The Many Faces of Xenophobia in 'The Line'

One of the most harrowing news stories in recent South African history was that of the 2008 Xenophobia riots. What was so particularly striking about this story was that, no matter what your race or social background, no South African citizen was completely desensitized to these riots. Whether you were the victim, the oppressor, the person who delivered food and blankets to the churches and police stations or merely the person watching the riots unfold in the news media, the trauma of these events was not limited to a single community. Essentially, it involved the entire nation, leaving all of our perceptions of South Africa forever changed. Up until now there have been relatively few works of film or theatre which have openly addressed and explored the social and psychological consequences of these riots. This is what makes Gina Shmukler’s The Line one of the most striking, powerful and important pieces of theatre you will see this year.

The development of The Line emerged from Shmukler’s Masters Research project which explored the role of trauma in relation to theatre-making. As part of this project, Shmukler went into the townships to interview various South African citizens who were affected by the Xenophobia riots. The Line plays out as a compilation of these interviews which Shmukler has moulded to fit the theatrical form. In this form the interviews become brutally honest testimonies which are performed by two exceptionally talented young actresses, Khutjo Green and Gabi Harris. As the play develops the two actresses juggle multiple roles as they give voice to the varying perspectives, insights and experiences that emerged from the Xenophobia riots.

What is particularly impressive about Shmukler’s work on The Line is that it presents the riots as a collective South African experience. It would have been very easy for her to make this a play that simply looks at the riots from the perspective of the victims. It would have also been very easy for her to present the oppressors simply as violent savages without exploring and questioning their actions. However this production is much braver than that. Every voice we are exposed to throughout the show is one that we can understand and sympathize with in some way. As The Line demonstrates, the word “oppressor” in the case of the Xenophobia riots is one that does not fully comprehend the dynamics of this situation. These “oppressors” are not inherently bad people. They are desperate and disillusioned, battling to grapple with the reality that the government they have supported has promised them everything and given them nothing. The play delves even further into the South African psyche as it exposes us to the perspective of the white “outsiders”, the people we presume to be distant and unaware of the harsh realities of the riots. As Shmukler’s script and Harris’s performance reveal, these “outsiders” have their own experience of pain. Essentially it is, of course, not the same pain as that of the victims or the oppressors. Yet it is still every bit as devastating as these “outsiders” battle to reconcile their perception of a post-Apartheid, democratic South Africa with the prejudices and violence that have transcended from the townships into homes which are not too far from their own living areas.

Complementing the collective experience that emerges in the manner Shmukler draws  the play’s testimonies together is Charl-Johan Lingenfelder’s music score and Niall Griffin’s stage design. Lingenfelder’s music score is often sharp and frightening, perfectly capturing both our national and individual anxieties. Griffin’s stage design is both moving and haunting in its simplicity. This design is made up of a large number milk bottles which are hung up next one another, connected by a wire. Within each bottle is a photograph of a victim of Xenophobia. Again this design not only expresses the trauma of the riots but also how —though they may seem distinct from each other— the trauma of the victim, oppressor and “outsider” are inherently linked to one another.

The Line is an uncompromising, harrowing and powerful piece of theatre which takes us on a socio-political and emotional journey which is familiar and accessible to every one of us. The fact that the audiences the play has attracted thus far represent an equal spread of every South African demographic indicates that we are now ready to acknowledge and deal with the respective roles we took on during the period of the Xenophobia riots. The Line is a production which puts these roles into perspective for us, prompting our united healing process to finally begin.

Source for Photo 1: http://www.whatsupjozi.com/2012/johannesburg-theatre/the-line-at-the-market-theatre/3060