The simple alchemy of stones and storytelling form the basis for Chume & Sunde, a performance that channels the inimitable imagination and possibility of a child’s story.

Like all good stories, Chume & Sunde is a fictional work that uses factual narrative as a point of departure. In this case, it is the story of Kenya’s Okiek people. A solo work by Siphumeze Khundayi, the performance is delivered as fable, told in the engaging and fantastical style of a child’s tale. There are opposing tribes, courageous children (namely Chume and Sunde), reproachful adults, and a cryptid river monster named Ninki Nanka. At its core, it is tale of love and bravery.

Supplementing Khundayi’s engaging narration is her use of stones. All white and equally sized, the stones become a kind of narrative mapping in Chume & Sunde. They are used to form riverbeds, cattle, the moon and more. Importantly, the stones also serve as characters, charged and animated through storytelling. In addition to activating the blank canvas of the stage, the stones lend a unique tactility and engagement to the work, meeting the audience halfway and inviting them to apply their own projections and impressions of these characters, monsters, landscapes and terrains.

Merging notions of mythology and a contemporary reading of history and culture, Chume & Sunde can be seen as a work that draws and builds on the core components of the theatre – a stage, the simple use of the body and a set of props, and a compelling story.

– David Mann

CREDITS:

CONCEPTUALISER, WRITER & PERFORMER | Siphumeze Khundayi
CHORUS | Thabo Rapoo, Phala O. Phala, Micca Manganye & Muzi Shili