Inxeba Lomphilisi (The Wound of a Healer)

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Told in beautifully poetic isiXhosa, and using various strategies of translation into English, Inxeba Lomphilisi tells multiple stories that take place along the N2 highway from Cape Town to the Eastern Cape.  It is an interdisciplinary, multimedia production that draws its aesthetic from African traditions and urban rituals to explore the themes of loss and belonging.

At the heart of the piece is an old woman who has been on the N2 for many years.  She acts as a conduit for other people’s stories – stories of departure and return.  But she is so caught up in other people’s narratives that she has lost her own, and is constantly trying to catch and weave their stories together again so that they can make sense.  Stories never stop flowing towards her. They come in many shapes and forms – as sounds, flowers, tear drops, blood stains, images or pieces of clothing.  The stories are told through the collage of poetic text, songs, rituals and images.  She struggles to connect them, to make them coherent, to repair the damage of endless separations; and as she struggles these stories become part of her.  She endures the torture of waiting, the pain of praying for return, the struggle, the suffering of trying to understand what has been broken and what has been returned.  They are stories of ordinary men and women, forgotten heroes, poets, freedom fighters.  The old woman resurrects what has been lost through the act of telling.
 
Says Mandla Mbothwe (director) about the production: "Without the stories of the 'disappeared' we are not whole.  Without their stories our spiritual and traditional being is empty. Inxeba Lomphilisi tries to place the stories back in the landscape."

Says Jennie Reznek (movement director) about the production: “The piece deals with themes similar to other Magnet productions that are about the essential importance of healing through storytelling and of having one’s story heard.”

“The beauty of isiXhosa is clearly and rhythmically articulated. For those who don’t understand, the sensory way in which the story is told makes it understood. It’s a detailed and cohesive quality production.” --Fiona Gordon, Cue newspaper, 25 June 2010.

“Magnet Theatre’s Xhosa production Ingcwaba lendoda lise cankwe ndlela (‘the grave of the man is next to the road’) was a riveting and groundbreaking work.” --Brent Meersman, “New audiences, new fans,” Mail & Guardian, 23 December 2009

“The language is beautiful and evocative ... The production is enriched with haunting music and beautiful singing. The performers are very talented and throw their bodies into the performances.” --Zane Henry, Tonight, 16 February 2010

Preview and opening night (28 July) R50
Mondays R70
Tuesday–Thursday R80
Fridays and Saturdays R95

Book at Computicket

Special discounts are available for school and community groups please contact Margie Pankhurst (021 448 3436 or admin@magnettheatre.co.za), Sharon Alexander (021 680 3962 or Sharon.alexander@uct.ac.za) or Carmen Kearns (021 680 3993 or Carmen.kearns@uct.ac.za)
Through generous support from the HCI Foundation, bus transport is available for groups of 30 and more.  

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