‘Bitla la Marena’ drama to mark history

The University of the Free (UFS) Drama & Theatre Arts group has completed auditions for ‘Bitla la Marena,’ a theatre production written and directed by Liatile Mohale.

The production celebrates 200 years of the founding of the Basotho nation by King Moshoeshoe I.

Auditions for the play, which will be held in Bloemfontein, were open to Basotho fluent in Sesotho.

Submission details included sending a two-minute video performing a monologue from a Sesotho classic story. The deadline for submission was Tuesday last week.

Mohale is the founder and Director of Bahale Arts Development Centre (PTY) Ltd, an institution whose purpose is to impart high-level performance skills to new and existing members of the creative and entertainment industries in Lesotho and beyond.

A business development professional, the Fulbright alumnus holds a Master’s Degree focused in Drama from San Francisco State University.
Mohale is an experienced drama & theatre practitioner who has worked in the Performing Arts Industry and Drama Education in Lesotho for over 12 years.

As a teacher of International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) Drama & IB Theatre Arts at Machabeng College International School of Lesotho, she worked in over 15 stage productions as a director, producer and sometimes actor. She is highly skilled in Theater Directing, Acting, Devising Drama, Translating and Research, Classroom Management, Lesson Planning, and Curriculum Development.

In a recent interview with theReporter, Mohale said ‘Bitla la Marena’ was written back in 2019.  Bitla la Marena (The Royal Tomb) tells the story of Rakotsoane, the cannibal who killed and ate village father Peete.

This becomes a true test of the character and leadership of King Moshoeshoe, who is at odds with the majority of the village elders and his brother Posholi, when they want to bring torture and death upon Rakotsoane.

Speaking of the inspiration behind the play, Mohale said, “For a longest time I thought about our history as Basotho or King Moshoeshoe’s history. It is always mentioned that he was a diplomat, he forgave cannibals and welcomed the priests in the country.

“But we don’t really know who King Moshoeshoe is; what are some of the defining moments in his life which shows leadership that we are talking about?

 “So, one of the questions I had while writing ‘Bitla la Marena’ was, what kind of a person was he, besides the fact that he was a diplomat?

“I thought of the historical journey to Thaba Bosiu when cannibals ate his grandfather Peete and he forgave them. I thought, what kind of leader would do such a thing?” Mohale pondered.

She also tried to imagine how the court decided to forgive the cannibals, and also how the nation felt in response to this.

Mohale compared that incident back then with the current Lesotho governance if there would be such forgiveness. She thought that maybe cannibals are no longer those who eat people but within us as Basotho nation, there are all sorts of criminal acts such as: killings, kidnappings as well as gangsterism.

Again, in recent times, geographically there are serious climate change threats such as the El-Ninos and La Nina phenomena.

“Looking at such incidents, I think history repeats itself and that is exactly what is happening in our communities in Lesotho. I learned that King Moshoeshoe changed them (cannibals), and had a plan of what was he going to do to end cannibalism since they were influenced by the situation going on at that time.

“So that kind of leadership which changed people by identifying circumstances that influenced people to commit crime is the one we need, looking at the current Lesotho. That’s what inspired this play,” Mohale said.

The collaboration between UFS comes after a call to playwrights to submit their plays and their work to be a part of bicentennial celebration to be held in Bloemfontein.

Mohale also submitted her work and it was successful, considering the reviews and storylines.

She will be directing this play to be performed by students of the university and individuals who are interested to go for rehearsals and performances in Bloemfontein.

“With this we are going to strengthen collaboration or friendship of Basotho between Lesotho and South Africa (Free state) because we have a common history.

“First of all, characters who are going to participate in the play will be part of the 200 years celebration of Basotho, which I don’t think will ever happen again in history. So, anybody who is a performer is going to be part of this really big historical event,” Mohale added.