A review of The South African plays; Hungry Earth and Egoli
Art as a way for the silenced to have a voice
In a country that is characterized by a history of violence and the marginalization of a black person we find that black voices were always being silenced in many communities and as a solution this particular group of people within society moved towards finding a voice through various art forms such as through drama, ritual and performance. This essay analyses and compares the two South African plays called “Egoli” and “Hungry Earth” in terms of traditional performance elements such as dance, storytelling,mimicry, poetry as well as song and shows how these elements have been used in order to tell their stories as well as covers recurring issues or themes in South Africa . Thus a claim is made which postulates that these traditional performance elements have major effects on the thematic considerations of the texts.
The concept of traditional performance includes concepts of music, art, poetry and dance which have been part of African theatre for generations. These elements are very crucial in theatrical productions and function as tools for conscientising, entertaining, informing and challenging the system . Throughout history many theatrical plays have been produced in South Africa; plays that not only served as a form of entertainment for the people but were used as escapism from the harsh conditions of life during that particular time, they were used as a means of protest against the oppressive system and many of these plays were banned, however they continued to spread awareness and consciousness about the lives of black people in South Africa . Africa is highly respected and treasured for its voiced and auditory arts and it is also the home of oral literature, orature and orality. These themes refer to the extensive use of the spoken words which include; proverbs, folktales, puns, poetry, song and metaphors . In the plays analysed in this paper; the Hungry Earth as well as Egoli it is evident how traditional performance elements such as dance, songs and poetry are used to relay themes that were prevalent during that era such as racism, crime, poverty, inequality, migration and death in such a way that they appeal to the South African audience. Moreover the fact that the themes evident in both plays are constantly emerging issues in society and the two plays speak to the same issues in different ways can be understood as generatative materialism
The Hungry Earth is a Postcolonial play by Maishe Maponya which was first workshopped and conceived in 1978, the play raised political issues that were facing South Africa at the time and it critiqued the apartheid government . In the play we see evidence of various themes such as migrant labour, poverty, exploitation, marginalization, prostitution, infidelity alcoholism and racism . These themes are not explicitly and simply relayed but rather expressed through traditional performance elements such as dance, song and poetry.
The play consists of song where in several parts of the theatrical play; the actors sing in order to convey a particular message for example in the beginning the actors come together and sing “Wake up mother Africa. Time has run out. And all opportunity is wasted. Wake up mother Africa. Before the white man rapes you. Wake up” . This verse not only speaks to the theme of colonization and exploitation of Africa’s resources but it speaks of the greater theme of apartheid whereby; the white man who came to Africa as a visitor has now taken advantage of the kind ‘Mother Africa’ by victimizing her for his own pleasure. In contrast to the play; Egoli by Matsemela Manaka, it is evident that in most cases the songs sang by the actors are for entertainment purposes and not to convey a serious message for example John sings a song by Black Mambazo as he prepares to spend the night with Madinka who is one of the prostitutes living in Johannesburg . However there is one incident in the play where song is used to convey a message and that is John reflects on his imprisonment and they sing; “Thina sibanjelwe amahala” meaning that they have been convicted for nothing . In this song the theme of inequality and injustice to black people is reflected.
The play Egoli uses a lot of mimicry, where the actors reflect on their experiences by playing them out physically as though that particular incident is recurring. There are several examples of this, the most significant case is one where Hamilton mimics what happened between himself and Madinka who is a beautiful prostitute that John had purchased for Hamilton’s pleasure. This scene brings to light a greater issue which is the oppression of a black women during that time in South Africa as Hamilton also reflects on the many women he has raped and killed. He seems to be regretful at first but a careful analysis of his reflection reveals a deep misogyny because his concerns are not of the women but the sons and husbands of the women who he killed. He also continues to swear at the women by calling her “iShberesche” .
Similar to Egoli, we find that even in the play by Maponya (1978) women were present in the cities to serve as objects of pleasure for men and often worked as prostitutes selling their bodies to the men working in the mines. An example of this is when a woman called Chirango states that she had lost contact with her husband and in order to survive and feed her fatherless children she had to sell beers and if they do not sell, she “becomes every man’s women” .
The traditional element of dance is present in the play; Egoli and it brings to the surface a great issue of alcoholism due to the fact that in most scenes when dancing was involved it was often induced by indulging in alcohol and music for example John was drinking and he played a record and he and Hamilton began to dance . However, although there is no evidence of dance in the play; The Hungry Earth, scene two speaks of Beshwana going to the biggest shebeen the previous day. A shebeen is a place where people go to drink alcohol, dance and listen to music. Thus the same theme of alcoholism can be deduced from The Hungry Earth and various reasons can be given for this major social problem that was highly prevalent around the city such as escapism from the harsh conditions of the mines and injustice, Trauma caused by what they have witnessed, loneliness, feeling empty and also wanting to have a good time and belonging to this popular culture characterised by music, dance and alcohol .
Moreover the issue of conflict caused by internalised racism is raised in the play The Hungry Earth by the use of poetic language. In the incident where Usiviko and Beshwana are having an argument and Beshwana states that he will kill the white man together with the black man who supports him and stating that the tombstone will read; “ In memory of the oppressor and his oppressed spy. And to their love-hate they were inseparable. In life and in death. Find no peace” . However in contrast to this play, Egoli does not use poetry in speaking of the issue of internalised racism but it is evident where John speaks of a Baasboy called Zwelabo Mkhize as another Meneer Tumbull (a white man) in black skin .
Lastly, one may state that the pressing issues of a black body being displaced through the process of migration to the cities and the pain as well as the suffering that results from this is expressed through storytelling monologues in both plays. For example in Egoli John tells his story of his experience coming to Egoli and also reflects on witnessing the experience of initial hopefulness and excitement of many others when first coming to Johannesburg. He speaks of how that changes as those hopes diminish as life in Johannesburg is horrible . In The Hungry Earth the same kind of storytelling is evident where Matlhoko speaks of how black people are currently living in their land “ ...as puppets on a string unable to control their own lives” .
In conclusion, a critical analysis of both these South African plays indicates that although the people living in oppression in the mines of Johannesburg were systematically oppressed and silenced, art forms such as theatre were able to echo their voices. Through art one is able to effectively educate and inform the masses. And through knowledge comes change.
stay strong my brothers and sisters and do not refrain from expressing yourselves through Art
which is part of your identity as Umuntu Omnyama.
