Fred Khumalo’s riveting memoir, Touch My Blood, has been adapted for the stage by James Ngcobo, the actor and director perhaps best known for playing the part of Mojo Khumalo in the SABC2 series Stokvel.
The play is now on at the Market Theatre in Johannesburg, running most nights except Mondays, with Bheki Mkhwane in the lead role as a young Fred Khumalo charting a dangerous path out of township life.
Says Ngcobo of his play:
“This is a tale of a young man growing up in Hammersdale Township, just outside Durban. Through him we are taken back to the vibrant eighties – when every young man worth his salt had the afro, the bell-bottomed trousers and platform shoes that went alongside a time of fear and madness, and the division (both political and racial) that shook that part of Durban. Touch My Blood allows you to heal; it rewinds the tape, allowing you to witness some of what happened in South Africa. You’re not only left with anger, but shake your head and laugh.”
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