Napo Masheane’s powerful voice
Born in Soweto and brought up in Qwaqwa, Napo Masheane’s storytelling is grounded in the truth, our reality. Masheane is a director, playwright, poet and producer whose work is rooted in not only her own experiences of womanhood and being a child of the Southern African soil, but in those she shares with us too.
She carries SeSotho, her mother tongue and English in the verses she recites. The stage is her home and since we come from the same place, when she speaks to us in a language that is spoken by our mothers and fathers, we feel safe and sheltered. However, this does not mean that when she speaks to us in English, we feel disconnected from her. Language is her story’s accompaniment and her voice is powerful because it is, not only because it is carried in what feels familiar. She brings language with her to ensure that we all feel seen and heard.
With a career that is almost two decades old, Masheane has published groundbreaking poetry that has set foot in many hearts and has stayed there. I cannot imagine the stories she has penned in her journal or in any book she writes her poetry and plays; what remains unread (by us) and unpublished must be just as deserving of praise.
Today at 7pm Napo Masheane, the powerhouse, will narrate the plight of many South African women in My Vagina Was Not Buried With Him. This work is a choreo-poem play that retells the heartbreaking stories and explores the trauma we face from the abuse, harassment and violence we endure as women in our country. It is something important to each and every one of us. It is beyond necessary.
She reminds us that we are not forgotten, that our stories are worth being told and her voice carries the message that we are not alone. She is using what she has been gifted with to ensure that silence is not how this ends.
Full details on her play tonight visit: http://sacreativenetwork.co.za/2021/03/my-vagina-was-not-buried-with-him-comes-to-joburg-theatre-and-soweto-theatre/.
Napo Masheane’s My Vagina Was Not Buried With Him Tonight
