White Men With Weapons
A semi-biographical
Directed by Qondiswa JAMES | Performed by David-John TEMPLETON | Stage-managed by Oratile MANAMELA
Strong Language
White Men with Weapons, by Greig Coetzee, is set in the South Africa Defence Force (1990) against the backdrop of the Oudtshoorn Infantry School. It takes place just before and during F.W. de Klerk's unbanning of liberation movements and the final stages of the Angolan conflict (the border war).
DIRECTOR
Qondiswa James is a freelance cultural worker based in Johannesburg. An award-winning writer, performer, theatre-maker, installation artist, arts facilitator, scholar, and activist, her work engages the socio-political imagination to mobilise transgression.
She has staged public interventions at Infecting the City (Cape Town), Live Arts Festival, FNB Art Joburg, Centre for the Less Good Idea, Les Rencontres à L’échelle (France), A4 Arts Centre (China), and others. Her installations have featured at the Spier Light Art Festival and Stellenbosch Triennale.
Her theatre includes A Faint Patch of Light (Standard Bank Ovation Award 2019), A Howl in Makhanda (Fleur du Cap 2022 Best New Script & Best Original Composition), and Retch (Naledi Award 2024 Best Performer on the Fringe). She staged Amaxelegu (2024) and directed Dump State (2025).
On screen, she appeared in High Fantasy (DIFF 2018 Best SA Film & Artistic Bravery Award) and Letters from the Continent (Holland Film Festival 2021).
PERFORMER
David-John Templeton is a theatre-trained actor with a passion for political theatre. He takes pride in pushing himself to produce work that challenges not only himself but also the audience. He takes every production he works on as an opportunity to investigate himself and grow.
STAGE MANAGER
Oratile Manamela is a versatile Cape Town-based storyteller and dynamic theatre practitioner who graduated with a BA in Live Performance from AFDA in 2025. Rooted deeply in the craft of theatre, she prides herself not only on her work as a performer but also on her commitment to the broader ecosystem of stage-making. Her passion for theatre extends beyond acting to the organisational and technical structures that hold productions together. '
Oratile has developed strong stage management and production administration skills, having stage-managed multiple AFDA productions and post-AFDA productions, including Sleeping with the Enemy directed by Lwanda Sindaphi at the Zabalaza Festival; Isidlamlilo/Fire Eater directed by Neil Coppen at the Baxter Theatre; Pumla’s Song performed and written by Khanya Ngcuka at the Magnet Theatre; and Dump State directed by Qondiswa James at Theatre Arts and collaborated with theatre companies on project coordination and backstage operations.