The Girl Who Killed to Save (Nongquase the Liberator)
An English play by H.I.E. Dhlomo.
(Also written Nonqause: The Girl who Killed to Save, uNongqawuse: The Girl Who Killed to Save, or simply The Girl Who Killed to Save.)
The original text
A version of the story of the tragic Xhosa starvation resulting from the slaughter of the cattle under the chief Kreli, in response to the visions of the prophetess Nongqawuse.
Written in 193-35 as a reaction against the play Nonqause by Mary Waters, which he considered the "white people’s" version by of the story.
The first published play in English by a black writer in South Africa (Lovedale Press, 1935). Republished in H.I.E Dhlomo: Collected Works (Eds. Tim Cousins and Nic Visser, Ravan Press, 1985).
After 1994 it has become customary to use uNongqawuse, a "corrected" form of her name, in the title to Dhlomo's play, which now often reads: uNongqawuse: The Girl Who Killed to Save, or The Girl Who Killed to Save (uNongqawuse the Liberator).
South African productions
2013: Directed by Mfundo Tshazibane, under the altered title of uNongqawuse: The Girl Who Killed to Save featuring the UCT final year Drama students in the Arena Theatre, Cape Town.
Sources
"Nongqawuse: The Girl Who Killed to Save: review". bantustanvillage, May 31, 2013[1]
http://www.encounter.co.za/article/118.html
Andrew Offenburger: The Xhosa Cattle-killing Movement[2]
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