Buhle Qinga and Sivuyile Dunjwa in Four Fathers: Bananas for the Baboons. PICTURE: Marcel Swanepoel
A brand new South African play, Four Fathers: Bananas for the Baboons, which explores black fatherhood and absent fathers in the country, premieres at the Baxter Golden Arrow Studio, from Wednesday August 3 to Saturday August 20 at 7.30pm nightly, with Saturday matinees at 2.30pm.
Using different theatrical styles, the play follows two boys who are on a quest to find their father and on their journey, they encounter surreal, “out of this world” events that they never thought existed. They find themselves inside an exploration of South African history. Their imagination takes them on a journey through three periods in time: the first 15 years of apartheid, from 1948 to the 1960s; the 1906 Bambatha Rebellions; and the Cattle Killing Movement of 1856, represented by Prophetess Nongqawuse.
With this production, emerging young writer and director, Kitso Seti, makes his debut as a director.
“I use my art as a time machine, to travel back into the past, to where we think the destitution and disarray of Africa stems from,” says Seti. “The idea is to make sense of the times we live in and our current standing in the world. In a quest to bettering the future, we need to retrace and investigate the steps that led us here. Africa is reeling from a long list of effects of colonialism, and the collapse of the black family is one of them. This production is my submission to the continual search for black voices in the telling of black stories, in a way we deem possible.”
Four Fathers: Bananas for the Baboons is performed in English, isXhosa and Zulu with English surtitles. Tickets cost R120. Book through Webtickets or at Pick n Pay stores. For discounted block or school bookings, charities or fundraisers contact Carmen Kearns on email camen.kearns@uct.ac.za or call 021 680 3993.