THEATRE
Musical promotes peace among all communities
The brutality and unfairness of xenophobia is a core theme in Vusi Mhlongo’s Voice from Kilimanjaro, writes Edward Tsumele
The Voice from Kilimanjaro, written and directed by Vusi Mhlongo, a South African theatre maker and filmmaker, has beautiful dance scenes set to music that are an interesting mix of South African sounds and tunes emanating from the rest of the continent. At a recent rehearsal at the Yeoville Recreational Centre — in a suburb that is an entry point to Johannesburg for people across Africa — the tone suddenly changed from happy scenes to a scary one. A belligerent crowd burst onto the stage, imitating marchers in the streets, shouting that they were looking for foreigners that they charged with crimes ranging from stealing jobs to stealing "their women" and business opportunities. Singing mainly in isiZulu, the crowd is ready to go to war with foreigners, any foreigner they came across from the continent. One foreigner, who quickly picked up that the crowd was looking for his kind, thought fast and joined them, singing and dancing and saying he was also looking for foreigners. But the...
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