Notebook of a Long Day’s Journey into a Hillbrow Night is a production by the Windybrow Arts Centre, in collaboration with The Centre for the Less Good Idea, that emerges from a central question: What would Aimé Césaire's classic anticolonial long poem Notebook of a Return to the Native Land sound like if it were written today, by teenagers living in Hillbrow?

First performed by the Cesaire Youth at The Centre in April 2024 as part of Collation 1 | On Air: Visual Radio Plays, the performance returned to The Centre in August 2024 as an expanded and reworked version. 

In this newer iteration of Notebook of a Long Day’s Journey into a Hillbrow Night the Cesaire Youth, under the direction of Nhlanhla Mahlangu and Sibahle Mangena, present an ensemble performance of their devised narrative poem. Backed by the layered Johannesburg cityscape, they move as a single organism, punctuated by short, sharp solo moments. 

The return of Notebook of a Long Day’s Journey into a Hillbrow Night to The Centre also features an exhibition installed in The Centre’s Atrium space, tracing the process of putting the full performance together, and the textual and performative methodologies they made use of. 

CREDITS: 

CONCEPTUALISERS | Stacy Hardy & Gerard Bester
DIRECTORS | Nhlanhla Mahlangu & Sibahle Mangena
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR | Khethukuthula Jele
SCENOGRAPHER & COSTUME DESIGNER | Nthabiseng Malaka
LIGHTING DESIGNER | Themba Mthimkulu 
STAGE MANAGERS | Unathi Ndlovu & Sibongile Jessica Mathe

Césaire Youth is the Windybrow Teenagers with Nhlanhla Mahlangu, Stacy Hardy, Lesego Rampolokeng, Tamara Guhrs, Sibahle Mangena, Khethukuthula Jele, Pule kaJanolintji et al.

Windybrow Teenagers are Khethiwe Mvelase, Zandile Dube, Reneilwe Leopeng, Thabang Matsaung, Caleb Nyanguila, Thandeka Masango, Jenoc Kalongo, Lubanzadio Mpova, Natasha Dube, Lesley Sibanda, Sonqoba Mbatha, Sandiso Mbatha, Lethu Ndlovu, Hlengiwe Dube, Shirley Vundla, Simphiwe Ximba, Michael Sithole, Unathi Ndlovu, Minenhle Masina, Lesedi Udeh, Inathi Mdyuba, Thandeka Mavhura, Mbalenhle Ncube, Lethabo Mkhize, Busisiwe Mbadiwe, Nqobile Mlambo, Mncedisi Pududu, Thobeka Nene, Amahle Sizani, Maletsema Selepe, Okhule Gwala & Malcom Moloi

Created by The Windybrow Arts Centre and Wits Creative Writing with support from The Neubauer Collegium for Culture and Society at the University of Chicago, Institut Français d'Afrique du Sud, The Centre for the Less Good Idea, and Flame Studios