All hail as ‘uMabatha’ set for stage

noted commentator, the late Lucky Sibaya, in his publication on uMabatha.

Written in 1970, the play is a landmark in the South African theatre landscape. “Welcome Msomi, a highly talented playwright, was encouraged in his work, and ultimately to international acclaim, by Professor Elizabeth Sneddon, former head of the Department of Speech and Drama at the University of Natal. uMabatha was first produced in the Natal University’s Open-Air Theatre (Now the University of KwaZulu-Natal) in 1971. There have since been extremely successful renderings abroad,” Sibaya said.

Msomi was invited to close the Royal Shakespeare Company’s World Theatre Season in London with his play in 1972. The production was remounted in 1973 at London’s Aldwych Theatre, where it broke all box office records. The play was subsequently staged numerous times during the 1970s, including productions at the Italian and American Spoleto Festivals, London’s Old Vic (1977) and for three months at an offBroadway theatre in New York City, as well as at various theatres in Aberdeen in Scotland, Zimbabwe, Cape Town and Johannesburg.

uMabatha was revived in postapartheid South Africa in 1995 at the request of Nelson Mandela. It is directed by DUT’s drama lecturer Siza KaMnisi Mthembu, and features DUT Department of Drama and Production Studies students.

Venue is the Courtyard Theatre, Steve Biko Road, Ritson Campus, Gate 6. For bookings or information: Lebo Sibisi on 031 373 1694 during office hours.