In a very cold night,the opening of 4 Cups Written And Directed By Leanetse Seekoe at the Tx Theatre.
As I slowly walked into the theatre,I couldn't ignore the soundscapes of rain and thunder,I understood the world I was entering.
On stage,four women walking around wearing black in dimly lights carrying baskets of water.I saw a village of women fetching water from the mountain tops.It gave me a sense of ruralism and with the heels on stage,I saw a conflict between two women of separate worlds,I heard a conversation between two women finding a common voice from a distance and understanding what it means to be a women?What it means to be a black women regardless of the location of your birth.
The set-designing of the play put this four women in a table to have a cup of something,a chance to discuss,an ear to tell their stories,a chance to speak their own minds about the world that teaches them how to behave,how to be.To put make-up or to be nature.
If you look closer to the set,you get to see all types of wounds in our ideogies that we embodied in our communities,in our gender indifferences,our skin colour.You see the aftermyth of wearing make-up at night.You get to hear yourself bleed from not being able to have a voice,an opinion,a human right of just "Being You".
You get to see bleeding black people,you get to see that the world has been and is a slaughter house for black bodies.
The poetry of the piece is of a crying child for understanding blackness  apart from religious,cultural,gender and social norms.It's searching,It's battling to have a voice to speak and to be heard.It wants to speak,to say something.
In our contemporary world,what is a women's voice?What is a women?What is a black women?

What the piece does,it allows us,to sit and have a dialogue about us,for us,with us.

In conclusion of view to the world,I say,women are pregnant with a voice nurtured in their womb and they need to give birth to having a say.

Photocred:Mashudu Popi

By Linda Wa Ka Shabangu

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