Nakhane’s eclectic show has audience hypnotised

Nakhane steps onto the dimly lit stage and into the savoy blue stage lights, their profile unbeknownst to the audience. Eventually, they are positioned in front of the microphone, with a tone-wood electric guitar strapped across their shoulders – the massive crowd erupts on their feet with loud cheers.

The opening act for Nakhane’s coveted one-night only performance at the Lyric Theatre at Gold Reef City Casino in Johannesburg happens to be Tell Me Your Politik. The eclectic up-tempo number has the audience hypnotised and chanting in lyrical tongues.

Hailing from the small Eastern Cape town of Alice, the 35-year-old internationally acclaimed singer-songwriter, actor and novelist resides in London. Nakhane has returned to Mzansi for a special project that will see them make their directorial short film debut. They also wrote the screenplay in 2021.  

“I wrote the screenplay for the film two years ago, so I’ve had time to prepare for me to do this [directing the film]. I often questioned myself on whether I was going to be a good director or not. As soon as I got over that hurdle, I realised how much I enjoyed it,” Nakhane says.

“When you are an actor, you arrive on set at 4am, do your makeup and get dressed and they call you in to do your rehearsal at 8am. There is a lot of hurry up and wait in acting. Whereas as a director you oversee everything – you are never bored and you are always occupied.” 

Before moving abroad, Nakhane made their acting mark in the critically acclaimed, yet commercially controversial, queer film Inxeba: The Wound in 2017.

The short film is titled B(l)ind Sacrifice starring veteran actors Nandi Nyembe and Treasure Tshabalala. Sihle Mnqwazana also has a role.

“The ‘l’ is in parenthesis, so it’s either ‘blind’ or ‘bind’ depending on how you read. It’s about a father who says that he hears God and convinces his family and his employees to leave the city and move to live in the wild because God has told him to do that. That is all I’m going to reveal,” Nakhane says.

A few days after wrapping up filming in the Western Cape’s Prince Albert, Nakhane stages their comeback performance at the Lyric Theatre attended by big names including Kagiso Lediga, Zoe Modiga, Lebo Mashile, Beverley Ditsie, Rosie Motene and Thebe Magugu.

Their performance can only be described as transcendental. Audience members’ hands would jerk up into the air in praise and appreciation. Those who were prompted to rise to their feet were either jumping around or would gently close their eyes while mouthing the lyrics.

For a more interactive experience, guests were welcomed to move out of their narrow seat rows to stand in the main aisles facing the stage. One audience member in the aisles, who was either unaware or unbothered, gave the impression that the music set her into a trance with her sporadic body movements and uncontrolled desire to get up on stage.  

In our telephone conversation, two days before their show, they mentioned how they structured the performance in the shape of a “V”, starting things off on a very high tempo with electric guitar and drums as the co-stars of the segment. Then when the performance reached the bottom of the shape, the tempo would ease up and this would be the slower, balladry segment.

True to this, the show notes went as planned; blending synchronised instrumentals with their vocals and remixed rhythmic melodies of crowd favourites. This also allowed for air pockets of intimate conversations between the audience and Nakhane, sharing random thoughts and opinions. 

I was looking forward to hearing live If You Were To Complain, which was accompanied by the visual illustration of a starry sky by artist Lady Skollie. It made my night. 

“The past few times that I’ve come [to SA] has been at festivals and outdoor spaces, so I couldn’t be intimate. I’ve missed being able to talk to people and share [with the audience] in this thing I call a ritual, which is my performance,” Nakhane says.

Their latest album Bastard Jargon is an exploration of rhythm and up-tempo pop music, well, at least their interpretation of popular music.  

“Before a language is standardised, it’s called a creole, and before that pidgin, and before that it’s called ‘bastard jargon’. It represents a beginning or a newness. This album is governed by rhythm,” Nakhane says.

“I’ve always had the feeling that I wouldn’t be the biggest pop star in any country, particularly in SA. Not that they [SA] don’t appreciate experimental music; I was always going to be changing and evolving, and for you to be the big pop star you must keep doing the same thing repeatedly.”

*Nakhane uses the pronouns they/them