Burying the Bones
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Discovery Guide prepared by Laura Lynn MacDonald October 4-27, 2013 To purchase tickets: 414-271-1371 In Tandem Theatre 628 N. 10th Street Milwaukee, WI 53233 www.intandemtheatre.org 1 The Discovery Guide was developed by In Tandem Theatre to enrich your understanding and enjoyment of M.E.H. Lewis’s Burying the Bones. (Burying the Bones contains graphic depictions of violence and is recommended for mature audiences over thirteen years old). Table of contents: Welcome to In Tandem Theatre Company................................................ 3 Note from Director Chris Flieller.............................................................. 4 Synopsis of Burying the Bones................................................................. 5 Characters & Setting................................................................................ 6 Images from Apartheid............................................................................ 7 About the Playwright............................................................................... 8 Interview with Playwright M.E.H. Lewis.................................................. 9 Artistic Team: Staff and Cast........................................................................ 11 History & Context: Introduction........................................................................................ 14 Map of South Africa............................................................................ 15 Xhosa Tribe.......................................................................................... 16 Zulu Tribe............................................................................................ 17 Death & Afterlife, Diviners & Healers.................................................. 18 South African History: 4th Century - 1902........................................... 19 South African History: 1904-1927........................................................ 20 South African History: 1928-1959........................................................ 21 South African History: 1960-1974........................................................ 22 South African History: 1975-1983........................................................ 23 South African History: 1984-1993........................................................ 24 South African History: 1994-2005........................................................ 25 South African History: 2006-2013........................................................ 26 Languages of South Africa ~ A Glossary for the Play................................ 27 Learn more: Films and Documentaries................................................... 28 Engagement Exercises & Resources for Educators.................................... 30 Bibliography........................................................................................... 31 2 Welcome to In Tandem Theatre Company’s production of Burying the Bones. In Tandem Theatre was established in 1998 by co-founders, Chris and Jane Flieller, with a mission to produce exciting and innovative live theatre that’s designed to inspire, enlighten, provoke and entertain a diverse audience. Numerous times over the years, In Tandem productions have been voted “Top Ten Critics Choice” by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The Waukesha Freeman has named In Tandem productions as Best of the Year. Since its inception, In Tandem Theatre has been an ambassador of the arts in the Milwaukee community. The beautiful lobby of the Tenth Street Theatre doubles as an art gallery to showcase the work of emerging Wisconsin artists. In addition, In Tandem hosts an Artist in Residence program that provides local artists with free working space in exchange for mentoring students that attend schools which have little or no visual arts education. In Tandem does extensive outreach to local businesses, spreading the gospel of arts support during the United Performing Arts Fund’s annual campaign. This campaign has touched the hearts (and wallets) of thousands of people - in hundreds of workplaces - each year. For many years, In Tandem has been producing The Nobel Laureates Series, bringing classic Irish plays to the Theatre Stage during Milwaukee's Irish Fest. Playwrights featured in the series have included: Samuel Beckett, George Bernard Shaw, and W.B. Yeats. The Nobel Laureates Series will conclude in 2014 with a play by Seamus Heaney. Over the years, In Tandem has proudly produced 20 works by local and regional playwrights, along with many Regional and World Premiers - including this season’s Regional Premier of Burying the Bones. There are many ways to support In Tandem Theatre: • “Like” In Tandem on Facebook! • At intermission or after the show - Tweet your friends about your experience! • Blog about the play! • Volunteer! (Contact our office for information about our many volunteer opportunities). • Join in Tandem’s dynamic Board of Directors - serving one of the most dedicated and engaged not-for-profit theatre companies in Milwaukee. • Party with us! Attend our annual fundraiser! • Donations to In Tandem Theatre are tax-deductible! In Tandem Theatre relies on the generosity of our friends and supporters to keep moving forward. Please consider the ways you can support In Tandem Theatre. Thank you! 3 Note from Director Chris Flieller Welcome to In Tandem’s 2013-14 season, which begins with M.E.H. Lewis’s powerful play, Burying the Bones. This provocative play offers an intensely personal story drawn with complex characters that will constantly surprise you. You may be thinking that a play set in South Africa during the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings will involve an examination of institutionalized racism, or a history lesson on racial equity and war crimes. Nothing could be further than the truth. As someone once said, all politics is personal. Burying the Bones allows us to experience a rich personal story set against the political debris of the old Apartheid system. Mae’s journey in the play is fraught with twists and turns, as she’s challenged to discover the truth about her husband, and reconcile the past. On her way, she discovers that the line between right and wrong is a blurred one, constantly shifting depending on where you stand. To find the clarity she’s searching for, to see the truth in all its colors - Mae has to travel a circuitous road; a road that takes her beyond grief and pain - to mercy. Mercy is what makes atonement possible. Mercy is what restores humanity to our politics, our allies and adversaries, and ultimately ourselves. Chris Flieller 4 Synopsis of M.E.H. Lewis’s ~Burying the Bones. In a township near Cape Town, we meet Mae Mxenges, a young Xhosa woman, whose husband, James, has been missing for two years. The last day she saw him was a perfectly ordinary October day. James was getting ready to teach at the local school, and Mae had packed him enough bean soup to share with his class. That afternoon her world changed. Alfred, one of James’s top students, ran to Mae’s house to inform her that four men had forced James into a Range Rover and sped away. Since that day, Mae’s been haunted by questions. Who arrested her husband? Why? Where was he taken? Was he tortured and killed? The mystery is heightened as James appears to Mae as an apparition in the middle of the night. He begs her to seek the truth about what happened to him. Frightened, Mae turns to her politically savvy sister, Cassandra, who practices traditional healing in the village. Mae tells her sister that she plans to go to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to find out what happened to her husband. Cassandra warns Mae of the dangers of revealing her story to the Commission. During a sleepless night, the ghost of James returns again. He tells her he misses her, and he urges her to summon her strength and find him. Mae goes to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, where she meets Gideon Kroeg, an Afrikaner police officer who admits to having interrogated James. As the horrors of apartheid are disclosed, and the surprising story of what has happened to James is revealed, Mae is faced with the truth of what has happened to her husband, herself, and her country. 5 Characters and Setting for Burying the Bones Characters: (Mae Mxenges) Mae is of Xhosa heritage. She wants to know the truth about what happened to her husband James. (James Mxenges) James, Mae’s husband, is of Zulu heritage. He was working as a school teacher in a township outside Cape Town when he was abducted two years prior. (Cassandra Ndila) Mae’s older sister, also of Xhosa heritage. Once a practicing nurse, she now earns money as a traditional healer. (Gideon Kroeg) Gideon is an Afrikaner, decorated for his service as a police officer during apartheid. He now seeks amnesty. Advocate One, Advocate Two, and Witness are characters that will be heard during Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings. Setting: The play begins in Mae’s modest home, which is located in a Township in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. The time is October, 1996. Scenes take us from Mae’s bedroom, to her sister Cassandra’s kitchen & shop, to the town hall where the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings are held. There’s a waiting room for Gideon Kroeg at the town hall. 6 Images from apartheid era South Africa 7 About the Playwright: M.E.H. Lewis M.E.H. Lewis is an award winning playwright and writing teacher, based in Chicago. Lewis’s plays have been seen at Cherry Lane Theatre in New York, Fountain Theatre in Los Angeles, Detroit Repertory Theatre, Next Theatre