Hosted at Tlolego Village in Rustenburg, a healing centre adorned by nature, mud cottages, organic vegetable and herbal spices gardens, the 10-day long production included a lot of grounding exercises like yoga, meditation and body painting by the river, it included sessions on mental health and discussion forums that led up to the creation of a non-scripted multidisciplinary (art, poetry, dance, music, acts, live art painting) theatrical play on GBV. The play was open to the public and marked the closing of the production on the last day. “It was important that we create a safe space for shadow work because it requires immense vulnerability, and we needed to make provision for participants to delve as deep as they could. With shadow work, one gets to recognise and encounter the side that they want kept hidden (sometimes unknowingly), they get to confront their trauma and other challenging emotions, understand and acknowledge how these are negative personal traits which perpetuate the cycle of trauma and also learn how society, childhood, and other relationships have shaped their lives, and in so doing learn to accept themselves,” says Amogelang. “A great part of the work is also spiritual, a practice whose purpose is to help individuals, not only to embrace the trauma but use their experience to reach a higher level of self. This may not be for everyone, but we are lucky that the whole team was spiritually inclined, with a number already practicing spirituality,” Amogelang further explains. Collective Action Magazine had an opportunity to hold a group interview with the whole cast discussing their trauma-healing experience. The openness was overwhelming. It should be noted that before this theatrical production, most cast members had never met, nor had they openly shared their GBV encounters. What was most striking about the team was that GBV was an experience they all embraced, and each bravely sharing the stories and trauma they carried. The full interview is available at the end of this story, however from the session, we highlight a few messages. It was important that we create a safe space for shadow work because it requires immense vulnerability...
“I find healing, seeing others heal” - Amogelang Pila Ditlhale
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June 2023 | Collective Action Magazine Collective Action Magazine
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