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In The Fat Black Women Sing, the vexing issue of female beauty is laid bare by five fabulously figured women.
THEY are big, hilarious and have a thing or two to say to all those people who have misconceptions about "fat" women.
The five fabulously figured women perform in The Fat Black Women Sing, a hard-hitting play on at the Market Theatre's Laager Theatre from 18 February.
Written and directed by Napo Masheane, The Fat Black Women Sing promises great entertainment and a peek into female perceptions of self-worth and body image. It is also expected to get tongues wagging because of its no-holds-barred approach to female sexuality.
At a rehearsal on Friday, 6 February, Masheane said the aim of the play was to dissipate assumptions about the large female body.
"I took a leap of faith in writing this play. Grace Nichols' poems inspired me because she addresses questions I as a young, black woman writer in a new contemporary South African theatre continue to have about beauty, image, sexuality, food, weight, sisterhood and the female struggle to fit into a box of beauty which is not self-designed."
Inspiration
Nichols, a poet, was born in Guyana in the Caribbean in 1950; she now lives in the United Kingdom. Among her many works, she published a collection of poetry, The Fat Black Women's Poems, in 1984.
Masheane said she was obsessed with what these large women said when they were alone behind closed doors, especially about female beauty. "There is no one definition of beauty. We can't box beauty and we can never be academic about beauty. Why should people agree and come up with a prescribed definition of beauty?"
She cannot be generally described as large, but said she came from a family where 98 percent of members could be described as "big" - and they loved their bodies.
"Ekhaya (at home) I am loved for what I am but when I step outside that family, things change. In the play I am saying ‘Let's look at the flip side of women beauty. Let's look beyond the physical and let's not make assumptions about women.'"
She said women - particularly black women - should accept and appreciate themselves, be they straight or lesbian. "There are so many issues concerning women that I explore in the play. I strive to tackle as many of these issues as possible."
More comfortable being referred to as an activist rather than as a feminist, Masheane said, "As a writer and poet, I examine subjects based on women and I am somebody who takes a stand on these subjects."
Cast
The Fat Black Women Sing - with Nomathamsanqa Baleka, Bomsa Buthelezi, Sheila Katende, Tumelo Moloi and Simphiwe Zungu - takes place backstage in the dressing room of a club where they perform. The five women reflect on their bodies and, between the intimate, daring and often hilarious exchanges, they sing a number of Afro-jazz songs, from the familiar to the less familiar.
A renowned poet, Masheane said she infused poetry into the play to condense her messages so that they would make a bigger impression on the audience. "There are some things that poetry can say in one line with a bigger impact on people."
Born in Soweto, Masheane, who holds a marketing management and speech and drama diploma, is a writer, director, producer, poet and an acclaimed performer on both international and national stages.
She is a founding member of Feela Sista! Spoken Word Collective from Poetry Africa 2004 as well as the founder of Kalaneng Arts Track, a youth theatre organisation created to empower emerging artists. She is also the co-director of Colour of the Diaspora, an international collective of black women from the United States and South Africa.
Masheane was a nominee for the 2005 Daimler Chrysler South African Poetry Award and has studied or worked at the Market Theatre, the Windybrow Theatre, the Grahamstown National Arts Festival, the University of Johannesburg, the Civic Theatre's Actors' Centre, the SABC, Fuba School of Dramatic Arts, the University of California, Jungel Theater in Germany, Soweto Youth Drama Society, Farnebo College in Sweden, and in The Lion King in New York City.
Anthology
She recently performed at Maitisong Theatre in Botswana and the Harare International Festival of the Arts. The managing director of her own production company, Village Gossip Productions, she has recently published a poetry and essay anthology, Caves Speak In Metaphors, which will be launched during Poetry Africa.
She has also performed and shared the stage with, among others, Don Mattera, Lebo Mashile, Kgafela oa Magogodi, Jessica Care Moore, Toni Blackman and Linton Kwesi Johnson. In 2007, her provocative, funny one-woman show, My Bum Is Genetic Deal With It, won wide acclaim.
She hoped her new play, The Fat Black Women Sing, will elicit "so many conversations". "I hope to see both young and elder women being drawn out to say some things they didn't want to say before watching the play. I want the audience to see large women in a different light."
The Fat Black Women Sing is on at the Laager Theatre in Newtown from 18 February to 22 March 2009. It was developed as part of Flare, an initiative for emerging female directors by the Market Theatre in association with the Actors' Centre.
For more information, contact the Market Theatre on 011 832 1641.
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