Katanga, January 17, a production set to play at the Market Theatre during Heritage Month this September, is aimed at strengthening African artistic collaboration, encouraging an exchange of stories and celebrating the African liberation heritage. Katanga was a secessionist province in the Republic of Congo in which the first prime minister of that country, Patrice Lumumba, and his associates were assassinated by a firing squad on 17 January 1961.
The show tackles important conversations about colonialism, African solidarity, instability, independence and decolonisation through the revered life of Lumumba, the slain Prime Minister. Blending poetry and prose, Katanga, January 17 presents a biography of Lumumba and how his legacy continues to impact present-day Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Furthermore, it explores events surrounding the assassinations of Lumumba and fellow comrades, Joseph Okito and Maurice Mpolo.
The story is aptly narrated through the eyes of a former child soldier, detailing the well-documented psychological, physical and social impact of war on child soldiers.
Katanga, January 17 is co-written by internationally renowned writer, poet and academic, Lesego Rampolokeng, in conjunction with Bobby Rodwell, a human rights activist, playwright and director. Rampolokeng enriches the script with captivating poetry, while Rodwell provides personal narratives of the people she’s interviewed. The third co-writer of the play is Lumumba himself, through his famous last letter to his wife, Pauline Lumumba.
Audiences can expect to be transported to the eastern DRC – where ‘home becomes the mouth of a lion’ – and be exposed to the lived realities of the Congolese people, while touring the African liberation route. Additionally, the play triggers moments of deep reflection about the role of former colonial powers in the scramble for Africa’s resources, and the realisation of an African renaissance built on the strong pillars of good governance, democracy, unity, trade, economic transformation and peace, among others.
The production is co-directed by Bobby Rodwell and Khutjo Green (who is also cast member). According to Rodwell, Katanga, January 17 attempts to speak to the complex history and precariousness of life in the DRC as illustrated by the living descendants of Lumumba and Okito. “We are the children of war,” says Juliana Lumumba, daughter of Patrice Lumumba. “As my father ran in 1961, when his father, Joseph Okito was assassinated, so the children of the Congo are still running,” adds Joseph Okito’s grandson.
Katanga, January 17 is told in English, Ki-Swahili, Lingala and French. It features a proudly pan-African cast of South African and Congolese thespians. The South Africans in the cast are much-loved actors, Billy Langa and Khutjo Green. Billy recently featured in Poet-O-Type at the Market Theatre, while Khutjo Green was seen inKa Lebitso La Moya at this year’s National Arts Festival.
Congolese actor Charly Azade, who performed in mehlo-maya’s Frontières, and Nji Alain, originally from the Camerron but now living in South Africa, complete the pan-African cast.
Co-writer, Lesego Rampolokeng, is widely published across genres with well received poetry collections such as Horns for Hondo (1990), Talking Rain (1993), The Bavino Sermons (1999), Head on Fire (2012) as well as A Half Century Thing (2015), among others. Lesego has also penned three novels – Blackheart (2004), Whiteheart (2005) and Bird-Monk Seding (2018) – and stage plays such as Bantu Ghost: A Stream of (Black) Unconsciousness and Fanon’s Children, in addition to contributing to many other plays.
Bobby Rodwell is the Founder and Director of pioneering theatre company, mehlo-maya (eye-to-the-sun) through which she has produced several acclaimed theatre pieces based on personal narratives. Her work includes The Story I Am About to Tell based on the Bishop Desmond Tutu-led Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) hearings where victims and perpetrators shared personal stories of atrocities under Apartheid. Other works include flipping the script (2007) and Theatre on Trains (2011), which both focused on gender-based violence in the home, public spaces and on trains. In Frontières (2021), Rodwell shone a light on personal stories of migration with African migrants taking centre stage in a well-received production which took place at the Market Theatre.
Don’t miss this dynamic cast as they weave together a narrative that, through movement and text, reveals a critical moment in the history of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and its significance to the African continent.
For reduced price block bookings (of 10 or more) and school groups, contact Anthony Ezeoke (Audience Development) at AnthonyE@markettheatre.co.za or 083 246 4950 or Mamello Khomongoe mamellok@markettheatre.co.za 0815729612
