Harvest lays bare a woman’s soul
Harvest is e.tv’s newest TV series. Buhle Mbonambi spoke to the showrunner and head writer, Portia Gumede
PORTIA Gumede is one of South Africa’s most successful TV scriptwriters. She has been part of some of the most groundbreaking shows, such as the International Emmy-nominated Sokhulu and Partners, which she created; the King Lear adaptation, Izingane Zobaba, which she also co-starred in; critically acclaimed dramas Montana, Shreds and Dreams, Saints and Sinners; and the telenovellas, Inkaba, Zabalaza, Greed and Desire and Gold Diggers.
Harvest, which airs on Mondays on e.tv at 9.30pm, is her newest show.
Harvest stars Masasa Mbangeni, Vatiswa Ndara and Khanya Mkhangisa as the protagonists, Celia, Clementine and Tshepiso respectively. What made you go behind the scenes? Was it the lack of interesting roles or did you want to be more in control of the narrative?
My passion for all things that make great TV got me there. My behind-the-scene story is a good one. I was up for a role in Stokvel but they were looking for writers. I chose to write and not take the role. Yes, the control for the narrative is always there. It’s your baby – you gave birth to it and you want nothing but success so you keep your warm hand over it. I gather it is not a decision you regret.
There are no regrets and I’ve had great mentors along the way allowing me to hone the skill but one is still learning. What was the first thing you realised about shaping the narrative of the story you are telling?
It is the characters letting you get into their world and letting you write about it but allowing you to make decisions on how to portray their story. It took me a while to embrace this and, now that I have, it becomes easier to shape the story you want to extract from them. What kind of viewers are South Africans? Are we tough to please?
The South African viewer is complex. They are frustrating, just as they are delightful. I wouldn’t say they are tough to please, but you can’t fool them, especially now with so much good content on our screens. Appointment viewing has really taken centre stage and as a creative you want them to book an appointment with your story too. When you go into developing a story, do you think of all that – whether the audience will quickly take to the story or easily drop out?
I think you mostly rely on the broadcaster as they know their audience far better than you as a creative but, yes, your main concern is the audience. When you are still creating the story it is for you, but once you are commissioned it is for the people out there. Is it fair for us to compare our TV productions to Western TV shows?
Yes and no. Our stories are rich and there are still more stories to be told. We differ though, in budget assistance. In terms of production value, it’s not fair to compare but story-wise I don’t mind it as it only helps one up the stakes in storytelling. What is it about Harvest that will keep our eyes glued to the screen?
It is a female-driven series with well-thought-out characters. Harvest deals with black women’s trials and triumphs. The characters are strong, unapologetic, vulnerable and strong when the need arises. Delightful bunch. Harvest is about three women who have had to step up after the death of their husbands. Do they interact? Do they work together?
Celia and Clementine have a long-standing friendship. They are truly sisters. Tshepiso is an outsider but through marriage is reluctantly invited into the circle. The business is a focal point as it is the reason why Celia and Clementine met. But it’s a series really about women rooted in their beliefs while others are finding themselves. How is their relationship with each other?
Robust, dangerous, fun and an emotionally engaging relationship to witness. Trust is of great importance to them; so is loyalty. Tshepiso, the young bride, finds it hard to be respected by Celia and Clementine but in due time she earns their trust. She works hard to prove herself. Were they all aware that their husbands were in the criminal underworld? How do they handle it?
Here’s the fun fact. The women are the reason these men ended up in the criminal underworld. They are the ones, who in their peak of their pregnancies, crossed the border to smuggle dagga into South Africa while their husbands were studying towards their MBAS or trying to secure jobs. The men had their wives as breadwinners for a while before the idea to make the dagga business legal came about. Now they have to rise up to the challenge of running things in a man’s world – obviously it’s not easy, from being the boss’s wife to now being the one running things, there must be some resistance. Is that a major part of the story?
They were always part of the men’s world but were gracious enough to let their husbands run things even though they were the brains behind it all. When their husbands are murdered they are forced to go back into business.
The only major resistance they face is themselves – who they’ve become over the years – and we get this side of the story through flashbacks. Through understanding, some characters get redemption, while others don’t. Celia, Clementine and Tshepiso are clearly different – Celia and Clementine are hardcore, while Tshepiso is the ditzy trophy wife. It must have been fun developing the characters?
It was fun and haunting as one had to go to places that were at times dark and unforgiving to give our characters satisfactory journeys. Clementine is hardcore because she had to constantly fight for herself.
Celia is unforgiving because she trusted too much as a young bride and slowly started to change to a woman she can barely recognise. Tshepiso is actually smart but her desperation to be loved has put her in a position of someone who comes across as ditzy. What experiences from your life influence your characters?
It’s curiosity mostly and growing up with women with different experiences of life. My experiences aren’t enough to fill 26 hours of riveting TV even though I do tap into my emotional experiences. Emotional experiences are gold to me. The good and the bad, as I always know one day I’m going to have to write about this experience. The trick is what environment do I take these emotional experiences to. With Harvest I did that and it healed some parts of me a bit. I recently read on social media about how South Africans are over the witchcraft stories on TV. Do you think when a certain theme becomes successful on TV, sometimes broadcasters want to cash-in quickly on the trend?
Is the South African viewer tired of witchcraft or is it making them uncomfortable? That for me is interesting to probe. Witchcraft is something we hardly speak of but now it is playing out. Broadcasters know what works and know what advertisers want. It is a business decision supported by great stories. Is there still a story that you would do anything to tell? What is it and what medium do you prefer?
Yes and I’m telling that story now. Harvest. It all started with one question “what if she crossed the border, smuggled dagga to feed her family and in the midst of the rush she discovered herself only to be destroyed by a man she loved?” I prefer TV but approaching the story telling through a film maker’s eye. You have an all-star cast in Harvest – so the expectations are very high. Please give us three reasons why we need to watch the show?
The soul of a woman is laid bare and so are her flaws.
The cast owned the story in the end. There’s romance. There’s pain shown for anyone to see and want to rescue it. It is bitter-sweet, just like life.