With her unique skills set and natural talent for storytelling, Chuma Mtshixa from Khayelitsha hopes to make an indelible mark in the theatre.
The young up-and-coming writer will showcase her second play, S timela(A train, in isiZulu), which she wrote and directed this week.
Please catch the show, mark the date and get ready. #Theatre #play #Production #Stimela #khayelitsha
A post shared by Chuma Mtshixa(@chuma_mtshixa) on Mar 1, 2018 at 11:35pm PST
The play portrays the varied but similar journeys of train commuters and the social issues they are confronted with. “The play promises to bring something new, to show the social repression that continues to haunt the country,” she said.
“I want to create some thought, and personal engagement, with a cast of eight talented, beautiful and young artists, who have come together to start a conversation on ‘our journey’.”
The plays depicts the everyday rituals of preparing for work andschool. It examines people in an intimate way but remains in the ambit of family-friendly theatre.
“So be sure to catch it along with your family and friends; perhaps it will help you view the lives of others and even your life differently,” said Mtshixa.
The 23-year-old politics student at the University of the Western Cape said the play would be staged in Delft at the Black Box Theatre, also known as the Rainbow Arts Organisation. It would then be staged at the Makukhanye Arts Room in Site B, Khayelitsha on Saturday and Sunday.
Mtshixa said she hoped her work would reflect critical issues and pose questions that would stimulate conversation. She chose township theatres because of funding, but most importantly because the audiences would relate to the story.
Her first play, Broken Radio, was nominated for the best new director award at the the Baxter Theatre’s Zabalaza festival. “I am hoping that I will be able to showcase this story (Stimela) at other festivals and be nominated again.
“Even though I am into politics, creative writing has been my passion from a young age. I want to be a well-known and respected playwright.”