SCORES of young and adult theatregoers converged upon Jabulani’s Soweto Theatre to witness the staging of the Gibson Kente Annual Lecture on the summer Sunday afternoon of February 25.
Occurring twenty years after the renowned playwright’s passing back in November 2004, the lecture, a subsequent iteration, followed on the inaugural one which was introduced as part of the renaming – by the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Council – of the venue’s Red Theatre to the Gibson Kente Theatre, just a year earlier on February 26, 2023.
This year’s one – offered pending Black History Month – was, aptly so, delivered by senior lecturer in the Department of Afrikaans and Theory of Literature at the University of South Africa (UNISA), viz, Dr Andile Xaba – whose enduring fields of interest encapsulate South African Drama and Theatre Heritage projects.
The day’s proceedings had commenced with the introduction of formalities by the venue’s vibrant General Manager, Vincent Motau.
In between Motau’s inviting of guest speakers to the stage, viz, MMC of Community Development in the City of Johannesburg, Lubabalo Magwentshu, Artistic Director of Joburg City Theatres, James Ngcobo and a protégé of Kente’s, Nomathemba Matu – a four-member a cappella group named iComplete accompanied by a three-piece band kept the audience entertained throughout the programme with renditions of a combination of Negro spirituals and varying sing-along melodies evoking the halcyon era of Kente’s oeuvre!
The black tuxedo-clad quadruple outfit belted out the calibre of music which had the ilk of Speaker of Council in the City of Johannesburg, Margaret Arnolds and Mabutho ‘Kid’ Sithole on their feet as they danced a storm with nonchalant abandonment in the aisles!
Albeit its performance wasn’t only of a celebratory nature as some of the items issued forth were curated so as to take the audience – and its feelings, to boot – down the memory lane of the Struggle epoch, replete with the projection of a montage of static and motion visuals limning rioters and cityscape on goings!
With MMC Magwentshu, whose council’s decision it was to rename the venue of the event in recognition of the late impresario’s contributions to township theatre, having kicked off proceedings with a keynote address – attendees were seized between moods of rapt and spellbinding attention by the nostalgic anecdotes of the vivacious Matu who, having teasingly shimmied to iComplete’s sounds upon ascending to the stage, introduced the Kente-esque greeting “together”, to the audience’s lexicon! “If something doesn’t scare you,” Matu recalled Kente pointing out, “then it isn’t the real deal!”
Utilizing analogies riddled with verboten terms such as ‘sex’ and ‘prostitute’ to describe Kente-speak, she broke them down to denominators such as would render them tolerable to the anvil-hammer-&- stirrup (ear) of those not proselyted!
Came the moment for Ngcobo to offer his tuppence worth, the executive mentioned in the pre-event media release as describing Kente as a man who shone a light on the Black narrative and whose commitment to society gave so many a gateway and transported them to other realities, further expounded on his fellow creative as having inspired wordsmiths “for their once upon a time” junctures.
He declared, “we are looking for a continuum of his memory!” whilst he described Kente as having been a ticket to escapism in a time of anarchy!
Eventually taking charge of the dais, Xaba duly commenced upon his lecture spruced up with multilayered segments limning his observations of the Soweto of the 1980s through the experiences of Black South Africans’ ordeal pending the states of emergency; the affected community’s obstinate resolve to have its fill of fun through the outlet of theatre going during the 80s and onto the 90s – despite the mayhem encompassing its environs; the utilization of community halls scattered across the hardscrabble township as performance spaces; his personal memories – along with those of leading creatives – of growing up in Soweto which collectively serve as bridges between the past and posterity, et cetera.
Having touched upon places such as Eyethu Cinema, Donaldson Orlando Community Centre, Funda Centre, etc. and personalities such as Darlington Michaels, Sibongile Khumalo, Victor Mecoamere, etc., Xaba – who according to a reliable source, is currently writing a book on the playwrights Gibson Kente, Matsemela Manaka and Maishe Maponya, looking at theatre making in the 1980s and 1990s – then delved into Kente the man, imaginatively describing for the listeners the sort of soul he was and onto his career genesis, challenges and ultimately, the cementation of his legacy!
Regaled the speaker, an erstwhile journalist, “he used the words ‘kid’ and ‘together’ in his interactions with people. His personality was part of what sparked my interest in theatre. He was always well-dressed. He wore a hat of some sort; at times a cravat too. He always drove a big car.”
Some scholars, the academic mentioned, divided Kente’s output into three phases: the first being the period 1969 – 1970 pending which he penned family dramas emphasizing the importance of the family in Black society; the second encompassing 1974 – 1975 regarded as his political epoch exemplified by the play, How Long and the third phase occurring between 1977 – 2003 in which he emphasised upon maximum entertainment in plays such as Sekunjalo.
The conclusion of Xaba’s lecture offered a hint on ensuring the endurance of Kente’s legacy through basic acts of empathy such as building of networks of contacts in townships and communities’ open door attitudes towards performers travelling to different venues across the South Africa.
Kente’s career as a playwright had its genesis upon the establishment of a theatre company which produced memorable plays such as Sikalo, Manana The Jazz Prophet, Sekunjalo and How Long (which alluded to the 1976 Soweto Student Uprising), amongst a plethora of works which were to earn him the title of ‘Father of Township Theatre’ (alternatively, ‘Father of Black Theatre’).
His protégés – who numbered some 400 amongst a decorated cast of household names – included Mbongeni Ngema, Sello Maake ka Ncube, Brenda Fassie, Peter Sepuma, pending a career spanning from the early 1960s to the 2000s whilst producing some 23 plays.
All Images Jacob MAWELA (Gibson Kente, recorded putting aspirants through auditions at the DOCC, Orlando East, Soweto).
