LISTEN: Women inmates of Constitution Hill stories given life through theatre
'Whispers in the Corridors' is a museum theatre production staged inside the Constitutional Hill Women’s Gaol evoking the narratives of some of the women who were imprisoned there in the 20th Century.
The play was written by Stephanie Jenkins during her 2022 Writing Fellowship through the Johannesburg Institute for Advanced Study (JIAS). Jenkins has made other museum theatre plays with the intention of bringing history to life in the present.
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The performance uses three actor-guides, played by Clare Mortimer, Belinda Henwood, and Sibahle Sibiya, who play multiple historical characters and take the audience on a journey through the former prison (now a museum), allowing present audiences to get a glimpse of the past, listening to the whispers evoked in this former place of confinement and punishment.
Take a listen as Clare Mortimer and Stephanie Jenkins discuss the production and the importance of telling these historical stories:
Performances are from 27 to 31 October 2023 at Constitutional Hill Women’s Gaol.
Booking is via Quicket.
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