A VAMPIRE
IN
THEMBA VILLAGE©
PERFORMANCE TIME: 60 minutes
CAST: Bonisile Tshabalala, Karabo Moatshe, Nolwozi Mkhathini, Zuki Kuse, Marc Boone and Matshepo Motsoeneng
GENRE: Drama
WRITTEN and DIRECTED by: Marc Boone
ABOUT THE
PLAY:
A Vampire In Themba Village is a love story that blends
western mythology with African tradition. The play takes the old legend of the
vampire and recreates it in a South African rural setting, giving new notions
to what an African Vampire is.
Summary
of Play
It's a year after the droughts began in Themba Village. The famine
has caused great loss of life to the villagers. The tribe is unaware that a vampire
has been living among them for the last year, drinking the blood of their dying
ones. But now that the rains have come, she must leave. It is the vampire's last
days in Themba village that our story begins:
A gypsy vampire falls in love with an abused village woman named Palesa. Once bitten, Palesa gains extraordinary strength but she does not remember her encounter with the vampire. She credits her newfound strength as a gift from the ancestors. Palesa uses her strength to chase her abusive husband away from the village. No one else in the village knows the reasons for him disappearing. The chief decides to make Palesa his new wife. But Palesa is opposed to the marriage and wants to chase the chief from the village too.
Finally, the vampire confronts Palesa, confessing her love and telling Palesa of her destiny to become a vampire. Palesa is horrified and does not believe her. She rejects the vampire's love. But soon after, the urge for human blood causes Palesa to bite one of the village children. The ritual of drinking her blood makes Palesa realize that she is in fact a vampire. At first, Palesa wants to kill herself, but she eventually accepts her fate as the mysteries of an African vampire become revealed. She is no longer scared of what she has become and begins to feel compassion for the vampire. Still, she must make a decision. Either stay in Themba village or give up the only home she has ever known to share a nomadic life with a vampire.
photos
by Shaun Harris |
 |
The
drought takes it's first victim |
|
 |
Palesa
seeks help from a traditional healer |
 |
Palesa
drinks human blood for the first time |
An African vampire's history dates back to a time not long after people first discovered fire. It was a time when people worshiped the goddess. Women were sacred and they were the leaders of society. During that period, there was a priestess named Ntombi. She was well known and loved and had united many tribes throughout Africa. Although she was kind, many men feared her and the power that women like she had. Many men came together and they plotted against the preistess Ntombi. They kidnapped her and took her high into the mountains where no one could find her. They cut of her hands and legs so that she could not climb back down. Then they left her on the mountain to die. But Ntombi's spirit was too strong. She refused to die and willed herself to live. She vowed that as long as she had one drop of blood left in her body, she would endure. She slithered like a snake and ate grass and plants that grew on the mountain. But the ancestors could not stand to see her suffer. They took pity on her. They sent a bat to her. They told the bat to bite her and drink every last drop of her blood and then to bring her sacred blood to the other world, where they would revive her spirit and she would take her rightful place among the ancestors. The bat did as the ancestors instructed. As the bat sucked her dry, Ntombi felt her blood and spirit flow into the bat. Ntombi became the bat and she understood the ancestor's wishes. As she was flying to the other world, she decided to turn back and look at her village once more. But much time had passed, for when she saw her village, everything had changed. The people no longer worshiped the godess. Women were no longer leaders. Men had all the power. There was much war and destruction. And for the first time, Ntombi the bat priestess wanted to die. She did not understand how the godesses and the ancestors could let such a thing happen. And so she rejected them. She wanted to stay among her people and help them, but there was not much she could do as a bat. She could not stop wars from happening. But just as the ancestors took pity on her as she suffered on the mountain, she too took pity on the suffering. When she came across people that were dying and in great pain and there was no hope of saving them, she would mercifully put them out of their pain, by drinking all of their blood. And she flew across Africa doing the same for all those who were in agony. During her journey, Ntombi came across the body of a woman who had bled to death. Ntombi bit the woman on the neck, and put her blood into the dead woman. And her spirit went into the woman and Ntombi was reborn. She now had a human form. The ancestors did not like this. But they made a deal with Ntombi, she was allowed to stay on earth as long as she did not interfere with people. She could put the suffering out of their misery, but she could not fight wars or change events. It was not in her nature to kill or hurt anyone, so she was accepted the deal with the ancestors. So from that day, till this very day, she roams Africa with her mercy killings.
photos by ZaneleMuholi
