the different scenes of the play and freely gave their opinions about the subject matter.
One teacher at the end noted thatwe live in a society in which we cannot afford to be concerned only for our own children, but need to take care of all the children in our communities. He said a play such as this educated children about the danger of sugar daddies and the responsibilities on young people too.
Since April 11, CAF has been staging a triple bill of Talking Spirit, Umlabalaba and Zion (programme 1) and Sugar Daddies (programme 2), with the subject matter ranging from correctional rape to domestic violence to poverty and unemployment.
The community groups were schooled and prepped for the stage under some of the best talent in the industry with the likes of Mhlongo, Ralph Lawson, Caroline Smart, Peter Gardner, Juan Burgers, Ashwin Singh, Peter Court, Dr Emma Durden, Megan Levy, Nkanyiso Kunene and Sandile Mbili.
Sugar Daddies is touring schools on an awareness drive. To book it for your school, at no cost, call Tanya at 031 369 9467.