The thriller ASKARI, a political play, returns to the stage at the South African State Theatre from 27 September till 16 October.
The term ASKARI was used to describe former members of the liberation movements who joined the Security Branch and were working against their former comrades.
The play is based on deadly assassins of the Vlakplaas unit which specialised in executing and torturing anti-apartheid activists.
ASKARI follows men and women who infiltrate organized civic movements and student organizations to recruit unsuspecting youth and influential leaders. It interrogates their choice of turning from insurgencies to counter insurgencies, from community activists to mass killers.
In 2019 the play’s Writer Sello Maseko visited the notorious farm before devising the play.
“I saw a lonely and quiet farmhouse on an empty tract of land, sad outbuildings and the vengeful interrogation rooms and the tearful graves of those who met their end in the hands of the state-sponsored death squad. About 40 years ago, the farm housed a group of people called ASKARI. The farm administered pain, fear, miseries, uncertainty and death,” said Maseko.
Cast members include Abongile Matyutyu (as Thomas Maseko), Soyiso Ndaba (Boboza Khumalo), Monica Muller (Marita Swanepoel), and Kagiso Matlala (Thembi Madida) reprise their roles as Actor Wilf Mahne assumes the villain character of Gert Swanepoel.
It digs deep into the personal accounts of these individuals who administered pain, fear, and death. These stories of betrayal, death, redemption, and forgiveness are captured through dazzling music, dance, and powerful storytelling.
The production is a musical format with choreography being accompanied by a a six-piece band featuring Nhlapo and Cromwell Modungwa as Musical Directors.
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