Grieve, that is how you survive
Physical Theatre and Poetry
Written, Directed and Performed by Grace STORM & Thandiwe NQANDA | Sound Design byJason MARSHALL, Tshilidzi MFUMPHA and Thandiwe NQANDA
15+
This spoken word production is infused with physical theatre and music. It follows the journey of two young women who are navigating through and discovering their grief.
The story is an uncovering of what grief is like for a younger generation who are not always fully held by their families. Told from two differing perspectives, their stories meet in the midde - that grief ultimately MUST happen in order to find ways to heal.
In a world that asks us to withhold our loss so as to not appear weak, the play asks us to consider the act of letting go as a means to continue, and to survive through those very losses.
Grieve, that is how you survive, delves into the importance of grieving, tracing the journey of loss from childhood to adulthood. Through evocative storytelling, sound, poetry and movement, the performance sheds light on the act of letting go and finding pathways to healing. We explore how memory, honouring, and allowing can shape our experience of loss and lead to meaningful transformation.
The production builds on the respective self-published poetry collections of both creators, Grace Storm (Love and Other Stuff) and Thandiwe Nqanda (No Time To Mourn), each of whom brings a wealth of expertise and personal insight into the themes of grief and survival.
The choreo-poem play recently debuted at the National Arts Festival in Makhanda in June 2024. The work is also currently working on touring at schools as a means to educate and engage with young audiences in order to create spaces for grief to be unpacked and understood.
The work connects deeply with audiences by navigating the emotional landscapes and stages of life we often encounter yet seldom express.
ARTIST BIOS
Grace Storm graduated BADA(hons) with majors in Dance Theatre composition and choreography in 2016. She then completed my MA in Applied Theatre (Cum Laude) with a focus on performance as research in 2021. A performer, choreographer, author, spoken word artist, facilitator, lecturer and teacher, Grace is an artist at heart with a love for teaching.
She has choreographed various works and productions between 2016-2022, such as Regression which debuted at Dance Umbrella 2017, Slip, performed at the Baxter Dance Festival as well as the JoYA festival in 2016-2017, Breathe which was performed at the Sibikwa Arts Centre, Wait/Weight performed at The Market Theatre in 2023 and more recently Grieve, that is how you survive, a two-hander developed from her and Thandiwe Nqanda’s poetry collections which debuted at the National Arts Festival in June 2024 amongst many others.
She started writing at the age of 13 and has written and self-published a collection of 3 anthologies on love, loss, and grief, recently launching her 2nd Edition collection in March this year.
In October 2022, Grace represented South Africa at the Requiem for Justice Festival in Mexico City, an international Rally of artists, writers and thinkers from over 15 countries to manifest the role that art plays to protest against injustice.
She continues to create and perform her works, creating new explorative ways of merging her skills and art forms in various ways. Her recent projects focuses on grief studies and finding ways in which to articulate the process of grief in order to find joy and healing through the process of loss
Thandiwe Nqanda is a South African-born poet. In her 13 years of writing, she has partaken in both local and international projects, such as 16DaysOfActivism16Poets, performing her poem Energy on Totally Radio in Brighton, UK (2021), participated at Word N Sound Poetry Slam in 2020 and being Former Guest Poet of State of the Nation Address, SONA (2022, People's Voice). She has also recently been a part of The Open Book Festival 2024 with her self-published book No Time To Mourn.
Her audience reach is inclusive of various African countries such as Zimbabwe and Namibia, and extends as far as the UK, USA and Germany. This afforded her the gift of writing and composing IT IS TIME, a musical poetry show.
More recently she performed Grieve, that is how you survive, a two-hander developed from hers and Grace Storm’s poetry collections which debuted at the National Arts Festival in June 2024.
Apart from her love for writing, Thandiwe has thrived on the basketball court for many years. Her basketball journey contributed to her experience of being a multi-time SA National, Provincial and All Star sports champion. She has also captained the Wits Basketball 1st Ladies Team in 2021.