Nomathemba

Nomathemba is a play by Eric Simonson, Joseph Shabalala () and Ntozake Shange

The original text

The play's title comes from the song "Nomathemba", written by Joseph Shabalala (1940–2020) round about 1965, the play was created and performed by Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago in 1995.

The story, written by Eric Simonson, Joseph Shabalala and Ntozake Shange, a timeless tale of love, is very much of the present age, set in a post-apartheid South Africa where the horror of death is still a vivid memory and where the promise of a new way of life is not all that sure.

In outline, it is a very simple story, about Nomathemba, a spirited and restless young village girl who, though robustly courted by the proud and handsome Bongani, decides to find her "special corner to turn" by striking out for the big city of Johannesburg.

Both Nomathemba and Bongani, who pursues her, must go through many changes and suffer many hardships before they are at last reunited. But when they do find each other again, in a meeting that s the Steppenwolf stage alive with joy.

Directed by Eric Simonson, with choreography by Joseph Shabalala, the cast consisted of Vanita Harbour ("Nomathemba") and Ntare Mwine, ("Bongani") and a cast of 23 South African and African-American players, including Dumisani Dlamini as a shrewd, snappy man of the streets.

And though the sweet and pure love story remains paramount, that story is enriched tenfold by the wealth of images and visions that Simonson, Shabalala (also the production's choreographer) and have put into their script.

These images have been strikingly realized in designer Loy Arcenas' setting, which in turn has been complemented by the bright costumes of Karin Kopischke and shaped by the brilliant lighting of James F. Ingalls, the great sculptor of light in American stage design.

The scene consists chiefly of a dark wooden platform, backed by a South African tapestry and, at stage right, a small, blooming tree.

Here, under this tree, occur three transcendent moments in "Nomathemba," moments that summarize and symbolize the tragedy, hope and promise of the play.

The first comes when Bongani and his friend, on their way to Johannesburg, come upon a young woman who has horribly lost every member of her family and is in deep, unconsolable mourning. The second comes in that exalted moment when Nomathemba and Bongani are reunited.

The third moment I will leave for you to discover. It comes at the very end of the play, after the eruption of color and movement and song in the wedding ceremony, and after all the other actors have left the stage. It is silent and still, and so profoundly touching in the feelings of mystery, joy and sorrow it evokes, that it will bring you to tears and raise you from your seat.

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Sources

Richard Christiansen, Tribune Chief Critic. `NOMATHEMBA' RAISES HOPES, AND FULFILLS THEM, CHICAGO TRIBUNE 10 April 1995.[1]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Shabalala

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