Afrovibes: Katanga, 17 January

Name: This performance explores the murders of the first prime minister of the current Democratic Republic of Congo and his associates and his influence on the DRC.
Start: 2025-10-11T20:00:00+02:00
Location: Frascati, Amsterdam

Bobby Rodwell (ZA) & Ernest Baleni (ZA)

Sat 11 Oct ’25 20:00

This performance explores the murders of the first prime minister of the current Democratic Republic of Congo and his associates and his influence on the DRC.

Sat 11 Oct ’25

20:00

Sat 11 Oct ’25

20:00

Frascati, Amsterdam

Frascati 1

Tickets

Patrice Lumumba, the first prime minister of what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), is also considered the Congolese version of Nelson Mandela. With his associates, he was assassinated, presumably on 17 January 1961. This happened in Katanga, a renegade province in the DRC.

With an exchange of stories, the theatre performance Katanga, 17 January explores these murders and Lumumba's influence on today's Democratic Republic of Congo. Based on the lives of Lumumba and his comrades Joseph Okito and Maurice Mpolo, four performers examine the ongoing conflict in Congo. In doing so, they reflect on colonialism, African solidarity, independence, decolonisation and the struggle for Africa's resources.

The stories are based on archival research, interviews with Lumumba's children, a grandchild of his collaborator and a former child soldier, and on the famous independence speech and letter Lumumba wrote to his wife in captivity. Katanga, 17 January thus honours African artistic collaboration, story exchange and Africa's liberation heritage.

Duration: 70 mins.
Language: English
Note: the stories of murder, colonisation and the struggle for riches can be intense for those with personal experience around it

Part of

Afrovibes Festival 2025

Credits

text & concept Bobby Rodwell and Lesego Rampolokeng director Khutjo Green movement director Ernest Ginger Baleni performers Billy Langa, Khutjo Green, Thabo Malema and Michael Disanka set & costume deisgn Sinenhlanhla Q. Zwane sound director Tumi Mogorosi light Spider Mothetho stagemanager Labeisa Molapo

About the makers

Bobby Rodwell works as a producer and writer in theatre, documentary film and radio focusing. Also, she is a funder and a director of the company mehlo-maya (eye-to-the-sun). Bobby studied Theatre, Social Anthropology and African History.

After hearing stories of survivors of human rights violations, she uses those personal testimonies now in theatre for social change on socio-political issue across the continent. Using this approach Bobby has created The Story I am About to Tell on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa. Also, she made Frontieres which is about personal testimonies on migration into South Africa. In her performance Flipping the Script survivors told about their experiences with gender-based violence.

Lesego Rampolokeng is a poet, novelist, playwright, filmmaker, and teacher. He rose to prominence in the 1980s, a turbulent period in South African history. Since his debut Horns for Hondo, he has published several poetry collections, including Head on Fire (2012) and A Half Century Thing (2015), parts of which have been translated into German. He is also the author of poetic novels such as Bird-Monk Seding (2018), which won the University of Johannesburg Prize for South African Writing in English in 2017 and was shortlisted for the prestigious Sunday Times Barry Ronge Fiction Prize in 2018.

Lesego has also written screenplays, released audio recordings, and written for various productions. His plays are performed all over the world. His documentary Word Down the Line premiered in 2014.