When I heard about the death of Quincy Jones, it made me feel sad, though I wasn’t particularly shocked. Meeting your maker at the age of 91 is to be expected. What took me by surprise was the photo that was used with the announcement — of a wrinkle-free man with a head full of hair, as he had looked when he was becoming an icon of the American music scene in his late 20s. When I was growing up, the maestro was already an elderly man. In my mind, he might as well have been born a senior citizen.
I had a similar thought when, this week, I first saw Thembisa Mdoda-Nxumalo make her appearance on stage as Mam’ Winne Madikizela Mandela in the latest run of The Cry of Winnie Mandela at the Market Theatre.
Crystallised in the minds of most Gen Z’s as the elderly version of the stalwart, Mdoda-Nxumalo’s youthful look manifests an immediate relatability to a figure whose trials and tribulations are drawn from in the MoMo Motsunyane-directed play. She uses Madikizela Mandela’s experiences, now etched in history, to explore themes such as the weight of waiting for men — a common experience of many women, past and present.
“Mam’ Winnie went through so many phases in her life,” says Motsunyane. “Even if we'd cast an older actor or someone younger than Mdoda-Nxumalo, we could justify any decision made about which actress to choose by explaining that we’re tearing a page from her ginormous life. So you, the audience, can decide for yourselves, when you watch her on stage, which Winnie you’re experiencing.”
With a week to prepare before making her debut in the play adaptation of Professor Njabulo Ndebele’s novel, Mdoda-Nxumalo first engaged with the more mundane nuances of the core theme, “waiting” before she attempted to relate it to the storied life and depth of experiences in the real life of the iconic historical character the play is concerned with.
“I had to take what I know about waiting and put it together with Mam’ Winnie’s story, which is partly centred on waiting,” Mdoda-Nxumalo says of her process with the nuances of the core theme. “And then starting to see her as a human being and as a women — instead of this paperweight icon that was unreachable — I had to bring it back to myself, bring it back to the human and back to being a woman first.”
The humanity of a figure who many regarded as divisive, is something both the script and performance bring to the surface. Mdoda-Nxumalo expertly mimics some of her mannerisms, yet still manages to bring elements of herself and her understanding of the theme into the performance.
The strength of the production rests on the shoulders of the entire cast — an ensemble that includes Rami Chuene, Ayanda Sibisi, Siyasanga Papu, Lesley Made and Pulane Rampoana, who are at their best when they burst into harmonious song.
This theatrical element is becoming a signature of Motsunyane’s direction. She used the same dramatic technique in her work, Ka Lebitso La Moya, which she wrote and directed — and which won her the accolade of Standard Bank Artist of the Year for theatre production (2024).
“Music for me is a central part of storytelling. There are things you can’t say with just words,” she said.
Motsunyane, musical director Zolani Shangase and assistant musical director and pianist Tshepang Dean piece together evocative, original music and struggle songs to pepper the well-seasoned script — crafted by Motsunyane and Alex Burger.
This, according to Motsunyane and Mdoda-Nxumalo, is a result of their collaboration.
“What we perform is the representation of who the character in the story was, Mam’ Winnie,” says Motsunyane.
“It’s important that she’s represented authentically, whether it’s by using her tonality, or the speed at which she talks, her physicality or idiosyncrasies. As the director, my job is to guide the actor’s choices.”
Mdoda-Nxumalo expounds: “I also watched a lot of her footage. I was able to see the nuances she had when she was young and how they changed when she got older. It felt a little bit like osmosis.”
The actor gives a cavernous portrayal of Mam’ Winnie, rich in nuances yet refined in precision. Not accurate in terms of impersonation, but representative of her poise and humanity, connection and honesty — imbuing her character with a sense of timelessness. She enacts the bravado of the late icon in her moments of acclaim, admonishment and deprecation.
With Ayanda Sibisi — a recording artist in her own right — also contributing to the score, everyone lifted weights beyond their divisions to make the show the success that it is. No weight was heavier than the one lifted by the actor who took on the role of portraying the Mthatha village of Mvezo’s most illustrious figure, Madikizela Mandela.
Overcoming her fears of not doing justice to the character and failing to adequately pay homage to a woman nicknamed “Mother of the Nation” by her supporters meant Mdoda-Nxumalo had to quickly get over her feelings of being intimated by playing a role she considered an honour.
“Taking on the role was, for me, never about trying to change how people feel about her. It was never about, ‘love her, love her!’ It was always about creating a conversation and asking the right questions so the people in the audience could consider the questions the play brings up, and make up their own minds about her.”
My suggestion is that you go and witness this powerful story that will move, inspire and stay with you long after the curtain falls.
The Cry of Winnie Mandela is showing at the Market Theatre until March 23.
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