“…Did I need Jack and Jill?…”
Little Thembi Mtshali asked that question when her little girl self was first tuning in the apartheid realities surrounding her. She had waited a long time for her arm to grow long enough to reach the ear on the opposite side of her head. Once she could do that, she was able to start school. Once she got to school and the rote memorizations of English nursery rhymes required, her awareness grew of what she was now missing—-the rich lessons, songs and wisdom she had already learned from her Gogo (grandmother).
Though it’s still early in the script, when 70-something years old actress Thembi Mtshali poses this question about Jack and Jill in her one-woman show, A Woman in Waiting, she had long ago convinced us that she is a little girl. The script captures a little girl’s worldview in granular detail; Mtshali’s acting does the rest. We are also convinced that we understand Zulu and the meaning of the songs she sings— because on a deep emotional level, we certainly do.
Thembi’s talent as a storyteller and songster carries the story with very few props. A trunk on stage is her mother’s womb that she is restless to break out of. Later the trunk becomes a bus seat. There is also a pile of clay sand on the stage, where we get to see her make the little dolls that could easily crumble, unlike the store bought dolls others had.
International Black Theater Festival Brings South African Play With Deep US Echoes
If you too have read the book or seen the recent Hollywood movie titled The Help, it is likely the prop of the toilet will give you the biggest gut punch. Still a little girl and new to the ways of the city, Thembi recounts the day when her mother brought her to work and told her to sit patiently for her return. When the urge to wee becomes overwhelming, Thembi finds this toilet to relieve herself in. We then meet— through Thembi’s eyes— the Giant white man owner who terrifies her. She only sees his enormous stomach. He is the threatening and irate owner of the house, horrified to find a Black behind on his pristine white toilet. As he berates his housemaid, her mother, we see a housemaid dress— another of the few props—- get smaller and smaller. How could her mother be made so small? Welcome to Mississippi, welcome to apartheid—both. The parallel tracks of the US and South Africa continue to be revealed when grown Thembi shares her complex emotions of taking care of the rich white children while she leaves her own baby at home. In this reviewer’s opinion, all the Hollywood production value in The Help film is dwarfed by the raw emotion conveyed by Thembi with her few props and agile storytelling.
Our attention never lags as Thembi tells her story. We smell the terror of the night raids in the townships. We identify with the naive and shy young girl who falls for a sweet talking man. We also get glimpses of the real-world actress before us— a South African sit-com superstar whom even Nelson Mandela watched on TV while in prison, friend and backup singer for Hugh Masekela, Miriam Makeba and more, and an award-winning actress in stages across the world. After the show, you can buy a copy of her auto-biography in the lobby — a short read that tells the story of A Woman in Waiting more detailed narrative format.
Beyond the many tomes about apartheid and colonialism, Thembi Mtshali and A Woman in Waiting shows us the superior power of theater to cut to the chase.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
CAST: Thembi Mtshali-Jones – Lead Actress
PRODUCTION STAFF: Hlengiwe Lushaba Madlala, IBTF Director (Original Director: Yael Farber); Phumzile Mtshali, Producer ;Gerda Kruger, IBTF Lighting Designer (Original Lighting Designer: Josh Lindberg) ;Philip Kruger, Sound Technician; Mabonga Khumalo, Stage Manager; Luba Mtshali, Photographer
Photos: Shaw Photography Group, NC Black Rep
For more information about Thembi Mtshali visit the Spirit Sister Productions Network Facebook page.
Bookmark the International Black Theater Festival website to learn more about the next festival.
About the Author: Amy Munice
Amy Munice is Editor-in-Chief and Co-Publisher of Picture This Post. She covers books, dance, film, theater, music, museums and travel. Prior to founding Picture This Post, Amy was a freelance writer and global PR specialist for decades—writing and ghostwriting thousands of articles and promotional communications on a wide range of technical and not-so-technical topics.
