Valencia Govindasamy
AWARD-winning play- wright Ashwin Singh launched his first book, an anthology titled Durban Dialogues, Indian Voice, at the Indian Cultural Centre, Consulate General of India, Durban.
The anthology features five of Singh’s best plays – To House, Duped, Spice ’n’ Stuff, Reoca Light and Beyond the Big Bangs.
I attended the launch last Friday alongside artists, academics, teachers, civil servants, diplomats and cultural activists.
Clinical psychologist and theatre producer (and sister of Singh), Shantal Singh, emceed the event and the book was launched by the Consulate General of India, Durban, Mr Vinod Kumar Sharma together with the director of the Indian Cultural Centre, Dr Lesley Jacob.
During our talk Singh tells me how proud he is of his huge accomplishment: “I’m so glad. But not just for me, for my family, friends, and fellow activists. A playwright doesn’t exist in a vacuum. So all these people have contributed to the content and the value of the book.
“I’m hoping the stories will resonate with everyone who buys the book and also I’d like to be part of the prescribed reading for schools and there’s a very good chance for that.”
Asked if there are any upcoming plays he’s working on, Singh says: “Well, Beyond the Big Bangs, that was the latest one this year. We’re doing another enactment of Culture clash at The Playhouse that was not in the book, that’s my next big project, but I’m actually not going to write another play right now because I’m working on a novel at the moment.”
An interesting performance from one of Singh’s plays was demon- strated by professional performer and former KZN Miss India, Derosha Moodley, who has also worked in TV and radio. Her performance was captivating, humorous and showed her brilliant acting abilities and deftness with accents. She is a multi-talented performer who keeps the audience fixated on her while she tells a story.
Speaker, academic, researcher and writer, Dr Betty Govinden shared her thoughts on Singh’s anthology: “The plays assist us in discovering and rediscovering the ordinary. Ashwin’s plays are grounded in everyday reality and deal with issues such as poverty, the government, changes in lifestyle patterns and so on. They draw attention to what is happening in our neighbourhood.
“There is also a depiction of women’s issues and the discri- mination of women by other women. His plays are part of who we are, indulging us to make choices about how we live in this world.”
Concluding the launch, Singh addresses his guests: “I am so grateful for all the kind words and I would like to thank the Cultural Centre for wanting to launch the book here. It’s a tremendous honour to be associated with this centre.
“And I would also like to thank my mom and late dad. I would like to say that the stand out performance was delivered by Derosha Moodley. She is extremely talented. I am also looking forward to working with Rory Booth, Shona Johnson, Kajal Bhagwandeen and many more.
“So I would just like to say, let us continue to tell our stories loudly and boldly. There is no hierarchy in culture and all our stories need to be shared. I have a few suggestions that I have to share with you, you can reject them or accept them or unpack them.
“But in this way, I hope we can all be cultural activists and some of you are engaged in this right now. I hope we can promote South African culture.
“Just a few thoughts and ideas. Number 1: tell your stories to our African ancestors like our African ancestors used to. Start the story- telling night once a week at your home. All our stories deserve to be told. Number 2: When people ask you: ‘who are you?’, include ‘I am South African’ in your answer. We need to celebrate our shared history and sell our wonderful multi-culturalness to the world without being sentimental or sacrificing our capacity to think critically.
“Number Three: do whatever you can to ensure there is no hierarchy of culture in any of our major institutes, our government, our schools, our mass media, our community, our family. The Western world is not superior to the Eastern world or the African world. No language is greater than the other.
“Number four: don’t play what you know, play what you don’t know. Those are the words of Miles Davis, the jazz musician. So I say, create your own daring art and look for artists who are breaking away from stale tradition.Write critically about new African and Asian work. Number Five: what’s on the news is less significant than where it is coming from. Show every angle and every side and share it with the world. So let us go forward together. It’s not just my book, but all our stories that I want to celebrate today so let’s do it together and let’s make a difference.”