Rosebank playwright Khanya Ngcuka will stage her first one-woman play as part of the Magnet Theatre’s Summer Season.

Pumla's Song explores the experiences of mothers who fought in the armed struggle against Apartheid in South Africa.

The play is set in a Soweto house with three rooms, each representing a different memory from Pumla’s past.

Ms Ngcuka, 28, is a theatre-maker, performer and teacher from Mthatha in the Eastern Cape. She recently completed her Masters of Arts degree in drama at Rhodes University. She also has an undergraduate degree in sociology and drama.

“⁠I was born in Mthatha, and grew up in Johannesburg, raised by my grandmother first then my mother. Fun fact: I have gone to eight schools from primary to high school and matriculated at Umtata High School. I got into theatre through my parents. My mother studied opera and performance at Tshwane University of Technology and worked at the State Theatre for some time,“ she said.

This is Ms Ngcuka’s first solo play, but she has been involved in several productions in Makhanda, first as a performer then as a director.

Her interest lies in stories that are untold, or stories of the marginalised or disenfranchised, she says, describing how she came to write Pumla's Song.

“I had been watching documentaries about MK veterans. And in the documentaries, I saw the absence of women. Soon after, a book was released by Professor Siphokazi Magadla called Guerrillas and Combative Mothers, which speaks about the journeys different women took in fighting for the country during the armed struggle. My interest was sparked from those discoveries.”

Rehearsals for a solo production have proved challenging, she says.

“I’ve been so used to being a director, that having to direct myself proved challenging. But my mentor, Professor Mark Fleishman, and my directors and choreographer, Kayla van der Merwe, have made the journey easier.”

Magnet Theatre’s Summer Season runs from Saturday November 30 to Friday December 13, featuring three performances a day, at 10am, 12.30pm and 7.30pm.

Mina Thina, a 40-minute show with three performers working with song, dance and shadow puppetry, starts off the day at 10am. Aimed at 3-to-7-year-olds, it is about community, about being together and being alone as well as the importance of human connection.

Glimmer, at 12.30pm, is made specifically for teenagers and young adults and explores the dangers and pressures of the online world.

The 7.30pm slot is for productions by emerging playwrights, including Ms Ngcuka, Jenna Fish and Nasfa Ncanywa, who have been mentored by the Magnet Theatre’s artistic directors Mark Fleishman, Mandla Mbothwe and Jennie Reznek.

Unpacking Mr Becker, written by Jenna Fish in collaboration with Robin Kitto, deals with the uncovering of both literal and figurative things that have been forgotten as people grow old and stories are buried by a world moving too fast to stop and listen.

Nasfa Ncanywa’s Intsebenzo is a work reflecting on the consequences of absent black domestic workers, the relationships between their absence and what is fractured or missed in the lives of their children while they are working in the city.

A fourth solo show will be performed by Buhle T Sefane – a reworking and development of his work Uhambo (The Travelling) exploring the impact of mental health on the life of an artist and the redemptive power of creativity and dance.

“Our Summer Season is an all-round, end-of-year celebration: of theatre, young audiences, families, storytelling and of the talented force of our incredible Magnet Theatre Youth Company. This festival marks the end of their six months in the Magnet Theatre building,” says Jennie Reznek, co-founder of Magnet Theatre.

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