After a 10-year absence, Mthatha’s veteran playwright and theatre director Billy Dakada and his collective will be performing on National Arts Festival stages in Grahamstown.
Speaking to the Daily Dispatch, Dakada said their drama group, the Khanyiso Social Enterprise, had performed at the festival in 2006 and 2008 and were now returning with a brand new play titled The Life and Times of Nelson Mandela.
Dakada ’s productions, The Rivonia Trial and The Pain, a story about the role of women in the liberation struggle – have been premiered internationally in Sweden (2006) and Switzerland (2010).
He explains this as the reason why it has taken the group so long to return to Grahamstown.
“There was great public demand for those two plays, both here in South Africa and overseas. The story of Mandela resonates with so many people that we have spent a great deal of time travelling but now it is time we return,” said Dakada.
He said the play highlighted the role played by Nelson Mandela in South Africa’s struggle for democracy.
“The previous play, Rivonia Trial, showed his last turning point in the liberation movement. This play delves deeper into his life after 1994, while also reflecting on the role of Winnie Mandela and her suffering while Madiba was in prison,” he said.
Other members of the group who will also be performing at the festival include Thembile Vacu, Nondumiso Zweni, Daluthando Sibaya, Philile Krwaxa and Phindile Mabhongo.
Dakada said there could never be enough plays or movies or written work about Madiba and that it was important for Eastern Cape artists to solidify the icon’s legacy through creative expression.
Last year, the group performed at the Iphulo Performing Arts Festival in Port Elizabeth and this year some members of the group returned to Iphulo with a play titled Olivia Twisted.
Dakada said financial constraints were a barrier for many performing artists in the province, and that they were also being assisted by the Eastern Cape Provincial Arts and Culture Council and the OR Tambo District municipality with funding.
Through his long history in theatre, Dakada has delivered lectures in Sweden, and also won the Eastern Cape Premier’s Award and Best Script Writer’s Award in 2002. — ziphon@dispatch.co.za..