Sizwe Banzi Is Dead Court Theatre
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Yet this two-man play, written by Athol Fugard, John Kani, and Winston Ntshona (and originally performed by Kani and Ntshona) asserts blacks’ outlawed humanity even as it demonstrates how worthless their lives could be under apartheid. At one point a character strips off his clothes and shouts, “I’m a man. I’ve got eyes to see. I’ve got ears to listen when people talk. I’ve got a head to think good things. What’s wrong with me?” Not surprisingly both Kani and Ntshona did jail time for their performances.
The play is primarily concerned with the fate of the title character, an illiterate laborer stranded in white New Brighton with an out-of-date passbook and no work permit. While Banzi naively imagines he might find a job gardening or selling potatoes, his friend, Mr. Buntu, understands the gravity of the situation. Hoping to lift Banzi’s spirits, Buntu takes him drinking at a local nightclub, where he’s addressed as “Mr. Banzi” for the first time and begins to think he may deserve better than derision and scorn. The spirit of rebellion comes to life in him.
Set designer Jack Magaw adds poignancy to the evening by placing old black-and-white photos of black South Africans—many displaying their passbooks, as though desperate to prove their existence—along the back wall of the stage. Those faces watch over the action, recalling all the broken lives Banzi and Buntu represent.
