Westering High School to revive 'Ipi Tombi'
It is not often that the entire staff of a high school is involved with a stage presentation, but that is the case with Westering High School’s, Ipi Tombi, set to run at the Savoy Theatre in Port Elizabeth next month.
The show’s liaison officer – teacher Yvonne Smith – said the idea to revive the classic South African musical came right from the top – from headmaster Stuart Hayward.
Ipi Tombi will run from Wednesday to Saturday, August 3 to 6, at 7pm every night and in addition to 60 pupils in the cast, every single teacher and administrative staff member has been given an assignment.
For example, photographers Yolande Bezuidenhout and Anne-Marie Nelmapius (a past winner of Clover Showtime Junior Theatre Awards for creating and writing past Westering musical revues) production manager, Lizel Feltham, and vocal repetiteur, Elbé Coetzee, are all contributing greatly to the fun and hard work.
The school boasts a fully multi-cultural pupil body, so a purely South African musical seemed a good idea and with creative arts teacher, Akhona Nkumanda, tapped as director, he set out on a search for the rights for the show.
Nkumanda, in his late 20s, wasn’t even born when Ipi Tombi was created by South African mother and daughter Bertha Egnos and Gail Lakier, in 1974.
He tracked down the rights and obtained them from Johannesburg, with the priceless unexpected bonus that a production consultant – affable and knowledgeable, Andy Chabeli, who had appeared in the original production – would come to Port Elizabeth to advise on the show.
Ipi Tombi is a musical telling the story of a young black man leaving his village – and young wife – to work in the mines of Johannesburg.
Originally called The Warrior, it uses pastiches of a variety of South African indigenous musical styles in its musical score, some of the more notable hits being the title song, The Warrior, Shosholoza and Mama Tembu's Wedding.
The show, which starred Margaret Singana, enjoyed major success in South Africa and toured Europe, the US and Canada – to critical acclaim.
After its SA premiere, it played seasons in London’s West End at Her Majesty’s Theatre in late 1975, where it was nominated for an Olivier Award as Best New Musical and had a short Broadway run at the Harkness Theatre in 1977.
That Westering is excited to be reviving it, was clear from the passion that prevailed when, during a break in rehearsals, I visited the school for an enthusiastic chat with Nkumanda, along with musical and vocal director, Amanda Engelbrecht, and Yvonne Smith. Nkumanda, who joined Westering High in 2014, is an experienced performing arts man. He is also a member of NMMU’s highly-rated choir, which he joined as a student seven years ago.
“I am really enjoying handling the show and to have Andy around to advise on a current approach has been tremendous,” Nkumanda said.
“The fact that he was involved in Ipi Tombi from the beginning has added a dimension we could never have hoped to apply without him.”
He then took me through the two-hour show (including interval) scene-by-scene, excitedly pointing out how the numbers fit the narrative, while
Engelbrecht said the idea of involving the entire staff had been really worthwhile, as it gave everyone a reason to want to see it succeed.
Westering is one of many PE schools who stage major productions every two years and, arising from these, several of their pupils have gone on to appear in the annual Clover Showtime Young Talent Revues, but their last full-scale stage musical was the stage version of the hit movie and TV series, Fame.
Tickets for Ipi Tombi are R50 (R30 for pensioners and pupils) and on sale at the school. Inquiries: (041) 360-7805.
