Borrowing from the subtitle of Jefferson Tshabalala’s Poet-O-Type, Gabo Legwala is “a memoir disguised as a [poem], masquerading as a play”. It is a poetic theatre exploration that follows the young Modise Sekgothe known then as “Ndish” through his formative years growing up in Soweto.
The work assesses the rites of passage involved in the life of a young South African man growing up without a father figure. We see this as a common occurrence, where many of his peers struggle through these earlier years alongside him, growing up in fatherless households and having few if no good male role-models.
The speaker honours the love and compassion he received from his mother and sisters, while grappling with the absence of his father and what that absence has meant in shaping him as a man. The narrative plunges into the rites of boyhood and the turbulent journey of becoming a man – dealing with bullying, bravado, belonging – and follows a group of young men navigating life in the township, where too many don’t make it out.
The work interrogates the wounds masculinity carries and asks: What does it mean to be a man? What has been lost in the absence of positive male role models? And what does healing look like? We see “Ndish” – raised by his mother and sisters, stumbling through the familiar growing pains of township life as a young boy: the pressure to fight, the sting of failure, the hunger to belong. We see his fascination with martial arts and soccer – how these serve as vehicles for finding his place, for discovering a version of masculinity he can hold onto.
He reflects on moments when he should have been brave but wasn’t. We see him walk away from confrontation as he was taught to do, because: “Gabo legwala a gollewe.” We see him try, fail, and try again to make sense of who he is as a man. It’s a journey with no final destination, only movement, searching, becoming.
Production Credits
Writer/Performer: Modise Sekgothe
Soundscapist: Yogin Sullaphen
Vocalist: Phumla Siyobi
Sound Technician: Obakeng Makhutle
Creative Collaborator: Billy Langa
Creative Collaborator: Mahlatsi Mokgonyana
Assistant Producer: Mapula Kabi
Stage Manager: Kamogelo Magajane
Lighting Designer: Hlomohang (Spider) Mothetho
Set and Costume Designer: Philani Masedi
About the Artists
Modise Sekgothe:
Modise Sekgothe is an award winning writer and performer, interested in the exploration of poetry as it relates to music, theatre and visual arts. Driven by cross-genre collaboration and solo exploration, his impulse is to stretch the bounds around how poetry can be written and performed, as well as the contexts within which it can be found. Much of his work is concerned with the contemplation of meaning, as a spiritual and existential question, and the implications of this on politics, philosophy and the masculine experience.
Sekgothe is winner of the 2025 Standard Bank Young Artist for poetry and an international slam champion, having won the 2016 Spoken 2 Poetry Slam competition in Washington DC. He has also won the Word N Sound Innovation in Poetry Award in two consecutive years (2015 and 2016), the WNS Best Showcase Award in 2013 and 2014 as well as the WNS Perfect Poem Award in 2015.
He has performed on stages across South Africa and internationally, including the Split This Rock Poetry Festival, Poets For Puerto Rico, Art All Night Festival, The Kennedy Center, Gothenburg Book Fair, Nobel Dialogue Week, and the Brussels Planetarium Poetry Festival. His work has been published in Home Is Where The Mic Is, a performance poetry anthology by Botsotso Publishers as well as Race, Revolution and Rapture: Voices Raised For Rights, published by UKZN Press.
On the audio front, he has released a lauded poetry and music EP DIPOKO tsa DIPOKO and a solo album Meera Me, which is also a multimedia production that merges documentary and live performance through music and spoken word poetry to explore the multi-layered experience of love and relationship.
His award-winning multimedia collaborative project Metropolar is a marriage of spoken-word poetry, music and animation, exploring the contrasting realities of life in the Johannesburg CBD. As a multi-disciplinary artist, he aims to continue collaborating with artists across disciplines to explore the many ways in which the word can be interpreted and experienced.
Billy Langa & Mahlatsi Mokgonyana (Theatre Duo & Co):
Billy Langa and Mahlatsi Mokgonyana - or The Theatre Duo, as they are affectionately known - an independent collaborative theatre making company based in South Africa. The company began creating its unique brand of physical and storytelling theatrical events and productions in 2015. The company has since produced original creative and theatrical works in South Africa and their work has toured most parts of the country and internationally Including Namibia, Eswatini, Germany, Scandinavia and the United Kingdom. Their works have earned them critic’s picks and awards which include the prestigious Standard Bank Young Artists for Theatre 2022, NIHSS Award for Best Public Performance, Fringe Fresh Award for Performance, Cape Town Fringe Fresh Creative Award for directing, Standard Bank Ovation award, The Naledi Theatre Award for Best Production for young audiences, Naledi Theatre Award for Best Solo performance, IYAF Best International Performance Award, ICA Fellowship Award and ACT (Arts and Culture Trust) Impact prize finalist.
- Venue: Centenary Hall
- Location: St Andrews College
- Ticket price: ZAR 110.00
- Programme type: Curated Programme
- Genre: Poetry & Spoken Word
- Duration: 70 minutes
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Ages:
PG (PARENTAL GUIDANCE)
