OVERDUE YET TIMEOUS TRIBUTE
Vibrant treat for new generations of theatre-goers
IT MUST BE an indomitable task for any theatre practitioner to pay a musical tribute to one whose career spans more than 50 years, one who has written more than 34 plays and never stopped writing, even when he was critically ill.
Perhaps the only fitting tribute is to put some of his works on stage of the township theatre that he trailblazed. And this is exactly what director Makhaola Ndebele has done.
The Gibson Kente Music Tribute is a long overdue, but fitting homage to a colossus of South African music and drama.
The vibrant production showcases the sparkling talents of a new generation of stage performers who were either too young or not yet born when Kente’s plays were the staple of black entertainment in the 1970s and 1980s.
According to the director, it was a deliberate decision to select a youthful cast whose ages range between 24 and 40 with the intention of bringing awareness of the maestro’s works to current generations of artists.
The play is a first major tribute since Kente’s death 13 years ago at 72.
Ndebele said the idea to honour Kente had been inspired by a proud legacy that is evident in the country’s performing arts.
It is difficult to imagine significant stage and screen performers in the past six decades who haven’t crossed Kente’s path.
As the pioneer of township musicals, this remarkable playwright, director, choreographer, composer, teacher and mentor has influenced generations of South African performing artists.
From the aptly named 1433 Pioneer Avenue, Dube Village, at his Soweto backyard garage, he moulded and motivated future stars of song and stage such as Margaret Mcingana, Mary Twala, Zakithi Dlamini, his niece Dambisa Kente and the goddess of township pop herself, Brenda Fassie.
Kente’s theatrical pieces have been described as spontaneous and organic reflections of community life.
A talented pianist and singer, his love for music was sparked while he was a pupil at the primary school section of Bethel Training College in Butterworth, Eastern Cape.
This passion grew when he went to Lovedale College in Alice, Eastern Cape, where he learnt to write songs and matriculated in 1953. At Lovedale he took lessons in piano and theory of music.
He loved the works of George Gershwin and Irving Berlin, arguably two of the last century’s most influential composers from the West.
A social worker by profession, Kente was trained at Jan Hofmeyr School of Social Work between 1955 and 1957. It was at the famous Johannesburg college that he formed a music group, the Kente Choristers.
He never practised as a social worker, but instead joined Gallo Records as a talent scout and songwriter. It was during these years that he wrote and composed songs for some of the great recording artists of that era – Miriam Makeba, Letta Mbulu and the Manhattan Brothers.
Two of Kente’s compositions made famous by the Manhattan Brothers are Sinners are Welcome and Chaka,
included the Manhattan Brothers’ Greatest Hits collection (Gallo, 1999).
He was Miriam Makeba and the Skylarks’ principal composer between 1956 and 1959.
His eight compositions, including Remember Sophiatown, are included in Gallo’s 1991 and 2008 compilation albums, The Very Best of Miriam Makeba and the Skylarks – Volume 1 & 2. He then led a vocal harmony group, the Firebirds.
Inspired by the success of King Kong (1959), he turned his attention to penning musicals. His first play, Manana the Jazz Prophet (1961), was produced by Dorkay-based Union Artists’ Ian Bernhardt and cast a young Letta Mbulu and Cai- phus Semenya in lead roles.
A critique of the township preachers, the play premiered at Wits Great Hall and immediately struck a chord with township folks in 1963.
His subsequent township musicals toured extensively during the 1960s and 1970s.
Fusing American gospel, negro spirituals, African folk laments, swing and other styles, his music and dialogue touched the real issues – crime, poverty – that confronted his audiences.
He often applied slapstick comedy, satire and a melodramatic style of dialogue to drive his point home. This exaggerated style of verbalising later found expression in his protege Mbongeni Ngema’s most famous work, Sarafina!
Two of his famous works in the 1960s were Sikalo (1966) and Lifa (1968). Sikalo (Lament) features the music of Mackay Davashe and his jazz band with Margaret Mcingana, Simon Sabela Mabunu, Kenny Majozi and Cocky “Two-Bull” Tlhotlhalemaje in the lead roles.
Following the overwhelming success of Sikalo with township audiences, Kente left Union Artists and set up his own production company, Gibson Kente Productions.
In 1970 he started experimenting with romantic comedy when he staged Zwi. But it
anti-apartheid How Long? (1974), I Believe (1975) and Too Late (1976) that revolutionised township theatre.
“To the township eye How Long? is a daily spectacle,” Kente explained.
“It is an expression of our lives – our fears, and tears, our hopes, aspirations, frustrations and suffering – all packaged in throbbing and moving music, with the mood and verve of the townships.”
Unlike its predecessors, How Long? had a direct and immediate impact, because of its social relevance and a theme that affects all black people – education.
Too Late developed the theme of education further, warning the authorities against the effects of oppression and anticipated the June 16 1976 student uprisings. These plays were banned.
In 1976 Kente and filmmaker Thomas Mogotlane were arrested by the police in King William’s Town, Eastern Cape, while they were shooting a film version of How Long? and spent three months in detention without any charges being brought against them.
Despite the arrests and bannings, Kente was undaunted and continued to pen works critical of the status quo while exploring other themes such as romance, as in Can You Take It? (1977).
The play is based on a love story presented in the Broadway tradition of colourful costumes and elaborate choreographed routines.
In the 1980s he produced some of his best works like Mama and the Load (1980), Now is the Time (1982), Things are Bad Mzala (1982) and Sekunjalo (1987) – a satirical warning to the future black ruling elite not to oppress its people.
He also produced three TV dramas and an SABC docudrama, Going Back (1981) – based on Mama and the Load and the West Side Story theme.
Ironically, under the new dispensation Kente was usually at odds with the ANC government. He felt that the SABC was sidelining his TV works while on the other hand his critics felt that he was selling out by staging his plays at venues such as the State Theatre – previously a cultural citadel of apartheid.
It took some serious lobbying on his part to have his drama Mama’s Love screened on television. A year before his death, Kente called a press conference at the Market Theatre, Johannesburg and to the shock of many, announced that he was HIV positive.
He immediately went to work and wrote his last play, The Call (2003) about the importance of disclosing one’s HIV status.
The Gibson Kente Music Tribute is at the Soweto Theatre until Sunday. Tickets cost R120, with early bird tickets at R80 available at the on-site box office, www.sowetotheatre.com and selected Pick n Pay stores.
‘To the township eye How Long? is a daily spectacle’