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HIGHLIGHT ICAF’23: THE WHISTLEBLOWERS, JOHANNESBURG

HIGHLIGHT ICAF’23: THE WHISTLEBLOWERS, JOHANNESBURG

Five women from Johannesburg storm onto the field, ready for a decisive hockey match. Today they can become champions. Yet haunted by memories of sexual assault and harassment, it soon becomes apparent that there is more at stake than a title. Gradually, the line between the competition and social reality disappears and the women find a collective voice against sexual violence and harassment against experienced by women in Johannesburg. The team must decide; will they attack or defend? The Whistleblowers is a powerful war cry of the soul. A mix of physical theatre, surrealistic dream images and impressive storytelling.  

In the performance, the women interpret the rules of the game, which are all against the players. Switching between dream sequences and dance scenes, the players make the experience of what it is like to be a woman in South Africa tangible for audiences, especially in accordance to various statistics which deems Johannesburg the “rape capital of the world”.   

The Whistleblowers is co-created and performed by five female actors and makers from Johannesburg, South Africa: Reabetswe Gaentswe, Boitshepo Maile, Kgaogelo Makgoba, Modipadi Mokgohloa, and Phindiwe Qakoshe, is directed by Rob Murray and Quintijn Relouw and contains the spoken languages of English, Afrikaans, Zulu, and Xhosa.