SHARP*VILLE - from tragedy to triumph, a township tale

In December, the highly acclaimed playwright, director and actor, Gamakhulu Diniso, will be bringing poignant, bitter-sweet memories to the stage when his company Diniso Kasi Arts, with funding from the Gauteng Province Department of Sport, Arts Culture and Recreation, proudly presents ‘SHARP*VILLE - from tragedy to triumph’.

The play narratively portrays a piece of socio-political South African history set against the tragic Sharpeville Shooting to the meaningful Sharpeville Signing of the Constitution. It is an eloquent fusion of song and dance, reminiscent of the era of the ‘pass’ and ‘rent’ during the oppressive apartheid regime.

As townships go, Sharpeville makes for dramatic storytelling as it is reputed for three major political events, the 1960 massacre, the 1984 rent boycott uprising and the 1996 Constitution signing.

SHARP*VILLE will take the audience on a journey into the camera lences of two generations of photographers, Ntate Rafuku Motaung of the 1960s who experienced the ‘Anti-Pass Campaign’ in full swing and Pule Mkhauza of the 1980s who witnessed the stirring ‘Rent Boycott Uprising’, in Sharpeville township.

Gamakhulu has a gift for narrative theatre and has been a significant player on the arts & culture scene for a number of years now. He has won numerous awards for his work as a director, actor and published playwright. To add to his creative flair, he is also an accomplished fine artist. In 1998, he was appointed the Market Theatre’s Resident Director. He is the recipient of the 1999 Gauteng Arts Culture and Heritage Award for Professional Drama Discipline and is included in the 2007/8 and 2008/9 Little Black Book - Financial Mail's annual guide to the most influential black decision makers.

Gamakhulu’a DINISO Kasi Arts company has staged plays at national venues and some of South Africa’s biggest arts festivals. It has also toured extensively in South Africa, Africa and abroad.

SHARP*VILLE is funded by Gauteng Province Department of Sport Arts Culture and Recreation and is supported by Sedibeng Sport Recreation Arts Culture and Heritage Department to create job opportunities, skills transference and social cohesion through Creative Industries.

This dramatic socio-political piece of theatre will be at the Civic Theatre Vereeniging from 10-13 and December 2012 at 8pm with the official opening night on 10 December to commemorate the Signing of the Republic of South Africa Democratic Constitution, which originally took place in Sharpeville. Then it will move on to the Sharpeville Community Hall on the 14 - 26 January 2013, Mphatlalatsane Theatre in Sebokeng on the 28 January - 9 February 2013, the Vaal University of Technology in February 2013, and finally it moves back to the Civic Theatre Vereeniging from 11 - 23 March 2013 with a special show for Human Rights Month on 21 March 2013

For more information call Sydney Dhlamini on 016news@gmail.com.