Mother to Mother at the Baxter Theatre

World premiere in Cape Town of Sindiwe Magona's powerful story Mother to Mother

This September the Baxter Theatre witnesses the debut of a powerful story by Sindiwe Magona about forgiveness and reconciliation, performed by Thembi Mtshali-Jones and directed by Janice Honeyman.

Adapted for the stage by Magona and Honeyman, it is an imaginary personal testimony from one mother to another, beautifully portrayed by one of the country’s best-loved performers Mtshali-Jones.


Mother to Mother offers solace and explanation, as a mother describes her feelings trying to make sense of the pressures and circumstances brought about by an oppressive system which drove her son to the crime.

While the story is fictional, it is based on actual events that happened in Gugulethu on 25 August 1993, when the young American Fulbright scholar Amy Biehl, was murdered just months before South Africa became a democracy. Biehl was working in the townships helping to organise and get voters registered for the country’s historic first democratic election. The 26-year-old was stabbed to death the day before she was due to return home to California, USA.

Eight men were arrested; four were convicted of murder and public violence and they were granted amnesty at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings. Amy’s parents Peter and Linda, attended the hearings in 1997, the same year they started the Amy Biehl Foundation. Their aim was to carry on the principles that their daughter championed, overseeing a myriad of projects that take proactive steps to reduce violence and empower people to become positive forces for change. Two of the men convicted of the crime now work for the Foundation.

At the time the story resonated with Magona, who discovered that the tragic incident occurred close to her house in Gugulethu and that one of the perpetrators was in fact, her neighbour’s son. Realising that it could easily have been her own son caught up in the violence of that day, she sympathised with both families and decided to write this fictional memoir. It is not an apology for the murder but rather a heartfelt account of an oppressed life marked by a turbulent period and difficult circumstances.

Magona is an author, poet, playwright, story-teller, actor and inspirational speaker. She has been published in the New York Times, the International Tribune, the Sunday Times, Cape Times, Cape Argus and numerous magazines.

The themes of redemption and forgiveness are important for the award-winning Thembi Mtshali-Jones, who brings this one-woman drama to life. She is widely recognised as one of South Africa’s most celebrated artists as a singer, actress and playwright.

The Baxter Theatre has kindly given the 7th of October as an evening where all proceeds made by ticket sales go directly to the Amy Biehl Foundation’s programmes in the townships. Book for this show directly with Ilchen Retief on ilchen@amybiehl.co.za.

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