Ipi Zombi?

A play by Brett Bailey and cast

Originally workshopped by Brett Bailey and cast in 1996 with the title Zombie.

Later staged as Ipi Zombi? (1998). Published in the trilogy of plays, The Plays of Miracle and Wonder: Ipi Zombi?, iMumbo Jumbo and The Prophet. Also published in Drama for a New South Africa by Indiana University Press.

Subject

In 1995 twelve black schoolboys were killed in a minibus crash just outside a small South African township. Fifty local women were held accountable for the deaths of the boys, and a witch hunt was launched. People believed the boys had been killed to serve as zombie slaves for the witches. Several women were executed. Diviners tried in vain to resurrect the dead boys. Based on real life events, Ipi Zombi? takes you on a haunting journey into a dark wonderland of African folklore and fear, exploring the tensions between traditional beliefs, Christianity and western law. A world populated by witches, zombies, priests, vigilantes and wide-eyed schoolgirls. Dramatised by 15 performers on a set reminiscent of a giant voodoo shrine. [1]

Performance history in South Africa

Written, designed and directed by Brett Bailey, with Abey Xakwe, Silulami Lwana, Noxolo Donyeli, Andile Bonde and Xola Mda, premièred at the Grahamstown Festival 1996 as Zombie, presented by Third World Bunfight and directed by Brett Bailey.

First staged as Ipi Zombi? at the Artscape Theatre in 1998 on the main programme of the Grahamstown Festival, a tour of rural Eastern Cape Province, the Hilton Festival in KwaZulu-Natal, and the Spier Arts Festival in the Cape. In 1999 at the Harare International Festival of the Arts in Bulawayo. Staged in English and vernacular versions.

Sources

http://www.thirdworldbunfight.co.za/productions/ipi-zombi?.html

See: [Van Heerden (2008)][2]. pp 144-147.

Go to ESAT Bibliography

Return to

Return to ESAT Templates

Return to I in Plays I Original SA Plays

Return to I in Plays III Collections

Return to I in Plays IV: Festivals and Pageants

Return to South_African_Theatre/Plays

Return to The ESAT Entries

Return to Main Page