A Woman in Waiting

Synopsis

Zulu actress Thembi Mtshali celebrates the poignant history and pain and joy of life in South Africa under apartheid. This moving tribute to the South African spirit tells the story of a Zulu girl who spent most of her childhood forced apart from her parents to find work, only to become a mother herself while still a teenager. It tells of night raids in the townships, the massacre of children in Soweto in 1976 and her eventual escape from the stifling Apartheid regime. But above all, A Woman in Waiting is a story of spiritual survival and the riches of love and cultural identity.

Our Review:

15 June 2001

The New Ambassadors is doing a fine line in shows that prompt standing ovations from the female contingency. The last time I was here it was to see Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues, which had women leaping to their feet with whoops, whistles, catcalls and overall abandon.

Though slightly more muted in its delivery, the audience response at the end of Thembi Mtshali's one-woman show, A Woman in Waiting - running concurrently with The Vagina Monologues - is similarly enthusiastic. And not without reason.

Certainly, there is much to admire in Mtshali. A 51-year-old Zulu woman, she was born into the racial prejudices inherent in the former, white-ruled South Africa. She watched as her mother struggled to raise seven children on her own in the fearsome townships of Durban. And then Mtshali became a young mother herself and fought her personal battle against poverty and indignity, not to mention the day-to-day horrors of night ...

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Latest User Review

USER: Whatsonstage.com - 15 June 2001:

i found this show overwhelming. mshtali is an incredible performer and so brave to put her life on display in such a way. i could never do that, but then we white europeans have all had it way too easy compared to what the likes of msthali have gone through. bravo....

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