Acclaimed TV and stage actor Sello Maake ka Ncube has added his voice to the fight against Gender-Based Violence. His latest play The Voice uses song, dance, and audiovisuals to tackle this issue.
The actor is calling on society to reflect, introspect and take responsibility in repairing the country’s social and moral fiber.
The show, which opened at the Jo’burg Theatre late last year, has been brought back for another run at the Soweto Theatre due to popular demand.
This theatre piece with a predominantly female cast highlights the plight of women who have survived abuse, domestic violence, discrimination, and exclusion.
The award-winning veteran actor says it aims to create a 364-day GBV Awareness campaign using inventive methods of self-redemption in men of all races in our country.
“It’s a clarion call for men to step up and let’s take our place in society and let’s begin to behave like human beings. Let us begin to recognise that there is something wrong in our society. And as men, if we don’t stand up our society will continue to disintegrate.
“The message came across and there was a very vocal response both from men and women, we just hope that the message stays on. my dream is actually to take the play and perform it outdoors and begin an engagement with people and let’s start writing a new history for ourselves, let’s start introspecting let us start reworking our environment so that the next generation does not have to go through what we are going through,” Maake ka Ncube explains.
The show uses a multi-disciplinary approach of powerful storytelling in song, spirited dance, and audiovisuals and reverberates with songs of redemption and consciousness.
Co-founder Brighton Mhlongo says men need to take a stand. “As men, we need to take a stand and to be held accountable and acknowledgment is the first step to take to be held accountable and we need to be responsible of our actions and by so doing we need to give our women and our children back their voices.”
Minister of Arts and Culture Nathi Mthethwa says gender-based violence is another pandemic that needs to be eradicated.
‘Another pandemic’
“Artists, in particular, have a huge role to play in telling the story of society. Our country today is faced with two pandemics COVID-19 and GBV so this beautiful play here attacking the scourge in this pandemic called BGV.
“As the government and the department in particular we go out of our way to support artists so that they are able to tell the story and show their craft to the nation at the same time telling the people what needs to be done. This depicts exactly what all of us in society should do, we must attack patriarchy in our society we must ensure that we actually build a nonsexist society,” says Mthethwa.
[ON AIR] @sowetotheatres Welcomes the Voice after High Demand. @sellomkn – Founder Of the Sello Maake Ka Ncube Foundation on #SAfmLivingRedefined with @KGMoeketsi #SMK_GBV #TheVoice_Play #sabcnews pic.twitter.com/zJkaGq50FO
— SAfmRadio ? (@SAfmRadio) January 28, 2022
Sello Maake kaNcube speaks about The Voice, his latest play which tackles GBV:
