Nightmare and Reality to Merge in CONFESSIONS at the Alexander Upstairs

One man's worst nightmares merge with his reality in Mandla Mpanjukelwa's drama, CONFESSIONS, which will be directed by the playwright himself for a three-performance season at the Alexander Upstairs. The 50-minute piece is performed by Luke Buys.

The winning show of the 2017 Abongile Kroza One-Handers Festival, CONFESSIONS follows the story of a young gang member KZ, who is the last man standing of his gang. He is not a full blown gangster, but simply a mere member. Hs membership of the gang has cost him his friends, family and is about to cost him his life as he finds himself stuck in a nightmare that is quickly catching up with his reality. Recognising that nothing is something, no one is born to be nothing. But when nothingness overwhelms reality, this man finds himself in a constant battle to thrive.

CONFESSIONS explores what drives humans to commit grave, unforgivable atrocities to each other through the mind of a criminal. Atrocities take place outside our doorsteps daily: stories of gangs, child mutilations, gang rapes and killings. We wake up to see these stories in front page newspaper articles. In a quest of finding out what, why and how these atrocities take place and what the perpetrators say when asked why and how people commit such atrocities unto to others and walk away, in many cases, without an ounce of guilt and remorse, the director followed some of these cases in their court trials and listened to their testimonies. Also drawing upon a series of interviews conducted with gangs from the Cape Flats, CONFESSIONS explores what drives these people and how they think, plan and deal with the consequences of their actions, also paying attention to their socio economic and political standing. The show attempts to map the psyche of criminology in modern and postmodern South Africa.

Mandla Mpanjukelwa is a graduate of the University of Cape Town's Theatre and Performance acting programme and a founding member of the Sizile Arts Collective. Mpanjukelwa writes, directs and performs. He appeared in this year's Maynardville production of TWELFTH NIGHT, directed by Geoffrey Hyland. He is the 2015 recipient of the Most Promising Director award at the University of Cape Town's Inter-res Theatre Festival, also winning an award as Best Actor for the short film TAINTED BLOOD. The born and bred Capetonian finds his voice through performance art and uses it as a vehicle of communication.

CONFESSIONS runs at the Alexander Upstairs from 13 - 15 July at 19:00 nightly. Tickets are available from the Alexander Bar website, with seats costing R70 if booked and prepaid online or R80 if paid on collection at the bar. For telephone enquiries, call 021 300 1652. The Alexander Bar, Café and Theatre is situated at 76 Strand Street in the Cape Town city centre and can be followed on Facebook and Twitter.

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