Mokgoro taps in feared, dark spaces in That Night of Trance
Film premieres tonight at selected cinemas
Theatre director Ntshieng Mokgoro is delighted that her stage show That Night of Trance, which was converted into a film, will premiere tonight at selected Ster-Kinekor cinemas.
Mokgoro’s stage-to-screen film will get a chance to be seen by a wider and greater audience, thanks to Covid-19 that has forced people to embrace fourth industrial revolution. That Night of Trance will be shown at cinemas as part of the partnership that South African State Theatre (SAST) has with Ster-Kinekor to screen theatre productions.
The film boasts stars like Segametsi Gaobepe who won the Standard Bank Ovation Award in 2015 and former Rhythm City star Nomathamsanqa Ngoma. It also features The Soil group star, Ntsika Ngxanga, who apart from acting also composed the music.
That Night of Trance play was developed in 2017 and staged at SAST in 2018 where it was filmed. The 47-year-old Mokgoro, who has made a profound mark in the drama scene, having developed a number of community-based projects, says the play tackles African spirituality and challenges faced by young black women. The story is told through a spiritually gifted young woman Pulane, whose life takes a sharp turn after an ancestral calling.
“The show follows the life of a young goal-oriented girl and well-learnered university student. While everything is going well for her, she discovers that she has a calling – something that she regarded as barbaric. She is, however, caught in between the city life and heeding the call of ubungoma.
“That Night of Trance is important in that it attempts to revive the confidence of women living in harsh environments, both from rural and urban areas, and encourages them to be proud of who they are and embrace their culture and tradition.”
The film opened at SAST in Pretoria in 2018 and its opening was full of drama, with some people from the audience going into trance. Mokgoro says the play tapped into a feared and dark space because after the performance people were asking questions.
Mokgoro, who is the founder of Olive Tree Theatre in Alexandra, says the story was inspired by her observation that the calling of ubungoma is becoming prevalent. The seasoned writer says with the play she wanted to tap into the issue of spirituality which has become pervasive.
“I have been writing plays for many years and most of them have that element of spirituality. I will start the production but during the process it would change and end up taking a spiritual route. This made me to question if I was playing my healing part through these productions. After writing the show, I also headed the call and have gone through the training process.”
Mokgoro, who spent 10 years in community theatre, wrote her first play in 1997 titled Africa in Russia (Moscow) as part of the Festival Children of the World. Over the years her pen has become mightier and sharper. Her production Umdlwembe, which she wrote and directed for the Barney Simon Young Directors Festival, was awarded a professional season at Johannesburg’s Market Theatre in December 1999. The play further went to the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown in 2000.
The Standard Bank Young Artist award winner for drama, also wrote and directed Thursday’s Child, which won an award at the Market Theatre’s Zwakala Festival.
You can catch That Night of Trance at Ster-Kinekor cinemas like Musgrave (Durban), Sterland (Pretoria), Newtown, Rosebank Nouveau (Joburg), Cavendish (Cape Town) and Baywest (Gqeberha).