Durbanites are in for a rare theatrical treat when Isidlamlilo- the Fire Eater begins a week long run at the Sneddon theatre on the UKZN campus from 4 to 9 November 2022.
Isidlamlilo is an electrifying new one-woman tour-de-force brought to life by acclaimed actress Mpume Mthombeni (who plays Agatha on E-tv’s Durban Gen) and award-winning theatre-maker Neil Coppen with set-design by Greg King, lighting by Tina Le Roux and sound-design by Tristan Horton.
This acclaimed new South African play which premiered on the main programme at the 2022 National Arts Festival to rave reviews and standing ovations with critic Steve Kretzeman writing: “Woven together from true stories and testimonials gathered by the Empatheatre company, with a near flawless presentation and delivery, Isidlamlilo expands our horizons so often cramped by fears real and imagined, and imparts some of the courage the dispossessed have to daily gather to continue to live. This is fantastic theatre.”
Over the course of 80 minutes, Mthombeni, through a frank, comic and captivating storytelling, relays the death-defying life story of Zenzile Maseko. Maseko, a sixty-something Zulu grandmother, rents a cramped room in a Durban’s women’s hostel, and is haunted by her past working as an IFP assassin (fire-eater) in the build-up to the 1994 elections. When the home affairs mistakenly declare her dead and are unable to reverse the error on their system, Zenzile finds herself cast into the middle of a Kafkaesque nightmare, driven to desperate measures to prove she still alive and made, in the process, to reawaken parts of her identity and past that she has spent a majority of her adult life trying to supress.
Maskeo’s story seamlessly propels us back and forth through time, traversing the shifting landscapes of KwaZulu-Natal and while charting critical events in the provinces post-1994 trajectory through to its present day floods and insurrections. While the story offers a critical look at the eddying cycles of violence and revenge that play out across generations, it is most of all a story about redemption, regeneration and reinvention.
The script is written by Standard Bank Young Artist Award winner Neil Coppen in collaboration with Mthombeni, and is based on a range of testimonials shared with them during their Empatheatre research processes alongisde the Urban Futures Centre (UFC). Together, the creative team have woven in elements of Zulu folklore, biblical mythology, magical-realist framings to make for an unforgettable theatrical experience that speaks to both the country’s haunted past and present-day complexities.
Together Mthombeni and Coppen alongside Dylan McGarry, are the co-founders of Empatheatre which sees the team forging creative responses to complex social concerns. The company was recently awarded the prestigious Bertha Artivism Award for their theatre and social-justice work. Mthombeni and Coppen have worked in close collaboration for the past 15 years creating and touring works both locally and internationally including the multi-award winning Tin Bucket Drum which went on to tour the country and world for several years.
Isidlamlilo has been made possible by funding from the NAC PESP fund, The National Art’s Festival with additional support and thanks to the Drama department and the UFC (Urban Futures Centre) at Durban University of Technology.
Isidlamlio takes place on Friday 4, Saturday 5 and Tuesday 8 November at 19:00, Sunday 6 November at 14:30, Wednesday 9 November 11:00 (For schools/Community Theatre groups and open to public). The performance is 80 minutes long, and there is an age restriction of 13+
Ticket are R130. 10% Group discounts for block bookings of ten or more. Student/scholar and pensioner discount price of R110 applicable at outlets on presentation of a valid card. Bookings through Computicket. https://tickets.computicket.com/event/isidlamlilo/7201674 or call 0861 915 800.
For schools and community theatre bookings contact Margie at margie@thinktheatre.co.za or on 0832519412
Reviews and critical responses
“Isidlamlilo fills a great missing in the story of this country. It exquisitely brings to light crucial and compelling narratives about women, power and being that complicate and explain our history, all at the same time. Isidlamlilo is necessary and urgent viewing”
Kneo Mokgopa (Narrative Development manager at the Nelson Mandela Foundation.)
“This is possibly the most moving performance I have seen in a decade. Electrifying barely covers it! If you are nearby, go, go go!”
Kyla Davis. (Director of Well Worn Theatre Company)
“What a privilege to witness Mpume Mthombeni’s searing performance in Empatheatre’s Isidlamlilo tonight. This is what theatre is for. To encounter life in all its beauty, horror, pain, and humanity and to feel with every breath and sigh, into another’s life. Thank you Empatheatre for this gift. It will change you!”
Yvette Hardie (National director of ASSITEJ SA and the President of ASSITEJ International.)
“Isidlamlilo is utterly breath-taking. A production that soars with scope and ambition while also managing to maintain a heart-breaking sensitivity and intimacy. A true gem in the pantheon of great South African theatre . Mthombeni is sublime. She delivered a performance unlike anything I have ever seen. I was utterly transfixed by her magnetic presence and astounding range. Don’t miss this show!” -
Rob Van Vuuren (comedian/actor/theatre maker)
“Mpume Mthombeni as Zenzile Maseko aka Isidlamlilo rings every note true. From her first word until the last, there is no doubt: she is the real thing. This includes the lack of bitterness despite the betrayals wrought upon her. A humbling realisation to those of us apt to complain at every turn. With masterful lighting and sound by Tina leRoux and Tristan Horton recreating the lightning, thunder, day, night and the surreality of Kafkaesque civil so-called services, we are reeled in, transfixed by Mthombeni as she shifts, sometimes gently, sometimes abruptly but always in tune, between the fierce warrior and the now Bible-quoting grandmother longing to return to the house she’s building in her childhood village, iPharadise.”
Steve Kretzmann (NAF Theatre review)
Production Credits
- Produced by Empatheatre
- Performed by Mpume Mthombeni
- Directed by Neil Coppen
- Written by Neil Coppen in collaboration with Mpume Mthombeni
- Lighting Design Tina Le Roux
- Sound design by Tristan Horton.
- Set Design by Greg King
- Additional Set dressing Dylan McGarry and Neil Coppen.
- Production Manager Tina Le Roux.
- Rain SFX Steven Woodroffe
- Poster Design Dylan McGarry
