A dusty stage, manmade hills and waves of burlap set the stage for this original production of “The Dangerous House of Pretty Mbane.” This show is a beautiful story that surrounds the heart wrenching issue of corrective rape in South Africa. “South Africa is seen as a fairly progressive country because they were one of the first countries to allow same sex marriage”, says one of the main characters, Noxolo to an English reporter. In this play, many people did not know about the issue of corrective rape going on, which was intended to turn non-heterosexual women straight. The people in the country do not speak up about it because they have seen that when you do speak out about it, one’s life is in danger. Noxolo tells the reporter this in the hopes that he will write an article about it to get the word out about the atrocities that are happening in her country.
There were so many things that this production did right: the set, the accents, the acting. But in my opinion the writing was the most powerful. They handled this difficult subject matter in such a delicate and honest way. The show started with the character, Pretty Mbane, speaking to the audience and telling us that she was dead, which made me a little apprehensive. I was not sure what I was in for when the title character is speaking from the grave, but it was so much more than that and so much better than I could have imagined.
InterAct Theatre Company, where this play was produced, is a company that specializes in performing original plays. I would highly recommend checking out some of the other plays from InterAct, which is located in Center City Philadelphia on Sampson Street. Also, they offer discounts to students, so go check them out!