OVER the past two months, the University of KwaZulu-Natal Drama and Performance students have been working on a devised theatre piece that, at its core, is a celebration of Blackness.

In close collaboration with the cast, recently published playwright, Masters student, and multi-award-winning director, Kline Smith, draws captivating performances from over thirty dancers, poets, musicians and actors in Umuntu.

The work will be performed in the Hexagon Studio Theatre at 6 pm on May 5, 6 and 7. Tickets are R40 (R25 for students) at the door.

The diverse, high-energy cast has created meticulously crafted scenes that are both exciting and thought-provoking. ‎Each scene revisits our fractured history while soberly reflecting on life in South Africa twenty-two years after the hangover brought on by the Rainbow Nation celebrations.

The set is minimalist, except for a piano, a guitar, a drum and a couple of metal frames. Original, fresh content meets loosely adapted short stories and poems by African writers from as far back as the1950s.

The director and cast hope that when you watch Umuntu, the experience of looking back and looking forward is as moving for you as‎ it has been for them.