A new play about school bullying casts top talent taking one into the heart of the problem

By Edward Tsumele, CITYLIFE/ARTS Editor

One character is that of a very mean learner who conspires, in the most-cruel way you can ever imagine, to make hell out of the life of an innocent, hardworking and smart learner in class that they feel that her strength is a projection of their own inadequacies. They simply will not allow her to shine, let alone learn in peace in class. The petty jealous almost gets out of hand with devastating results for the smooth running of lessons.

Hell, the two create for Moipone, a role beautifully played by Mapula Mafole, who some will remember well as Mapula in the TV soapie Rhythm City.

I am at a rehearsal of a new play in Melville, conceptualised, written and directed by veteran actor Mpho Molepo, who popularised the role of Fats in Rhythm City, but who is fast consolidating his new role to create works that are socially conscious and deal with issues affecting society. This is after having produced the wonderful production called MamaI want the Black That You Are, which in recent years dealt impactfully with the precarious life of those who live with Albinism in our townships. That show’s impact is still etched in my consciousness because of the effective way it demonstrated the pain and the stigma suffered by those who live with this skin condition along the breath and length of our townships.

This time around, Molepo has come with another powerful production that portrays in a poignant way, how learners both in primary and secondary school are at the mercy of bullies. And this time around, unlike in the past when bullying was often direct, this time it assumes new levels of intensity, sophistication and subtlety.

For example, in this production, the gang of two at the centre of the bullying in this story Betty, ably played by former Rhythm City actress Tebogo Khalo and Sabelo Sango, use very sophisticated ways and cruel cunnings to bully their target, even employing the new technology to achieve their devious ends, which is to cause pain, suffering and humiliation of their victim.

The teacher character I found humorous because of his comedic deportment in the play, a role played with stunning display of craftsmanship by well-known actor Vusi Msane. The poor teacher has to deal with the two bullies’ shenanigans.

Well known Tv director, Neo Matsunayane, plays the character of a hustler, those old men and women who hang around school grounds and yards, selling anything from sweets to magwinya to hungry learners during breaks. They are running businesses and feeding their families through this way.

However the situation gets tricky for this character when the two bullies connive by buying a cold drink that they lace with a laxative and give to  unsuspecting Moipone in the name of peace  resulting in her collapsing and soiling herself while they take pictures of the vulnerable, sick and soiled poor learner to distribute on social media platforms so that she can trend for the wrong reasons, and in the process compromising her and ruining her standing in society. This is the cruelty at its worst.

What is stunning about the production, is the fact that the actors are really talented and are able to take the audienceright into the mind of the characters, resulting in a powerful portrait of the phenomenon of bullying in our schools.

For example, even as one disapproves of their bullying tactics, as an audience member, you are also taken deep into the rationalising as to why they do what they do.

After the 30 minutes, the audience is then asked to participate and suggest reasons as well as share their views about how they think the play should unfold, and this way, the director is asking for the audience to co-produce with him, to refine the play further.All of us, including the actors we then offered what we thought was working, what we thought could be improved, and even introducing new elements into the play, just to make it work much better, and deliver the message of bullying at our schools better in order to hopefully change the behaviour and mindsets of learners towards bullying others.

The production, which is short and sweet, with moments of humour and pain captured in equal measure in 30 minutes, must rate as one of the most successful productions to tackle issue of bullying around schools.

After the show, CITYLIFE/ARTS spoke to the actors about their perspectives on the issue of bullying and how they position their opinions and feeling in relation to their roles.

“Honestly the play makes you think hard about the reality of bullying in our schools and their devastating consequences. My character for example is being bullies for doing the right thing, and this is alarming,” said Mafole.

“My character is the one who under peer pressure, is driven into a situation whre he becomes the bully. He in fact is not an independent thinker as he is pressurized to be a bully by Betty. The play therefore deals with the issue of how some learners are sucked in into the culture of bullying by others,” said Songo.

“Growing up in Meadowlands, bullying was actually part of the culture, but it was not this cruel. Now it has gained new intensity and dimension with cyber bullying becoming a problem,” Matsunyane commented.

He also commented on his own experience of being bullied on social media when he was recently declared dead by some naught person on facebook, and also being linked to his former wife Connie Ferguson by some faceless person claiming that the two were back together.

“The unfortunate part about cyberbullying is that these people are faceless. The best way is to just ignore them, rendering them not relevant. By replying you would encourage them to continue this nonsense,” Matsunayne told CITYLIFE/ARTS.

Msane said that he had to think of the best way of representing the teacher character.

“When Mpho cast me, I had to think of the best way of representing the character, either making him a serious person just like what teachers in the past used to be, or making him as easy-going character, as this is who teachers have become. They are young and therefore relate to the learners in a different, playful way,” he explained his trick of making his character a comical figure in the play, which makes it effective.

The production has also roped in cultural story teller Nobamba Zulu who comes in with the element of mental wellness that he said is needed among learners.

“This is so for a number of reasons, including the fact that as a society we come from a difficult political and social history, a history of family brokenness, where especially boys grow up without their biological fathers, who are absent. It is therefore difficult for them to learn about their own cultures and traditions in the absence of a biological father. Not even the uncles can assist them adequately as they too have their own children to take care of.  Therefore, my organization Mphato/Siyadodisena comes in to assist families that find themselves in this situation by talking to such boys,” he said.

Another professional who also works with the production is Wits medical School medical doctor Dr Thabiso Tshabalala.

“Bullying has ripple effect such as mental health problems such as depression, victims not finishing school and therefore not attaining qualifications, and the one bullied in some cases ends up being a bully at home themselves. In some cases, the victims end up committing suicide to escape the pain,” the doctor explained.

And therefore, even though we laughed as we watched the rehearsal, as the production frankly speaking is humourous, it deals with a serious scourge around schools, and that is bullying that happens in both primary and high schools.

“Yes, the production has all the elements of drama, and therefore does not come out as a campaign, but drama to deliver the message,’ Molepo explained to CITYLIFE/ARTS his creative thrust in creating this beautifully rendered story even as it deals with a serious matter in society needed urgent attention to intervene decisively.

This production, which commences its tour of schools South of Johannesburg on Monday, September 1, will visit two schools a day except on Fridays for a month, where the actors and facilitators will interact with learners after each performance.