Last Saturday our group of 15 and Marita were determined to see a performance at the Baxter Theatre, which is connected with the University of Cape Town. This day started with miscommunication and changes of plans but ended with something amazing. In the morning we all decided we were going to see Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” at 8pm. We looked for the prices online and saw that we did not get a student discount because it was a Saturday. We also decided we would buy tickets early as to have seats reserved when we got there. While I was in the process of collecting money someone told me that they called the theatre and they told him that we did get a discount if we just showed up 30 minutes early for the show. So we did not buy the tickets in advance but just waited until night time.At 6:30pm we all got ready and walked over to the Theatre which is on Main Road. However, at the ticket booth they told us that not only was there no discount but that “The Tempest” was sold out! This news prompted most of our group to go back home, leaving Michelle, Marita and I to find a play that was not sold out. Thankfully there was one showing at the same time: “Tshepang.” We bought the tickets and waited for the time to enter the theatre.
When we got to the floor where the theatre was located we entered and took our seats in the second row. This theatre was very small and the seats were all close together. Although I had a seat in the middle section and Marita and Michelle in the right section we still sat directly next to each other. This made the performance more personal. We did not know what to expect, or what the show would be about. While reading the pamphlet about the show I saw that the theme would be infant rape. This took me aback as I did not expect it and I was anxious to know the plot.
The stage was set up with a bed on the left with statues all around. In the center was a pile of what looked like sand and on the right were miniature replicas of township houses. The piece began with a woman named Ruth sitting on the pile of sand rubbing a cloth continuously on the sand. There was also a man with her and he would narrate the story. He began by talking about his early life and the culture that surrounded his town. He told a story of how him and his friends, when they were younger, would pay to have sex with a girl and also how a woman had a baby but left it to him to care for while she went to Cape Town. He explained how his friends would mock him and call him a “Sissie” because he would care for the little girl and do everything for her. Throughout the plot stories unraveled that tried to show the social problems that culminated and evolved into a culture of abuse and violence. In this instance it became evident that the women were looked at as the only possible care giver for a child and that a man is mocked and shamed if he takes this role. Later the woman who left the child came back to reclaim her after several years and he could do nothing but return her after he practically raised her.
As he continued he described the story of Ruth, whom he always liked. He said of how she dated a man and one night she went out drinking with her friend and left her 9 month old child with her boyfriend. The boyfriend raped the young baby and left it outside. When someone bumped into the baby there was huge commotion and soon the press, news and everyone else came to the town. It became a big drama when at first it was said the child was raped by six men. When this was found to be false and Ruth confessed that it was her boyfriend all of the blame went on her. People accused her of being a bad mother and not taking care of the baby. No one blamed the man or even talked extensively about him. This shows how the blame is placed on the woman who is really the victim of a violent and abusive man. Instead of trying to counsel and comfort her, the community where she lives and the news surrounding her charged and bashed her. She was shunned and the baby was taken away until she can “grow out of the trauma.”
The narrator expressed that Ruth has not said a word for the three years that has passed since the incident, and that they live there now in shame and sadness. Ruth is waiting for her baby to return, something, the man says, is probably never going to happen. “It is possible, I suppose for the baby to return. So she waits here and hasn’t said a word for three years,” he says. He felt sorry for her and decided to remain by her side. The man explained that their community was raped a long time ago, meaning that the dilapidation and culture of violence has been instilled long before this rape. He recalls when a reporter approached him and asked intrusively, “Where were you?” He exploded back, “Where were YOU?!” He made me realize that these rapes are the responsibility of society and can be ended once communities are improved and the roles of men and women changed. At the end of the play Ruth stands and looks at the audience, with her ragged clothes, hopeless expression and empty cradle tied to her back and whispers, “Tshepang,” the name of her young child.
What was interesting is that the play was in English with excerpts in Africaans which we could not understand. This shows that the theatre going community is fluent in both languages. After the show Ruth and the man exited and we were able to meet them. This performance evoked great emotion from all of the audience and we stood around them amazed at how different Ruth looked in regular clothes. This play was written to depict the 20,000 infant rapes that happen in South Africa every year. It was a fictional account based on real events to show the diverse issues surrounding this horror. The effect was incredible and I was thankful that “The Tempest” was sold old and we were instead able to witness such a significant performance that taught me something real about South Africa.
Faina & Michelle at Companys Garden
