Having previously appeared as a swan (Swan Song) and the zebra clown Angela Solie (RAW Performance Dinner Series) during the 2022 Festwochen, South African performer Buhle Ngaba is now returning to Vienna in the role of the largest diamond ever found. The diamondess Phatsima (the Setswana word for ‘sparkling’) has spent the last century in royal captivity at Buckingham Palace. Born in a mine near Pretoria in 1905, dug out, divided and polished, she was sold to the British monarchy in 1907 and became one of the crown jewels. Now the diamondess is becoming an Instagram star and lets all her bevels shine as she tells the complex story of her return to South Africa. Between press conference and manicure salon, the exhibited treasure escapes her display cabinet and asks: where is home at all? By playfully addressing issues of restitution and the sharp edges of the past, Ngaba looks at the present and designs a future with utopian sparkle.
Text, Performance Buhle Ngaba Direction, Dramaturgy Ilana Cilliers
Production Maru Factory In association with Nicolette Moses Coproduction Wiener Festwochen | Freie Republik Wien
First created in collaboration with the Market Theatre Laboratory.
Premiere June 2024, Wiener Festwochen | Freie Republik Wien
Wiener Festwochen 2022 Swan Song