Tshepang

Tshepang was motivated by a true story that shook South Africa in 2001. The news of a brutal gang rape by six men of Tshepang, a nine-month-old child, devastated the country. It was discovered later that they had been wrongly accused and that a relative was guilty. But once the story hit the headlines, the scab was torn off a festering wound, and hundreds of similar stories followed. With statistics showing twenty thousand child rapes a year, South Africa is clearly facing an epidemic. In response, Lara Foot Newton, author and director, began researching the incident and the social and psychological landscape where events such as these occur. The result is a compelling play, a portrayal of a town cut off by poverty from its own heart. Former artistic director and founder of Montreal's Centaur Theatre Company, Maurice Podbrey returned to South Africa in 1997 where he established Mopo Trust to support the development of performing arts, including the production and touring of important new work both within South Africa and abroad. With Tshepang, he brings us a powerful and explosive play that has toured for the last three years in South Africa, Europe, Australia and New York.