Hybrid of drama, poetry and other arts makes ‘her-story’
AWARD-WINNING theatre practitioner and newly-appointed artistic director at Sibikwa Arts Centre, Napo Masheane, is hosting and curating a three-day international festival in honour of Charlotte Maxeke.
The Seriti Sa Basadi International Festival promises audiences a not-tobe-missed hybrid experience.
Under the theme “Her-story Re-birthed, Re-told, Re-lived”, the hybrid boosts a series of drama, poetry, music, dance and literature.
The festival also aims to provide world-class performances by women creatives from South Africa, Brazil, Nigeria, Ghana, the UK, Canada, Haiti, the US and Sweden.
“This year South Africa is commemorating 150 years of Charlotte Mokgomo Mannya (Maxeke), who was born in Botlokwa Ga-Ramokgoba, now Polokwane. In 1891, Maxeke, at the age of 20, joined the African Jubilee Choir, which toured the UK, USA and Canada from 1891-1893.
“And later on she was offered a scholarship to study at Wilberforce University in Ohio (US), making her the first black South African woman to obtain a Bachelor of Science degree,” says Masheane.
“With this in mind, Seriti Sa Basadi will have artistic threads of feminine works inspired by Maxeke – her story, and those of 20 000 women, mothers, sisters, and daughters of all races, who marched to the Union Buildings on August 9 in 1956 against the pass laws.
“As contemporary feminine voices, we are rebirthing ourselves, retelling their story and reliving inspired by these women’s existence.”
Masheane says she’s looking for a “collaborative exchange” between women like herself, who advocate for change within the theatre landscape in their respective spaces.
“I’m looking forward to creating and forming strong bonds of sisterhood that support each other, that challenge each other and the status quo. More so, I look forward to all of us holding each other accountable in telling, archiving, documenting and expressing, ‘Her-story’.”
She adds that Sibikwa Arts Centre saw the need to create a platform for a hybrid festival to aid the theatre and art fraternity that has been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, while celebrating women worldwide.
“Theatre has always been at the forefront of evolution…traditionally, socially and politically.
“This means the industry has been forced or rather inspired to think out of the black box.
“If people are unable to come to the theatre, we need to take theatre to them…and this might mean adapting to digital theatre without losing the heart and soul of traditional theatre.
The three day event starts on Friday and runs until Sunday. Tickets cost R150. The festival can be streamed via Sibikwa Arts Centre’s Facebook page.