No Christmas for Us
theatre
Written by Nokuzola Zoe BIKWANA | Co-produced by Nelisa FUSA | Directed by Sonwabo MPHANDLE | Costumes and props by Khanyisa JAMES | Performed by IMBIZA THEATRE COMPANY
13+
No Christmas For Us reflects on a rarely discussed event.
The setting of the story is Nyanga Township, Cape Town. The year is 1976. The youth in South African townships are actively involved in violent protests against Apartheid and use of Afrikaans as a language of instruction.
A group of young people attempt to persuade and convince the migrant labourers in the Nyanga hostels about the importance of having them support their activities. The migrants have a different perspective. The meetings between the two groups fail miserably leading to a whole series of unpleasant events that result in a Christmas Day massacre.
No Christmas For Us explores how township communities recover from this ‘divide and rule’ policy and how a rather painful reconciliation can reveal why some of the youth stay true to the vows of making it in life and how some lose the battle and remain caught up in the cycle of poverty. The story reminds young people about the responsibility they have towards improving the plight of others who might not be as fortunate.
No Chistmas For Us won the Imbewu Playwriting Award in 2016 and was brought into production at The Zabalaza Festival at the Baxter Theatre that same year.
Photo: No Christmas for Us, directed by Thami Mbongo, 2016
RELEVANCE TO NYANGA RESIDENTS AND THE GENERAL TOWNSHIP COMMUNITY OF NYANGA AND GUGULETHU
To this day the communities of Nyanga and Gugulethu have never been given the opportunity to find closure on the event that happened some 40 years ago. When she saw the play for the first time during the readings, my mother literally cried when she spoke about her kitchen utensils that were stolen when the police raided the homes in Nyanga.
One of the actors mentioned that he could still smell the burnt Bata shoes that he could not wear that Christmas of 1976.
RELEVANCE TO THE YOUTH : EXTRACT FROM TSHISIMANI REPORT (2017)
From June to November 2016, Tshisimani undertook a multi-dimensional project to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the 1976 Student Uprising. The project 1976 Through the Eyes of the Current Generation sought to ‘facilitate a reflective engagement with the 1976 Uprising, its aftermath, significance and relevance for the latter-day struggles waged by young people’. It also had the explicit intention to ‘broaden the Uprising beyond Soweto – to take into account how student struggles in the 1970s unfolded in other parts of the country’.[1] Through a range of activities, the project brought together current student activists (high school and universities) from a range of organisations in dialogue with student activists from the 1970s and beyond.
OPPORTUNITY FOR DIALOGUE
The play provides a great opportunity to re-open the dialogue for people who never got an opportunity to reflect on what the December 1976 killings meant for them albeit the chances given by the TRC for people to do so.
As the Tshisimani youth reflected, most youth are led to believe that it was mostly in Soweto where uprisings happened and the youth in other places were never as active; the play is here to challenge that view and make people understand their history better.
RELEVANCE TO WHAT PREJUDICE CAN DO
The idea of labelling others is still a burning issue in South Africa. The December 1976 killings could have been avoided if the community of Nyanga had not been prejudiced to others; to date we still have xenophobia and all that goes with it. This play therefore holds so much relevance and can be used as a great educational tool.