The Last Outpost stars Sabelo Cele and Sbusiso Mpendulo Nzama.

Running at the Hexagon Theatre on the University of KwaZulu-Pietermaritzburg campus from Thursday, May 25 to Saturday, May 27 at 7pm is The Last Outpost.

Written by UKZN MA candidate Francis Mennigke, a Standard Bank Ovation Award winner for his original script MORGUE in 2014, and directed by Rhodes University graduate, Josh Martin, this dark satire argues that today, 23 years after South Africa’s first democratic election, colonialism still exists.

But rather than imperial forts and army barracks, some of these spaces are psychological.

Last Outpost thrusts the audience into the mind of Juvakazi Sengwayo (or “Juice”, as he is dubbed by his oppressors), a young man grappling with the remnants of colonialism which continue keep him from living free.

In this space, he loses everything: his name, his history, his culture and his language. Forced to contend with two decomposing British soldiers who have set up the Empire’s last outpost in his mind – the oppressive and tyrannical Codswallop and Broomhead – Juvakazi is confronted with a brutal and heartless discrimination.

Willing to stop at nothing to free himself from his mental shackles, Juvakazi launches a final assault on the last outpost which the two red coats continue to cling to. Will Juice drive out his captors and reclaim his language and identity? Or will he allow them to continue holding his mind prisoner?

The play, which stars Sibusiso Mpendulo Nzama, Sabelo Cele, Francis Mennigke and Ed Pepperell, seeks to open an honest dialogue around the question of decolonisation.

Tickets are R70 (R35 students) at the door, or book through hexagon@ukzn.ac.za

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