Theatre Theatre Interview

Matthew Xia: Reviving Sizwe Banzi

By TW Editorial | Published on Thursday 22 May 2014

‘Sizwe Banzi Is Dead’ was written and first performed back in the seventies. Set in apartheid era South Africa, the play sees its protagonist assuming the identity of a dead man, giving up his family and name in order to survive. This new production, on tour around the UK, has already received rave reviews.

The force behind the revival of this powerful piece is Matthew Xia, probably better known to many as former 1xtra DJ Excalibah, and one of the stars of the 2012 Summer Paralympics opening ceremony. In recent years, he’s been building up his profile as a writer and theatre director, and this acclaimed production is his latest project. I sent him a few questions about the show, ahead of its upcoming dates in London.

CM: Sizwe Banzi Is Dead first premiered in the early 1970s, and went on to win acclaim and awards. Why stage a revival now?
MX: There are a number of timely factors for re-staging this piece now. Of course we’re in the 20th anniversary of Mandela’s inauguration and the first democratic elections in South Africa which happened in April 1994. Then there is the passing of Madiba – which of course I couldn’t predict – but following the death of Thatcher I had an urge to remind people of what it was that Mandela was fighting against when he was described as a ‘dirty little terrorist’, and this play in its 40th anniversary expertly handles the everyday absurdity of apartheid. More important, however, are the universal themes of identity and the desire to provide for our families; what would we sacrifice in order to feed our children? I think theatre must always exist in the present – I have no wish to stage museum artefacts unless they can help us today – and ‘Sizwe Banzi is Dead’ speaks to us now, in a time when across the country people are being asked to validate their existence with the correct documentation.

CM: Can you tell us what the play is about?
MX: Essentially it’s a play about dignity and how we find dignity in a world which denies it. It’s about the everyday struggle of those living under White Rule in Apartheid era South Africa. Finally it’s about the value of our own name, and what it would take for us to abandon it.

CM: What themes does the play address?
MX: Many themes; identity, displacement, employment, migration, resilience, bureaucracy, racism, superiority, struggle, family, masculinity…

CM: Are the topic and themes just as relevant now as they were in the early seventies?
MX: They certainly are – staging work that has no relevance today’s audiences is a fatal mistake – fatal for the work, which will be lifeless. A play, and any art for that matter, must resonate loudly with those it wishes to affect. I wish I didn’t want to stage this play, but unfortunately human beings are prone to make the same mistakes ad infinitum. Of course, the context these themes exist in changes but overall we haven’t moved that far – even a couple of weeks ago, whilst rehearsing this very play, I walked through Stratford Station and spotted immigration officials questioning anyone who had an eastern European accent.

CM: Is your production of the play true to the original script, or have you made changes?
MX: Very true to the script, but I have definitely put my stamp on it. Again, with a piece that is forty years old there are certain things I wish to say with the piece that it may not have articulated in the same fashion all those years ago. There is a wonderful passage in the text about living as a circus monkey, giving all your life on earth to another man, there are many references to monkeys in the piece and I wanted to acknowledge a particular racial slur – which has come to the fore in recent times, with bananas being thrown at black football players (and of course the brilliant reaction/protest with multi-millionaire footballers sitting on their Bentleys eating bananas). So look out for the bonus ‘nana.

CM: Can you tell us something about the Eclipse Theatre? How did you come to be working with the company?
MX: Dawn Walton came along and saw an early staging of the work at the Young Vic. I sat behind her and afterwards asked her about her thoughts on my production. In a rather diplomatic fashion she said very little but I guess she had started to entertain the idea of touring the production. I then got a call from the Young Vic saying that Eclipse were interested in the work. I had a meeting with Dawn and we spoke about the piece, but also about our attitude towards theatre, black theatre and British theatre. We clicked, and it was then decided that Eclipse and the Young Vic would co-produce the Sizwe Banzi tour. I absolutely adore the work that Eclipse do, they are the only black British touring theatre company, which is both brilliant and devastating. They also boast very impressive figures when it comes to developing new audiences – 36% of their audiences are entering the theatre for the first time.

CM: As well as being a director, you’ve worked as a DJ and a broadcaster. Which is the most challenging, and which have you most enjoyed?
MX: For me they are all part of the same role in society: storytelling. They all have their own particular challenges but I would say that theatre is without a doubt the most challenging. With the other two mediums I can change anything at any point in response to the feedback I’m getting in real time. With theatre we’re working in the dark!

CM: What’s next for you? Any new upcoming projects?
MX: The main new project is my month old beautiful daughter Fable Bella – very certainly the greatest creative act I’ll ever take part in. Work-wise I’m developing work at the Young Vic and directing a show called ‘The Sound of Yellow’ (a community response to Peter Brook’s ‘The Valley of Astonishment’). As always with a freelance career there are many pots on the boil, and it’s about working out which one is about to boil over, and who wants to eat.

‘Sizwe Banzi Is Dead’ is on at The Albany, Deptford, from 27 -31 May. For info and tickets see this page here.

LINKS: eclipsetheatre.org.uk | www.thealbany.org.uk | twitter.com/Excalibah | twitter.com/eclipsetcl