Web diary

From the moment when the first actors burst onto the stage, we knew we had struck gold. The first scene was set in a men’s prison and it was powerful, terrifying and riveting. And the performances were of the standard we have come to expect from Jo’burg grass roots theatre; outstanding. In the play, almost every male character turns out to be a rapist, and it is unrelenting in its confrontation of this issue. It does not skirt around it or steer away from the horror or it. There is a gang rape, the rape of a young man in prison, complete with nudity, an attempted rape by the police, a date rape by a trusted teacher, the suicide of a raped school girl, and so on. Even the nice bespectacled headmaster of the school has been involved in the rape of students. It was so full on. There were several gun shots during the play, and we were sitting in the front row. It scared the shit out of us. In the end it was one of the most confronting, compelling and powerful theatrical experience I think I have ever had. I saw some very griping theatre in Berlin, but it was much safer than this. With this play, we had no idea where we were being taken, and it felt dangerous and frightening, and it did not have a happy ending. But it attacked the issue right at its core, and I believe has the force to really educate young men about the savagery of prison life and the effects of rape. I really think theatre like this can bring about change.

After the performance, Bongani ran a workshop with the audience. People got really worked up and passionate, and there were arguments between men and women in the audience. From what I could pick up from the snippets of English, this discussion was on why men rape and what needs to be done. It was raw and emotional. One man, talking about peer pressure and gang rape, kept saying, in English “and I speak from personal experience”. I will get Peter to do the translations of this scene, but I think he was admitting to being part of a gang rape and was explaining what had happened. One man with major physical disabilities but a very sweet and gentle face and manner, made a profound speech, in English, about the horror or rape and what should be done to stop it. This speech alone was enough to justify the whole day’s shoot.