Clean Sheet evokes discourse on societal ills
Goitsemodimo Kaelo | Sunday September 4, 2022 06:00
The event was held during the Gaborone International Music & Culture Week (GIMC) theatre. Clean Sheet is a theatrical play that highlights the social ills in the society.
The artistic play is directed by Dops Baipidi who holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Applied Drama and Theatre Studies from the University of Witwatersrand. The imaginary stage theatre production has three main plots being earth, heaven and the womb. It is about an unborn baby who kept on postponing her birth date because of her fears of what is happening on earth.
The role of the unborn baby is played by Thandie Sefatlho. Sefatlho’s mother Seakanyo Mkhize, had named her Dikeledi (tears) due to the issues she was going through. She was left by her husband during pregnancy to fend for herself and her unborn child.
She went through a lot, enduring the longest pregnancy period that exceeded nine months. The issues that the unborn child raised for her refusal to come to earth were Gender-Based Violence, rape and incest, multiple concurrent partnerships and drug abuse.
Dikeledi wanted to die as she felt she couldn’t be born in such a not so conducive environment. But angel Gabriel explained that it was not the time for God to take her. He explained that God had saved her for a good purpose.
The mother resorted to drinking alcohol to relieve stress. However, that was unpalatable to the unborn child. She was ready to give up as she had lost hope. However, when the mother decided to change her unborn child’s name from Dikeledi to Rethabile, the baby was delivered. The two actresses were tied up with a rope that signified an umbilical cord.
There was also a scene where a young woman who told a story of how her father sexually assaulted her when she was still young. The main cast was Tidimalo Sengwatse who played the jocker while Trigger Kgomoesele took on the angel role.
Following their performance, artistic director Baipidi explained that Clean Sheet unfolds with a lot of metaphoric and theatrical aspects that evokes dialogue amongst spectators so as to introspect.
Ikakanyeng Performing Artists was founded in 2006 by Baipidi and consists of 23 full time members. The group has been doing well in the past years having performed at several different public and private functions.