ANTIGONE (not quite/quiet)
“Ninganiki Okungcwele Ezinjeni”
This hard-hitting new work created by Magnet Theatre in collaboration with the University of Cape Town’s Centre for Theatre Dance and Performances Studies (CTDPS) explores the nature of protest and responses to power, untangling the tragedy of our current moment in South Africa. Subtitled Ninganiki Okungcwele Ezinjeni which is isiXhosa for “Give not unto dogs sacred things”, Antigone (not quite/quiet), is not a production of Antigone, but rather a series of responses to the original play. It engages with the concept of the aftermath: the tragedy of our particular aftermath in post-1994 South Africa. Created in 3 parts, it exposes the impossibility of escaping our colonial history; gives voice to the youth, in protest against the authority of the state that acts to silence them; and the complicity of the those in power in bringing us to this tragic point.
Antigone (not quite/quiet), directed by Mark Fleishman, is the first production – in a series of four – by UCT’s Centre of Theatre, Dance and Performance Studies and Magnet Theatre.
At the beginning of 2019, the University of Cape Town’s Centre for Theatre, Dance & Performance Studies (CTDPS) – previously the Drama Department and the School of Dance – embarked on an exciting five-year research project on Re-imagining Tragedy from Africa and the Global South. Led by Fleishman and Mandla Mbothwe, the project is made possible through the generous funding by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Director: Mark Fleishman
Set and Costume Design: Craig Leo
Lighting Design: Mark Fleishman
Production Manager: Themba Stewart
Part I: Ismene
Written and performed by: Jennie Reznek
Choreographer: Ina Wichterich
Part II: Antigone
Musical Director and Composer: Neo Muyanga
Choreographer: Jennie Reznek with input from Luxolo Mboso and cast
Text by: Sophocles, Mandisa Vundla and the cast
Created and performed by: Carlo Daniels, Motlatji Mjamba, Sive Gubanxa, Siyavuya Gqumehlo, Jason Jacobs, Balindile kaNgcobo, Sizwe Lubengu, Sivenathi Macibela, Sityhilelo Makupula, Luxolo Mboso, Abigail Mei, Yvonne Msebenzi, Kanya Viljoen
Part III: Tiresias
Performed by: Faniswa Yisa
Videographer: Kirsty Cumming
Text by: SEK Mqhayi and others
First performed at The Baxter Theatre in September 2019. Nominated in 2 categories for the 2019 Fleur du Cap awards: Best Ensemble and Best Original sound
Click here to watch Antigone trailer
