Word: africanism
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Umabatha, the current revival of the 1970 play by South African playwright/director Welcome Msomi, is such a remarkable amalgam of widely different cultures, goals and modes of performance that it's difficult to know how to approach an assessment of it. Enacted entirely in Zulu by performers in traditional Zulu attire, Umabatha* is at once a history lesson, a dance-and-music spectacular, a celebration of Zulu culture and--last and, theoretically, most important--a reworking of Shakespeare's famous tragedy Macbeth...
...fusion is not nearly so bizarre as it sounds. Msomi first penned the play 28 years ago in apartheid-riven South Africa, at the urging of a drama professor who suggested that he find a way to showcase and celebrate "the richness of our South African culture" in a format that might easily be understood by the rest of the world. Msomi's epiphany came when he realized that the political background of Macbeth-- the half-mythologized atmosphere of the warring clans of medieval Scotland--was eerily similar to that of the birth of the Zulu nation, united...
...these scenes, the simplicity of the set design--a bare stage, whose back-drop, with its slowly changing colors and tones of light, evokes the horizon of a flat African savannah--suddenly makes its aesthetic value felt. The dancing warriors are the only thing on the stage: the tawniness and black-and-white spots of the animal skins they wear, the flowing white fur of wristlets and anklets flying with their movements, the sharp vertical movement of spears and staves and of the black-and-white geometrical design of the tall shields all convey an energy which is certainly...
...Umabatha is a fascinating piece of history, a strikingly beautiful work of theater and an intriguing example of the universality and cultural adaptability of Shakespeare. Its presentation of South African cultural history possesses added resonance, considering the conditions that sparked its revival. When Nelson Mandela was elected President of South Africa, it was in part at his urging that the play was revived. Just as it did 27 years ago, the parallels which allow for such a story to blend Shaka with Macbeth remind us, as Mandela put it, that "the world is philosophically a very small place...
...Florio in New Jersey seemed to spell trouble for then-President Bush and the Republicans. Maybe so, but an economic downturn before the '92 election didn't hurt either. Additionally, Dinkins' and Wilder's wins led many to announce a fundamental shift in white voters' acceptance of African-American candidates. Unfortunately, no evidence of a national trend in this direction ever appeared and these two winners of yesterday now reside in 'Where are the now?' obscurity...