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What is the cost of freedom? A central idea of the Zakes Mda play “We shall Sing for the Fatherland”. We are introduced to two war veterans, Sergeant Major and Janabari, who have been reduced to squalor, now two hobos fighting for scraps to survive. Troupers who once fought for the countries politics, now the only politics they fight is the politics of the stomach.
The play will explore the ideas around sleep paralysis and sleep apnoea.
This will be a backdrop of the subconsciousness of the two characters. In the different acts we see flashbacks of the war, hopefully giving some light as to why they still hang on to the promise?
Janabari and Seargant Major may be a telescope to the realities we face in our rainbow nation, but the play doesn’t only showcase the futile void of existence through them. The play cleverly highlights the disparity of the fruits of the veteran’s labour.
When you meet these characters, you immediately understand why they have a need to gather, what they lost in the storm. To yearn for the innocence that shaped, the story they told yesterday. To find that forgotten ditty, so they can sing for their Fatherland.
