Play puts absent dads in the spotlight
TALENT: Kitso Seti’s Four Fathers: Bananas for the Baboons on at Baxter
A Khayelitsha playwright has made it to the stage of the Baxter Theatre with his story around absent fathers in black communities.
Kitso Seti, 28, of Taiwan, Site C, himself a father to a two-year-old boy, says he began to question the touchy subject when he studied Politics at University of Cape Town.
“When I did my first year at UCT I was introduced to Pan-Africanism and then I became interested in knowing about black history.
“And then when I had my son, I thought about how I grew up without a father and I wanted to understand myself as a dad and to know what I can do to become a better father.
“I started writing even though I knew nothing about writing a script, so I asked a friend to help me.”
The play titled Four Fathers: Bananas for the Baboons takes you through a journey of how the Xhosa people lost their wealth during colonialism and how this impacted families.
Baxter Theatre spokesperson Faheem Stellenboom says the play forms part of the Baxter’s Platform for Special Talent programme which is made possible by the City of Cape Town.
“Using different theatrical styles, the play follows two young boys who are on a quest to find their father and on their journey, they encounter surreal, ‘out of this world’ events that they never thought existed.
“Their imagination takes them on a journey through three periods in time: the first 15 years of apartheid, from 1948 to the late 1960s; the 1906 Bambatha Rebellions and the Cattle Killing Movement of 1856, represented by Prophetess Nongqawuse.”
The play is performed in English, isXhosa and Zulu with English subtitles, and will run at the Baxter Golden Arrow Studio, from 3 to 20 August.
Tickets are R120 and booking is through Webtickets online or Pick n Pay stores.