Waarom is dié wat voor toi-toi altyd so vet?

(“Why are those who toyi-toyi in the lead always so fat?”) by Antjie Krog. A play is a political tragic-comedy, and premiered at the Aardklop Festival in 1999, subsequently performed at several locations throughout South Africa, including the Oude Libertas Theatre in Stellenbosch in February, 2000. The play was directed by Marthinus Basson and starred Tess van Staden (who was also the Executive Producer) and Nomsa Xaba. it was considered a powerful contribution to South Africa's ongoing political debate about reconciliation. Note: The “toyi-toyi” (verb: “to toyi-toyi”) is a celebratory and often quite stirring and provocative dance.

Subject

Two mothers, one Afrikaans and white, the other black, are painting a mural for the primary school their two sons attend. While creating this visual image of the new South Africa, they talk, in three languages, about themselves and their experiences. They touch on a range of issues relevant to culturally divided South Africans trying to understand themselves and their place in the Rainbow Nation. It emerges that the black woman’s husband, an ex-guerrilla fighter, is now the white woman’s husband’s boss. They discuss their differences, but also discover their similarities and common fears and challenges. The women’s dialogue is often light and amusing, but also becomes serious and heavy, even leading to a violent physical confrontation, but eventually to mutual acceptance and a deeper understanding.

Sources

Go to South African Theatre/Bibliography

[Van Heerden (2008)][1] pp 108-109

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