BLOEMFONTEIN – Athol Fugard’s powerful drama, My Children! My Africa!, makes its return to Bloemfontein with live performances at the Pacofs theatre. The play returns as part of the “From Classroom to the Stage” campaign. Pacofs presents the drama in collaboration with Flipping the Scripts and will be directed by theatre-maker Karabelo Plaatjie.
What is even more exciting is that it will feature a highly talented cast from Bloemfontein. The first professional, unabridged production of the play in Bloemfontein was staged by Pacofs at the Batho Community Hall in 1993.
My Children! My Africa! depicts how the apartheid regime reserved wealth and power for white people by dividing South African society along racial lines and ruthlessly exploiting the Black majority. The two-act play is set in South Africa in 1984, a year before the State of Emergency in South Africa. It was the year several learners in townships were boycotting school to defy the apartheid regime. The government responded by sending white soldiers into townships to fight against anti-apartheid activists.
The protest escalated into widespread violence involving crowds of black people. In the meantime, some individuals were killed because they were accused of being spies for the apartheid authorities.
The play opens in a Bantu classroom. with Anela Myalatya as Mr M, a teacher and principal at the Zolile High School, moderating a debate between his star student, Thami Mbikwana, and Isabel Dyson, a student from the affluent white girls’ school, Camdeboo High. Although the government at the time used race to segregate people, a debate competition between the schools is used to integrate learners.
Despite Thami’s passionate closing remarks and his popularity among his classmates, Isabel wins the debate. After the rest of the class leaves, Isabel and Thami engage in a conversation, culminating in a friendship, despite their different backgrounds.
However, as the school boycotts escalate, Mr M and Thami’s relationship falls apart. As tensions rise in the Eastern Cape, a rebellious Thami goes to warn Mr M about his fate, but he is resolute in his political stance and pays the ultimate price. Tickets cost R70 for students and R120 for the public.
