Isidlamlilo / The Fire Eater (Paperback)

An electrifying one-woman play inspired by the true story of a woman who served as a political assassin during South Africa’s transition to democracy. As the protagonist confronts her past, she becomes a powerful symbol of defiance and compassion in a story of resistance and survival in a conflict-torn country.

Isidlamlilo/ The Fire Eater is an electrifying one-woman play inspired by the true story of a woman who served as a political assassin in the build-up to South Africa’s first democratic elections. Zenzile Maseko, the protagonist, is a 60-year-old Zulu grandmother living in a women’s hostel in Durban. Falsely declared dead by the Department of Home Affairs, she finds herself cast into a Kafkaesque nightmare that forces her to confront her past.

Flown in on the wings of the Impundulu (the lightning bird), Zenzile’s story weaves a magical and terrifying tapestry. She draws on myth, religious symbolism and traditional beliefs as she shares the realities – at times brutal, at times forgiving – of survival in South Africa. Her story touches on what it means to live through political violence, the transition to democracy, the brutality of inequality, health epidemics like HIV/AIDS, patriarchy, and the apathetic bureaucracy of government departments.

Ultimately, Isidlamlilo / The Fire Eater offers a critical and unflinching look at the eddying cycles of violence and revenge that play out across generations. Yet it is most of all a story about regeneration and redemption that speaks to both the country’s haunted past and its present-day complexities.

Isidlamlilo / The Fire Eater will appeal to teachers, high school learners, and tertiary students in theatre, drama and English studies.

General

Imprint:	Wits University Press
Country of origin:	South Africa
Release date:	March 2024
Authors:	Neil Coppen • Mpume Mthombeni
Foreword by:	Kira Erwin
Dimensions:	190 x 120 x 10mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback
Pages:	128
ISBN-13:	978-1-77614-879-0
Categories:	Books > Language & Literature > Literature: texts > Drama texts, plays > General Books > Children's & Educational > Language & literature > English (including English as a school subject) > English literature texts > Drama texts > General Books > Children's Fiction & Fun
LSN:	1-77614-879-7
Barcode:	9781776148790

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