Grieve, that is how you survive.
Poetry & Spoken Word / Amazwi

This spoken word production is infused with physical theatre and music. It follows the journey of two young women who are navigating through and discovering their grief.

The story is an uncovering of what grief is like for a younger generation who are not always fully held by their families. Told from two differing perspectives, their stories meet in the midde - that grief ultimately MUST happen in order to find ways to heal.

In a world that asks us to withhold our loss so as to not appear weak, the play asks us to consider the act of letting go as a means to continue, and to survive through those very losses.

Production Credits

Lighting Design: Tiffani Kayler Dlamini

Tech: Michael Blacks

Sound Design: Jason Marshall, Tshilidzi Mfumpha and Thandiwe Nqanda 

About the Artists

Grace Barnes graduated with a BA(hons) with majors in Dance Theatre composition and choreography in 2016. She completed her MA in Applied Theatre (Cum Laude) with a focus on performance as research in 2021. She is a performer, choreographer, writer, spoken word artist, facilitator, drama lecturer and educator, an artist at heart with a love for teaching.

She has choreographed various works and productions between 2016-2024, such as "Regression" which debuted at Dance Umbrella 2017, "Slip", performed at the Baxter Dance Festival as well as the JoYA festival in 2016-2017, "Breathe", performed at the Sibikwa Arts Centre, her one-woman show titeld "Un-becoming" performed between 2019 - 2021, and more recently, “wait/weight” which debuted at the market theatre in 2023, amongst many others.

She started writing at the age of 13 and has written and self-published a collection of 3 anthologies on love, loss, and grief.

In October 2022, she represented South Africa as a spoken word artist at the Requiem for Justice Festival in Mexico City. An international Rally of artists, writers and thinkers from over 15 countries to manifest the role that art plays to protest against injustice.

As a full-time educator, she continues to create and perform her works, creating new explorative ways of merging her skills and art forms in various ways.

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Thandiwe Nqanda is a South African-born poet. In her 13 years of writing, she has partaken in both local and international projects, such as 16DaysOfActivism16Poets, performing her poem "Energy" on totallyradio in Brighton, UK (2021), participated at Word N Sound Poetry Slam in 2020 and being Former Guest Poet of State of the Nation Address, SONA (2022, People's Voice).

Her audience reach is inclusive of various African countires such as Zimbabwe and Namibia, and extends as far as the UK, USA and Germany. This afforded her the gift of writing and composing "IT IS TIME, a musical poetry show."

Apart from her love for writing, Thandiwe has thrived on the basketball court for many years. Her basketball journey contributed to her experience of being a multi-time SA National, Provinical and All star sports champion. She has akso captianed the Wits Basketball 1st Ladies Team in 2021. 

Above all, she is a child of God and her parents, a sister, an aunt, friend and dreamer. 

  • Venue: Amazwi
  • Location: Amazwi South African Museuem of Literature
  • Ticket price: ZAR 100.00
  • Programme type: The Fringe
  • Genre: Poetry & Spoken Word
  • Duration: 70 min
  • Ages: 16+
    • Adult Themes

There are no performances for this show.