S.African musical takes Shakespeare to Soweto

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters Life!) - Soweto Story, a new musical version of Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet set in a present-day Johannesburg ghetto, underscores the deep rich-poor divide that dogs post-apartheid South Africa.

The adaptation takes place in the storied Soweto township -- once a hive of anti-apartheid activity that has grown into a mix of tidy suburbs to serve a growing black middle class next to tin shacks for the poor majority.

The story follows Vuyani Kheswa, the contemporary Romeo, a poor young man from the Xhosa tribe whose love affair with the well-to-do Thandi Thwala, his Zulu Juliet, was doomed from the start because their families are taxi industry rivals.

The plot thickens when Thandi sees her lobola -- the money a groom must pay for a bride -- negotiated for an arranged marriage but instead rebels against her parents to join Vuyani, then on the lam for murder.

Those familiar with William Shakespeare's tragic play on which Soweto Story is loosely based can guess the star-crossed lovers' fate -- but similarities to the 16th century English romantic classic stop there.

The township setting is distinguished by Pinky's Shebeen, an informal beer hall, the "Lovely and Dark" beauty salon and a dusty streetscape where tsotsis, or gangsters, terrorize the locals with knives and blazing guns.

The creators deliberately chose not to dwell on the real life scourges of HIV/AIDS, grinding poverty and rampant violent crime -- endemic problems in townships -- saying that would have lessened the entertainment value.

However, they say the musical sends a social message to audience members in the plush suburbs of Johannesburg too scared to visit townships: Soweto has come a long way since it was the site of bloody black uprisings some 30 years ago.

"The story connects the audience with the characters and place. No matter how used one is to hearing about violence and death in townships, this story should still move them," Genna Lewis, the South African director/writer said. "We wanted to give a hopeful outlook."

That mission was accomplished -- if the delighted audience at Tuesday night's premiere is a guide -- through the Soweto Story's lively original song and dance numbers performed by its 29 member all-black cast.

Nkoto Malebye, who plays leading lady Thandi, said she identified with her character having been raised in a rural shantytown where she experienced forbidden love with someone from a different social class.

"Townships have all the same passion, politics, drama and problems as elsewhere in South Africa. We're always looking at apartheid or how people are suffering but (in Soweto Story) we're also celebrating love," 21-year-old Malebye told Reuters.