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Written by Joe Reed
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 Mawilla walks into the wasteland which used to be the shopping centre of his town, Itsoseng. He is dragging a metal case, containing all his belongings, and he is carrying with him his blue suit, which he will wear to the funeral he is reluctantly preparing for.
Over the next eighty minutes, the incredible Omphili Molusi, as Mawailla, delivers a monologue charting the stagnation and decay of everything around him. He recounts the destruction of the shopping centre in the last days of National Party rule, the failed promises that followed it, and haltingly, reticently, he reaches the reason that he is to attend a funeral today.
Like the civil rights revolutions in America, the abolishment of apartheid, saw, to some extent, a group abandoning claims to economic rights in pursuit of universal suffrage. Itsoseng confronts some of the failures of the revolution (on the part of those in government both before and after), if not asking ‘how?’ then certainly screaming ‘why?’ across the desolate landscape.
The drama covers a lot of ground, yet Molusi is nothing if not an engaging host. He dances across the stage, creates props from the detritus around him, and sings songs; some of struggle and some of hope. If at times energy levels drop, this is more than made up for when Mawailla, with his sing-song voice and elastic body language, reaches heights which far surpass the materials he has to work with.
Itsoseng is at times requires concentration, but it is incredibly rewarding.
- Itsoseng
- Pleasance Dome
- August 3rd-25th
- 17:50
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