Event information
Empatheatre, in partnership with Ibsen Scope, The Market Theatre and Home in Crisis, proudly presents the world premiere of 'Isitha Sabantu', an exciting reimagining of Henrik Ibsen’s 'An Enemy of the People' for contemporary South Africa.
'Isitha Sabantu' is a theatrically rich and visually bold musical drama where land rights, extractivism, climate crisis and the safety of environmental defenders collide in the country’s ‘thick present’. Winner of one of the 2024 Ibsen Scope Grants, 'Isitha Sabantu' interweaves theatre, praise poetry, choral song and puppetry at an awe-inspiring scale. It invites audiences to a world where justice is more than a legal ideal, but a deeply ecological, spiritual and communal practice.
The script is inspired by the courage and legacy of slain human rights defender Fikile Ntshangase, who was assassinated for her environmental justice activism to protect her community from a proposed coal mine in KwaZulu-Natal. The story follows the tranquil village of Hlanzeka, where the bonds that knit this community quickly begin to fray when residents discover that their lives and homes lie directly in the path of a planned new coal mine.
With courage and relentless faith, an environmental defender known as ‘Mam Nomsa’ (portrayed by Mpume Mthombeni) leads the charge against the land-hungry mine and fosters a fragile resistance to defend her home, history and ancestors.