Land justice and affordable housing investigated by the award-winning Tiisetso Mashifane wa Noni, in the world premiere of Neighbourhood, at the Baxter Studio from 2 to 24 August.
The riveting story investigates the lingering effects of spatial apartheid in the ongoing fight for land justice and affordable housing in urban areas.
Performed in English, Sepedi, isiZulu, isiXhosa and Afrikaans, this multilingual and pressing story is written and directed by Mashifane, recent winner of the Fleur du Cap Best New South African Script award. It features a vibrant young cast composed of members of the Baxter’s Fires Burning company, Awethu Hleli, Carlo Daniels, Lyle October, Nolufefe Ntshuntshe and Tamzin Williams (all seen in Othello and of Loss – handle with care), with Carla Smith (Othello, Terminaal 3) and Jock Kleynhans (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Dumb Waiter), rounding off the ensemble.
The creative team is made up of Patrick Curtis (set design), Michaeline Wessels (costume design), Jannous Aukema (sound design) and Andi Colombo (lighting design).
Set in contemporary South Africa, the play follows the relationship between two fictional neighbourhoods, Lindela, an informal settlement that sees many of its community members travel to and from Everwood, an upper middle-class suburb, for better work and education opportunities. After multiple cries for affordable housing within the neighbourhood they seek their livelihoods from, the Lindela community members take matters into their own hands and move into Everwood, to become neighbours to those they serve.
“Why you don’t want us to be your neighbours? You don’t like us?” asks Jacob, a car guard and Lindela community member to upper middle class Everwood residents in the play.
The development of the play began in early 2023 when Baxter Theatre CEO and artistic director, Lara Foot, in conversation with Ndifuna Ukwazi (a land and housing activist organisation on the ongoing and growing housing crisis), challenged and supported Tiisetso to go out and creatively investigate the South African housing crisis through a research-based play.
With Ndifuna Ukwazi acting as a research base, she embarked on an over yearlong research and playwriting process of interviewing various South Africans who are involved in the housing crisis ecosystem while also gathering inspiration from various traditional media and social media sources to produce a fictional stage production based on her findings.
Tiisetso Mashifane wa Noni
Tiisetso explains ‘The issue of land and housing is not new within South Africa’s post-apartheid narrative, so I have had to be very particular with how I would tackle the issue. From the interviews I conducted and the information I found, I very quickly made the decision not to write a story of hope as there is nothing hopeful about spatial apartheid and people not having access to adequate housing. So, I have opted to tell a story about the fragility of everyday living because most South Africans are living on the precipice of poverty. Most are one or two disasters, decisions or mistakes away from being down and out.’
As a playwright, theatre maker and producer Tiisetso strives to make provocative content focused on themes of social politics, history and violence in contemporary South Africa. She has been described as a “theatre prodigy” in the Cape Times, a “brilliant young mind” by TEDxYouth Cape Town and as a playwright-director who has “her ear to the ground, her heart in the right place and a mind worth tapping into,” in Daily Maverick.
She graduated with a BA in Politics and International Studies, Philosophy and Dramatic Arts from Rhodes University and a BA (Hons) in Directing for Stage from the University of Cape Town. Her plays Sainthood and Delela have, between them, garnered a Standard Bank Ovation Award and four Fleur du Cap nominations with a win for Best New South African Script in 2024. She was also named the 2023 Baxter Theatre CEO’s Artist of the Year for the two plays.
- The production is made possible through the generous support of the City of Cape Town, the Oppenheimer Memorial Trust, National Arts Council and Cape Talk.
Interstingly, investigating spatial inequality was the focus of ‘Mother City‘, the film that opened the Encounters Documentary Film Festival. Neighbourhood will no doubt provide a compelling focus on this critical issue.
WHAT: Neighbourhood
WHERE: Baxter Studio, Baxter Theatre Centre, Main Road, Rondebosch, Cape Town 7600
WHEN: 2 to 24 August 2024 at 8pm with Saturday matinees at 2.30pm
BOOKING: Webtickets online or at Pick n Pay stores
INFO: T 021 685 7880 | VISIT | See also Cape Town Green Map
PHOTO: Neighbourhood cast, left to right: Josh Kleynhans, Carlo Daniels, Nolufefe Ntshuntshe, Carla Smith, Awethu Hleli, Tamzin Williams, Lyle October. Photographer: Mark Anthony Dobson
