THE LIFE and times of the
man popularly known as
the Father of Township
Theatre, Gibson Mthuthuzeli
Kente, will be celebrated
through song and dance in
a tribute show at the Soweto
Theatre.
The show, which is on from
today December 7, is part of the efforts
of the Joburg City Theatres
memory project, which began
with productions celebrating
The Manhattan Brothers and
the life of Regina Brooks, a
white woman who under apartheid
South Africa applied to be
classified as black.
TRIBUTE: Gibson Kente in conversation
Bringing this story to life
is a stellar cast consisting of
Gugu Mbongwa, Billy Langa,
Xoli Bongwana, Paballo Sithe,
Sboniso Ishmael Mbhele,
Mxolisi Madondo and Thembisile
Khumalo. The musical
direction is by Johan Mthethwa
and it is choreographed by
Douglas Sekete.
According to Claire Pacariz,
the executive producer for
Joburg City Theatres, they cast
young people in order to attract
young theatre-goers.
With a career spanning
almost four decades in apartheid
South Africa, Kente discovered
people who are today
part of the cream of the acting
crop in South Africa.
Some of
the those Kente mentored are
Darlington Michaels, Mbongeni
Ngema and Mary Twala.
Kente’s productions formed
an important part of the arts
scene, particularly in townships.
ICONIC: Gibson Kente with some of the legends of the South African creative industry
His work inculcated
a culture of theatre in black
communities. While he was
often accused of not being political
enough, some of Kente’s
works, like How Long, were a
big part of protest theatre.
It is believed that in total,
Kente produced 32 pieces of
work that explored the struggles
and beauty of black life.
Speaking about the tribute
show, director Makhaola Ndebele
said it would be a combination
of all of Kente’s music,
used to tell the story of his life.
Ndebele added that they
sought to celebrate his life
through the tribute.
“What we wanted to do is
that we are honouring him
through his music.
“In the links between the
music, what you’ll hear is more
about him, his life and his journey
in making his work.
“There will be a little bit of
dramatics here and there, but
essentially it’s a tribute concert,”
he said.
In producing this show,
one of the challenges they
faced was attempting to track
down all his work – especially
because it has not been
adequately recorded and documented.
“Because so little of his
work still exists, it’s hard to
come by.
“
Even with the music we
had to find old people who own
the LPs, because you can’t buy
it anywhere anymore. Then
we had to transfer it digitally
so we could share it among the
team.
EMBRACE: Gibson Kente and Sibongile Khumalo hug it out.
“Another thing was that we
had to rely a lot on word of
mouth.
“We were careful to say that
we are paying tribute to him,
rather than trying to emulate
him.
“Obviously we know the
specifics of what kind of work
he did in terms of presentational
work – his work was
rooted in emotion, so there are
certain traits we won’t miss.
Those that make him who he
is. But essentially, we are paying
tribute to him,” Ndebele
said.
He added that they hoped
the show had a meaningful
impact on the people who
watched it.
“We want the show to
ignite the memories of older
people who knew his work, but
younger audiences must also
feel that definite connection.
“We want to strike a balance,
so that people who know
him don’t have to ask while
watching the work: ‘Who is
this?’” he said.
The Gibson Kente Tribute
Show will be on at the Soweto
Theatre from December 7 until
the 17th.