Morwa: The Rising Son By Tefo Paya

Blessed, As part of the Maitisong Festival 2013 Tefo Paya presented his self-written show, "Morwa, The Rising Son". The one-man show is centred around ideas of the masculinity, the modern male identity, rites of passage, and how masculinity interacts with other social and political spheres. The play was intense, humorous, awkward and insightful. For some reason I was always under the impression that boys and men were as certain of themselves as the world was of them. How wrong I was. Paya's play enlightened me to the doubt, uncertainty, expectations and reality of being a man. He manages to bring a very human touch to a hugely intimidating subject matter and I left with a brand new perspective of my male counterparts. I have often thought to myself that men are just as trapped by the impositions of patriarchy as women are, they have to be strong, successful, confident, secure, sexy. This play tried to debunk those myths and show just how tricky being a 'real man' can be. From complex relationships with father figures, childhood obsession with superheroes and their out of this world strength to the awkwardness of puberty and dealing with girls, idolizing 'rap masculinity' and finally confronting the true terror of being a modern man. He brought to light how role models varying from Superman to Snoop Dogg create unrealistic expectations for young men and how each man must navigate his way down his own path until he arrives at the Man he truly wants to be. Many congratulations to Tefo on the success of his play, can't wait to see what he's got up his sleeves next! You're the Man!