''uMabatha'' is a 1970
play written by
South African playwright
. It is an adaptation of
Shakespeare's ''
Macbeth
''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...
'' set in the
Zulu Kingdom
The Zulu Kingdom (, ), sometimes referred to as the Zulu Empire or the Kingdom of Zululand, was a monarchy in Southern Africa. During the 1810s, Shaka established a modern standing army that consolidated rival clans and built a large following ...
during the early
19th century
The 19th (nineteenth) century began on 1 January 1801 ( MDCCCI), and ended on 31 December 1900 ( MCM). The 19th century was the ninth century of the 2nd millennium.
The 19th century was characterized by vast social upheaval. Slavery was abolis ...
, and details how
Mabatha overthrows
Dangane.
Described as Msomi's "most famous" work, ''uMabatha'' was written when Msomi was a student at the
University of Natal; it was first performed at the University's open-air theater in 1971. In 1972, it was performed at the
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...
's
Aldwych Theatre as part of that year's
World Theatre Season
The World Theatre Season was a festival of foreign plays held annually at the Royal Shakespeare Company's Aldwych Theatre in London from 1964 to 1973, with a final season in 1975. It originated as a one-off celebration in 1964 organised by Peter ...
, and has subsequently been performed in Italy, Scotland, Zimbabwe, and throughout America,
including a "very successful
off-Broadway
An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
season in 1978".
Reception
Peter Ustinov
Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov (born Peter Alexander Freiherr von Ustinov ; 16 April 192128 March 2004) was a British actor, filmmaker and writer. An internationally known raconteur, he was a fixture on television talk shows and lecture circuits ...
said that, before seeing ''uMabatha'', he did not truly understand ''Macbeth'',
while
Gregory Doran stated that the 1995 Johannesburg production of ''uMabatha'' was "the best production of
acbeth he had ever seen.
[''Woza Shakespeare: Titus Andronicus in South Africa'', by Gregory Doran and Antony Sher; published 1996 by ]Bloomsbury Publishing
Bloomsbury Publishing plc is a British worldwide publishing house of fiction and non-fiction. It is a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap Index. Bloomsbury's head office is located in Bloomsbury, an area of the London Borough of Camden. It has a U ...
In response to the 1995 Johannesburg production,
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...
told Msomi that "(t)he similarities between Shakespeare's Macbeth and our own
Shaka become a glaring reminder that the world is, philosophically, a very small place."
References
External links
Shakespeare's Globe Research Bulletin, issue #25 (May 2002): UMABATHAuMabatha: Global and Local
by Laurence Wright
{{DEFAULTSORT:Umabatha
Plays and musicals based on Macbeth
Zulu literature
1970 plays
South African plays
Plays set in South Africa
Plays set in the 19th century