You strike a woman, you strike a rock!

You strike a woman, you strike a rock! 

SamSays delivered the through ball and I controlled and finessed for the match ball, hatrick! I deliver over and over again. Thank you Sam, SamSays on the credits. 

I was at Joburg Theatre to watch "You strike a woman, you strike a rock" (Wathint' abafazi, wathint' imbokotho). Live theatre at the highest level. The play is set in the Apartheid era, PW Botha is the president, the story world is plauged by inequality, social injustice and poverty. The story opens with a Helicopter scattering, hovering and surveilling the location. The residents hate the roaming Helicopter, they call it a bird, they see it for what it is, spying, surveillance by the government. They curse and swear at every time it features in the show. This describes the relationship the people of the story have with the  government and unjust system. It's hate, resentment, they feel oppression and utter contempt for the system. We are introduced to the three main characters in a typical market in the Transkei. Children and chaos co-existing in the market, Mambhele and Mampompo sell chickens and Sdudla sells oranges and vetkoeks. They all operate their stalls illegally without permits or permission. The threat of the police or authority is ever present. It's a woman's world and men are hardly present. These women fight on a daily to secure their families future, money is tough to get and they work hard. Seeing that opportunities for money are few in the Transkei, they move to a township in Cape Town. In the world of the township, violence prevails as the unrest is prevalent. It is a story-world that is not fair for women, they are easily fired from work by their white employers for coming late, their transport issues not factored in, they are sexually abused for standing up for themselves at the farms and deadbeat unemployed husband's drink away the family's money at the shebeen. Despite everything, the women stand strong and they miraculously prevail in this unjust, unequal and in different world. 

Money and survival are paramount in this world, we see Mambhele practically prostituting herself to sell chickens, letting her customers interact and touch her inappropriately, boob grabs and just about anything that gets the job done. Mampompo is notorious for robbing his customers change and hiking up prices. Sdudla is surprisingly level headed out of the three. It is physical theatre at its best, sounds of chickens and objects in the play are mimicked to perfection. The performers created a realistic environment, we were transported to their world. They imitated chickens, busses, babies, windows, knocks on doors and the protests on the streets. They have tremendous stage presence and chemistry. They know each other instinctively and intuitively on the stage, they just flow, they just play. They fully embodied their characters on the stage, it was convincing, humorous, wholesome and relatable.The characters are 3 dimensional, they have hopes, dreams and fears. The conversations and interactions felt natural. The play is in English but has an Eastern Cape dialect, you can hear the Xhosa accent and undertone. The characters are alive, they are real, they exist. The performance and acting is just incredible! The performers have incredible range, they were serious, humorous, tearful, excited and Ziaphora even regressed to a child. Incredible endurance and stamina too - a lot happened, they created magic, they were simply amazing. 

Barileng Malebye plays Mambhele, Keitumetse 'Kitty' Moepang plays Mampompo and Ziaphora Dakile is Sdudla. Excellence all around, live theatre at its very best. 

Congratulations Rorisang Motuba and the whole team and a deserved standing ovation. 

https://youtu.be/aXiq6PO0tRs?si=RCGwMwPJ86madAyB