A contemporary retelling of the traditional Zulu folktale, ‘Hlakanyana’ is an Afrofuturistic fusion of traditional folklore and the contemporary challenges of present-day South Africa. In traditional folk tales the character Hlakanyana is a trickster, an anti-hero who uses his exceptional cunning to get forward in the world, often at the expense of others. Depicted in animal or human form, Hlakanyana is the long-awaited son of the chief of a village, but instead of being a uniting force, he leaves devastation in his wake.
In this stirring new musical telling of the folktale, we find Hlakanyana beset by isolation and forging a path alone through a rapidly changing world. Through the medium of folklore, the play explores burning contemporary issues affecting South Africa today such as gender-based violence, corruption, uncertainty, a lack of leadership and moral guidance, generational trauma and a growing dissatisfaction with the status quo.
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