The Unfaithful Woman

The Unfaithful Woman is a musical play by Sam Mhangwane. A popular, long running and melodramatic musical play which toured the townships between the 1960s and 1980s.

The original text

Written in 1966, it tells the story of a person who suffers first for being black, and secondly for being a woman. Her suffering causes her to be unfaithful to her man.

Performance history in South Africa

First performed in 1965, it was long purported to be the longest-running production in South African theatre history, since it was still on tour in the mid 1980s. Peggy Ncube, who died in 1984, was the first actress to play the lead role. Sophie Pretorius, who took the lead in a 1984 version, had joined the cast as part of the chorus in 1967. In 1975 she was given the lead which she shared with Ethel Tshabalala.

The production was presented at the Donaldson Orlando Community Centre (DOCC) Hall in Soweto and was also filmed by the South African Broadcasting Corporation.

Sources

Xaba, Andile. 2021. 'Collective memory and the construction of a historical narrative, analysis and interpretation of selected Soweto-based community plays (1984–1994)'. Unpublished PhD thesis.

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