It begins with a crash. A woman emerges (Thulisile Binda), carrying the fallen pot and a steaming plate of food. Once recomposed, she delivers the blistering plate to an indifferent man (Thabo Rapoo) who begins to eat, silently and without thanks. A narrator seated to the left (Ayanda Seoka) provides a spoken narrative, delivered in a cold and detached tone while the sounds of the double bass (Thembinkosi Mavimbela) lend a sobering sensibility to the scene.

The woman approaches the boiling pot, lifts the lid above her head and steps into its red-hot contents. It is a moment of acute agony, repeated to the point of torment. She screams, jerks this way and that, endures. There is the high, whiny pitch of pain, as well as the ever-boiling pot, animated by the percussive and vocal work of a two-person chorus (Micca Manganye and Muzi Shili), situated to the back of the stage. All the while, Rapoo sits and eats, oblivious to her pain, ignorant of the bristling resentment, the boiling over of history, emotion and power.

At last, a moment of defiance and catharsis comes in the form of the burned and blistered foot, raised high and brought down on the plate of food. There is only silence, then, followed by the shirking of the lid, a final gesture that leaves the sharp metallic crash ringing through the room.

Pitsana is a performance that grapples with the conventions of responsibility, duty, and labour. It is a story that posits the consequences of a physical and psychological repression of energy.

– David Mann

CREDITS:

CONCEPTUALISER & CHOREOGRAPHER | Thulisile Binda
DIRECTOR | Phala O. Phala
MUSICIANS | Thembinkosi Mavimbela, Micca Mangaye & Muzi Shili
PERFORMERS | Thabo Rapoo, Thulisile Binda, Ayanda Seoka, Muzi Shili & Thembinkosi Mavimbela