DUT student production shines spotlight on climate change

The Citizen

04-05-2025

UMHLABA Uyalila / The Earth is Weeping – the second-year drama students at Durban University of Technology's Drama and Production Studies Department are shining a spotlight on the environment and climate change in their latest social-justice themed original multi-genre production which comes to the Courtyard Theatre at DUT from May 14 to 16.
The creative team behind the concept is Dr Tamar Meskin, who is responsible for developing the script and the overall structure; choreography is by Mdu Mtshali; and musical direction is by Zenneth Cibane. All three jointly contributed to the co-directing and co-creating of the vision of the piece.
'An exercise the cast have been working on is writing a letter from their future self to their present self about what they could have actively done to make things better. We are using the idea of someone coming back from the future to try to understand what happened and why, and to find a message of hope within it all somewhere. If we were 100 years from now, what would we be thinking? We are trying to find solutions. Waiting for the government to come up with answers is not viable. This is performance as activism. This production is intended to remind the cast and audience that by making small behavioural changes, everyone can make a difference,' said Meskin.
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One of the mandates which the department excels in is its use of the performing arts as a mechanism for encouraging important conversations around areas of social or historical interest. Umhlaba Uyalila / The Earth is Weeping is the latest offering in this series, which takes a stylised and evocative look at climate change; drought, global warming, erratic floods, irresponsible waste practices and plastic pollution. The issues are addressed through a creative multi-lingual hybrid of dance, song, movement, spoken word, original music, poetry and image projection.
Durban photographer Val Adamson is playing a pivotal role in this production – she has been working on a photo essay, talking to the theme of the piece, taking images with the cast in and around Durban which will be used as a photographic exhibition and incorporated into the production through image projection. Images and performances are being intertwined, with photos providing visual prompts against which the performances have been created.
Shows start at 18:00. Tickets cost R50, and R30 for students, and are available from 031 373 2194 / [e-mail] or at the door.
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