The Head & the Load is about Africa and Africans in the First World War... It is about historical incomprehension (and inaudibility and invisibility). The colonial logic towards the black participants could be summed up: ‘Lest their actions merit recognition, their deeds must not be recorded.’ The Head & the Load aims to recognise and record." – William Kentridge
William Kentridge commemorates the millions of Africans who fought in and lost their lives in the First World War in The Head & the Load, a groundbreaking production set to open at Joburg Theatre on April 21. It's been a long time coming to Joburg, and this is without doubt the must-see production of 2023. After making its debut at the Tate Modern in 2018, The Head and the Load embarked on a tour taking it to New York, Amsterdam and Germany. Then Covid hit and before The Head and the Load could make it to South Africa we entered two years of lockdown. Now, five years after its critically-acclaimed debut, The Head and the Load makes its way to Kentridge's home town of Johannesburg. With only 14 performances from Fri, Apr 21 to Sat, May 6 at the Joburg Theatre, we suggest you don't hesitate to book your tickets for this one-of-a-kind theatre performance.
As is his trademark style of theatre-making, the world-renowned artist uses music, dance, projections, mechanised sculptures and shadow to tell the largely unknown story of the role that Africa played in World War I. Part of this includes his collaborations with a stellar cast of performers and creators, including choreographer Gregory Maqoma and composers Philip Miller and Thuthuka Sibisi.
The result is not a simple narrative or documentary but rather a mix of experiences, feelings and sounds which try to imagine and conjure both the role Africans played in World War I as well as what they went through during this time, with Kentridge saying, "The test is really to find an approach that is not an analytic dissection of a historical moment, but which doesn’t avoid the questions of history. Can one find the truth in the fragmented and incomplete? Can one think about history as collage, rather than as narrative?"
Similarly, Philip Miller and Thuthuka Sibisi's score moves from a Viennese waltz and hymns to rhythmic war songs as they try to capture the sounds of the Great War for African soldiers and carriers saying, "We can only imagine the noises they heard or the music they made, through the multitude of voices and sounds we have created in The Head & the Load."
The performance will take place on a custom-built 50m-long stage at the back of Nelson Mandela theatre. In order to accomodate the scale of this work the wings and nackstage have been transformed into site-specific performance spaces with the audience seated onstage with an intimate arrangement of 500 seats. The production is an ambitiously large attempt to examine these hidden histories and with limited space you should secure your spot early, there are not many more capable hands to take this on than those of Kentridge.
Performances
Evening performances: Fri 21 (Opening Night), Sat 22, Wed 26, Fri 28, Sat 29, Tue 2, Wed 3, Thur 4, Fri 5 & Sat 6 at 20:00.Matinee performances: Sun 23, Thu 27 & Sun 30 at 15:00.
Book your tickets here. You will want to make sure to get them early as this will sell out quickly.
