Dr Ayanda Khala - Phiri

uOthello no Desdemona

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ABSTRACT

In South Africa, intimacy is conceptually understood through the lens of histories of asymmetric experiences of race, class and gender identities, thus demonstrating the significance of context in determining how people interpret the meanings and consequences of intimate interactions.

 

Incidentally, due to the historically strategic role of theatre performance in South African politics, the theatre is trusted as a safe and capable medium for engaging and holding difficult conversations.

 

In the theatrical performance of uOthello no Desdemona, the cast presents the audience with an exploration of vulnerability- a theme central to intimate partner violence- and invites all lovers to consider their own understanding of trust, self-disclosure, partner responsiveness and the workings of power in intimate and sexual relationships.

 

In our Q and A, we explore societal, cultural and systemic responses to gender-based violence and how these are mirrored in private relationships. This is done as a means of innovating the present conversation about whom to hold responsible for a discussion on how to effectively engage the deeply sacred and personal spaces from which all intimate forms of violence come.

 

Adapted to isiZulu dialogue, the production generates an authentically South African conversation about the contradictions implicit in arguments raised through campaigns like #metoo and #indodamust, particularly about the presence, agency and role of patriarchs (male and female) in contemporary African society.

 

The aim is to continue fostering a culture of taking equal and personal responsibility for a social phenomenon that remains consistently destructive- that is while it is without a collective sense of ownership of its genesis, its implications and, if we so desire, its eradication.