South African Theatre Journal

ISSN: (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: www.tandfonline.com/journals/rthj20

Contemporary plays by African women

Niqabi Ninja, Not That Woman, I Want to Fly, Silent Voices, Unsettled,
Mbuzeni, Bonganyi, by Sara Shaarawi, Tosin Jobi-Tume, Thembelihle
Moyo, Adong Judith, J.C. Niala, Koleka Putuma, and Sophia Mempuh
Kwachuh, edited by Yvette Hutchison and Amy Jephta, London, Bloomsbury/
Methuen Drama, 2019, 338 pp, $28.29 (Pbk), ISBN HB:978-1-350-03452-5 / PB
978-1-350-03451-8 / PDF 978-1-350-03453-2 / eBook 978-1-350-03454-9

Alison Hofer

To cite this article: Alison Hofer (2019) Contemporary plays by African women, South African
Theatre Journal, 32:2, 186-190, DOI: 10.1080/10137548.2019.1676571

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/10137548.2019.1676571

Published online: 20 Nov 2019.

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186 Book Reviews

frames and several are generously accompanied by online links. McCaw importantly
reminds the reader that any exercise or theatre game is merely an empty structure, that
what is of significance and value, is how the teacher and students explore them, that
‘the content, the knowledge, lies not in the verbal structure of the exercise itself; this
knowledge is transactional, something that happens within the student as a result
of, and in response to, a teacher’s verbal instructions and demonstrations’ (p. 4). He
argues for a playful approach, an attitude of openness to the material from both the
teacher and the student, in order for the full educative value to become apparent.
He thus eschews exercises that are merely activities to practice over and over until
they are mastered.
There is a certain generosity towards the reader in the way in which McCaw shares
his knowledge with regard to what it means to train the actor’s body. For the emerging
movement teacher, this guide can be most useful, a kind of template with which to
navigate this terrain, whilst it can serve as a reminder to the more experienced
teacher of the enormous sensitivity and awareness required for this kind of teaching.
But embedded in this generosity is perhaps the book’s weakness – namely its somewhat
rambling tendency towards a conflation of too many pedagogical, philosophical and
practical strands. Nevertheless, this is an important book that should contribute
towards a broader understanding of both movement education in general and actor
movement training in specific.

Ilona Frege
Independent Researcher
[email protected]
© 2020, Ilona Frege
https://doi.org/10.1080/10137548.2019.1703372

Contemporary plays by African women, Niqabi Ninja, Not That Woman, I Want to
Fly, Silent Voices, Unsettled, Mbuzeni, Bonganyi, by Sara Shaarawi, Tosin Jobi-
Tume, Thembelihle Moyo, Adong Judith, J.C. Niala, Koleka Putuma, and Sophia
Mempuh Kwachuh, edited by Yvette Hutchison and Amy Jephta, London, Blooms-
bury/Methuen Drama, 2019, 338 pp, $28.29 (Pbk), ISBN HB:978-1-350-03452-5 / PB
978-1-350-03451-8 / PDF 978-1-350-03453-2 / eBook 978-1-350-03454-9

After ten years, finally a selection of new plays from Africa has been published. Con-
temporary Plays by African Women (2019), edited by activists and academics Yvette
Hutchison and Amy Jephta, is sure to be welcomed by global theatre practitioners.
This volume gives voice to some of the experiences of women from countries such
as Egypt, Nigeria, Cameroon, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Kenya and South Africa. If you
have ever wondered what issues African women are concerned with, and what new
theatre is being created in Africa, this book delivers an intriguing answer and presents
numerous topical issues for critical discourse.
Of all the topics these playwrights raise for discussion, most clear is the question of
why and how many African women are rendered silent in their efforts to voice their
experiences. Amongst the current outcries and hashtags such as #MeToo;
 South African Theatre Journal 187

#genderdiscussions and #MenAreTrash there seems to have been an almost disturb-

ing silence in theatre from women on this continent. This apparent lack of women’s
issues being tackled in our theatres is troubling, because that in itself raises the ques-
tion: are women of Africa afraid of voicing their concerns? Are the risks of repercus-
sions too great to bear? It is quickly made abundantly clear in these plays that, yes
indeed, those women courageous enough to seek change are often muted by their
own cultures, and there seems to be a lack of support to assist women living in
crisis and trauma. The value of their outcry is thus not balanced by positive results.
On the contrary, these plays highlight how punishment, rape, servitude, forced mar-
riage and death prevail as forms of control over women’s lives in some patriarchal
societies across Africa. What some of these playwrights also bring to light is
women’s roles in the perpetuation of social norms that negate their self-determination.
Theatre, especially that rooted in social outcry, serves as a significant source of
problem exposure, and gives us knowledge about the fall-out effects for those involved.
Hence, we know that drama has the potential to jumpstart the process of understand-
ing, communication and the tackling of issues. Hutchison (Department of Theatre &
Performance Studies at the University of Warwick) and Jephta (filmmaker, play-
wright, screenwriter, director and academic) have thus done important work in
giving us some insight into the diverse complexities, cultures and experiences of
some African women today.
The editors are co-founders of the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council-
funded networking project, the African Women Playwrights Network. Hutchison
researches contemporary South African women artists addressing gender, and conflict
and gender issues, and is working to create a virtual network of African women theatre
practitioners. Jephta is Chairperson for Women Playwrights International (WPI), a
global NPO working to create opportunities for women playwrights; she says, ‘I rep-
resent not only myself but my “tribe”, as it were. A community of women of colour in
this creative space rests on my shoulders … It’s an exciting time to be a woman writer
on the continent’ (National Arts Festival [Online]. Available: https://www.
nationalartsfestival.co.za/news/sbya2019-theatre-amy-jeptha/ [22 August 2019]).
Contemporary Plays by African Women emerged from materials gathered at the
Women’s Playwriting International Conference in Cape Town in 2015 and the
African Women Playwright’s Network. There it became clear just how scarce published
plays by African women playwrights are. The book aims to give female playwrights the
opportunity to see themselves reflected and hear their own voices. In the light of this, the
editors ensured that each play is given a contextualizing preface by its author. This is
very helpful as the writers offer a short biography and explanation of the production
history. The book is arranged into two thematic categories: first, women’s potential
responses to gender abuse, and second, women’s views of their bodies.
A note from the editors to readers is the worthy reminder that texts should be seen
as the skeletons for productions, and this is especially important for non-theatre prac-
titioners. In the case of these plays, in particular, non-familiarity with African styles of
performance and theatre could leave readers a bit bereft if they rely solely on the
written text. These plays require some understanding of the manner in which much
African theatre is developed and performed, often using improvization, topical
themes, specific rhythms and lyrical expression. For example, in Bonganyi (2011) by
Sophia Mempuh Kwachuh, actors sing what seem like simple lyrics in the text
during the dirge song opening Act One, but understanding of the delivery, physical
188 Book Reviews

movement and rhythms is required to fully evoke a world of the story and associated
emotions. One also needs to be cognizant of the wider historical frameworks of colo-
nialism, and the injustice and resultant impacts and repercussions for women.
The plays have been translated into English, some more successfully than others.
The poorer translations at times hinder the reading as nuance and poetry have
undoubtedly been lost in this process. At times lines are so unwieldy that one is dis-
tracted from the flow of ideas and the sentiment expressed. This, of course, may
cause an unfair reflection on the calibre of the writers’ work. This question deserves
discussion and debate among scholars, the writers and future directors and casts.
In order to give the reader an indication of the kinds of plays that are presented in
Contemporary Plays by African Women, a brief overview of the plays follows. Prac-
titioners looking for new work to produce may find this helpful.
Niqabi Ninja (2016) was written by Sara Shaarawi of Egypt. This play was devel-
oped over 3 years in Scotland after Shaarawi was asked to contribute a piece about
Arab women for a festival about women and feminism.
Niqabi Ninja has a cast of two women, Hana and her alter-ego Niquabi Ninja.
Shaarawi explains in her introduction that the play is her response to the horror of
the frequent mob sexual assaults against women during demonstrations in Tahrir
Square, Egypt. The character Hana represents every woman who has been violated.
Hana’s alter-ego, the vengeful Niqabi Ninja, expresses her rage at the assaults. Shaar-
awi refused to sugar-coat the horror of the experiences, stating ‘We learn at a very
young age that we do not share the same comfort men experience in public and
private spaces … we learn everyday objects can become weapons, we learn the quickest
routes home’ (p. 9).
Not That Woman (2018) was written by Nigerian Tosin Jobi-Tume. It has five
central and four smaller female characters, and one male. The play highlights the con-
spiracy of silence that hinders women from reporting violence and sexual abuse. Jobi-
Tume states that the play ‘urges women to organise … support groups’ for the pro-
motion of the emancipation of women as well as ‘fostering rehabilitation and reinte-
gration for abused women’ (Jobi-Tume 2017). The problems are outlined through
characters like Nkechi who challenges Joyce saying, ‘ … see how he beats you black
and blue. Your world revolves around a man to whom you mean nothing … ’ (p. 77)
whereupon Joyce, a lawyer before her marriage, responds with the all-too-familiar
line among victims of abuse who feel trapped, ‘I think I provoke him … to be
honest I think I deserve the way he beats me … maybe this is just his own way of
expressing love’ (p. 77).
Joyce needs to be pushed to the limits of her endurance before packing her things
and leaving her husband. The writer makes her point about women also being respon-
sible for contributing to the violence against women with lines such as, ‘women who
are madames in child-trafficking’ (p. 88) ‘ … who tells the girl-child to keep mum
after being raped for fear of stigmatisation’ (p. 88); ‘ … who raise wife-beaters? Who
raises the female child to defer to every male’ (p. 89) Jobi-Tume overtly gives her char-
acters the voice to call women to action, each one declaring ‘It begins with me … ’
(p. 90) and offering a variety of action steps women could take to start making
change. At a time of movements such as #MeToo, lines like these may seem a bit over-
stated, however, it is worth remembering that there are many women who live in iso-
lated villages and societies in Africa, lack access to education, and for them such
notions are revolutionary and may offer a lifeline of hope.
 South African Theatre Journal 189

Thembelithle Moyo of Zimbabwe wrote I Want to Fly (2012) about the poverty of
rural Zimbabwean women. It focuses on the lack of access to health care and family
planning and the resultant increased birth rate, leading to later child marriages. Moyo
aimed to have the messages of this play penetrate the media and get through to the
authorities, which it has been successful in doing.
Silent Voices is written by Adong Judith from Uganda. It has a large cast of men
and women. This play was partly developed at the Sundance Institute Theatre Pro-
gramme – East Africa Lab in 2010. It had its world premiere in 2012. Judith’s work
arose out of her experience at World Vision Children of War Rehabilitation Centre
and Gulu Support the Children Organisation (GUSCO), where she was investigating
the use of theatre in the psychosocial therapy of children who had been incorporated
into Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army. During this investigation, Judith found
the victims were angry about the Amnesty Act which they felt allowed perpetrators
to confess their crimes and receive forgiveness, but left victims feeling betrayed and
bitter yet silenced.
This challenging, long one-act play demands superb direction, as it had under
Dennis Hilton-Reid in New York. It is a complex piece of writing, with a set
moving from a jungle to a prison, army camp, rehabilitation centre, court room, a
hut and so forth. Such shifting scenes, changing characters and rapid dialogue
require skilled actors. Originally the play had 30 actors who performed traditional
dance and songs including an Acholi war song, with lyrics such as: ‘I am an empty
soul … robbed of my family, humanity, sanity, broken haunted voices cry out …
what of the dreams in our children’s eyes? Killed before the crack of dawn? What of
Justice?’ (p. 212).
Judith wanted this play to get these heart-breaking stories of victims, often chil-
dren, heard in the world. To do this she risked arrest for her portrayal of the govern-
ment’s role in Northern Ugandan war crimes. This hard-hitting work thus offers us
insight into the experience of the individuals who experienced the Northern
Ugandan War.
From Kenya the play Unsettled (2017) by J.C. Niala (University of Oxford) has
been selected. This play has a cast of 5 women and 2 men, and explores the
changes in post-independence Kenya, focusing in particular on the contentious issue
of land ownership and relations between black and white Kenyans.
The play is set in a café in a small town Nanyuki, at the foot of Mount Kenya.
Cikú, a woman educated in England, returns to build a modern development on
local land. British second- and third-generation settlers live there and fear this is the
beginning of the end, so resistance grows. Martha states, ‘Everyone is in agreement
to stop this housing development … ’ (p. 245) and John tells Cikú, ‘You are the only
person between me and a quiet life’ (p. 255). Secrets, threats and underhanded dealings
ripple beneath the surface throughout the play.
Mbuzeni (2018) was written by award winning South African poet, director and
writer Koleka Putuma. The five female characters operate in a suggested set, where
set pieces like reeds, fence and rostrum represent a forbidden graveyard and a shack
where the orphans live. The time period likewise is unrestricted.
The playwright wanted to give young contemporary African females a narrative to
express their experience. Five orphans live in this strange environment, well outside the
clichéd views of South African girls. The orphan crisis in South Africa is topical.
According to the 2013 South African Child Gauge, South Africa had around
190 Book Reviews

3,850,000 orphans who had lost parents due to HIV/AIDS. The Children of the Dawn,
a South African orphan support association, called the dramatic increase in orphan
numbers a pandemic. (Children of the Dawn. [Online]. Available: The Children of
the Dawn https://www.childrenofthedawn.org.za/who-we-are/the-aids-orphans-crisis/
[27 August 2019].)
The orphans in Mbuzeni openly talk about death and find a way to laugh at the
gloom around them. In the sad world of bereavement and abandonment, the girls
play and enact death rituals. All the while they are ominously visited by a bad
omen, a crow, which signifies impending death. The juxtaposition between the
world of the play, with its sombre theme, and the playful, energetic relationships of
the girls is purposeful. Author, actor and activist Pieter Dirk-Uys has stated that
the brilliance of South African humour is finding a way to laugh at the truth and
irony within the most dire of circumstances. This is what often makes South African
theatre potent: devastation lies beneath a lightly told story, and the courageous
rising above unfathomable sorrow. As playwright Athol Fugard said of his female
heroic characters: they possess the defiant courage to face hopelessness and go on.
The last play in the collection is Bonganyi (2011) by Cameroon’s Sophia Mempuh
Kwachuh. This play is about a beautiful slave girl, Bongani, who symbolises the nation
that was enslaved for a generation. The play has a cast of one woman and four men
with a minimalist set consisting of a courtyard with a traditional basket, a hoe,
some cutlasses, and traditional costumes.
In her introduction, Kwachuh explains that in Cameroon people can invoke the
deceased’s spirit to return and explain how they died. This play opens with Bonganyi
appearing as a ghost during death rituals. Through the lyrical text, she explains how
she wanted to gain her freedom from slavery by winning the Best Dancer prize at
the Annual Regional Cultural Extravaganza. This should have been her day of liber-
ation. She never gets there. Her sudden death by snake bite symbolises the mysterious
arrests and executions of independence leaders who were fighting for freedom in
Cameroon. From the outset then, we understand that she will never live her dreams
of freedom. Her demise prompts the character Ntem to speak out for her cause,
thus offering hope that her voice will be heard after all.
In summary, Contemporary Plays by African Women is a rare treasure chest of
dynamic and challenging new plays. For theatre practitioners, this book offers
diverse works with opportunities for interesting staging and sharp direction. For
female actors, there is a selection of strong, unique and complex lead roles. These play-
wrights promote, almost demand, understanding of and discourse on African women’s
issues such as women’s emancipation from repressive social traditions and control. The
plays tackle such complex topics and themes in novel and emotionally charged ways.
For scholars these works are a rich source of material for critical reflection and debate.

Alison Hofer
Stellenbosch University, South Africa
[email protected]
© 2019, Alison Hofer
https://doi.org/10.1080/10137548.2019.1676571