Alex arts doyen still a powerhouse at 84
For Alexandra’s doyen of the arts and former United States exile Selaelo Maredi, age is just a number and for as long as the soul allows, he will never rest but will continue with his creative work.
Alex doyen of the creative arts Selaelo Maredi is still soldiering on with his theatrical work despite his advanced age of 84.
Maredi’s latest work, entitled Black Age, centres around the rich African cultural offering and the need to embrace ‘what is ours and develop it’.
The production will be showcased at the Alex Theatre Company and Academy on November 12 as part of the package of the City of Johannesburg’s annual Arts Alive Festival, which was almost scuppered by the constant seesaw change of governance in the city.
A formerly exile who lived in the US and worked as a writer, composer, singer, poet, dancer and a professional choreographer, left the country in 1977 with his cast, not to go into exile but to go and perform their show which visiting Americans had seen at Wits University and loved and wanted it showcased in Los Angeles at the Orange Coast College in the State of California.
Apartheid security police got wind of this and tried to block the trip but the Americans insisted and produced proof of bookings and flight tickets and the crew was allowed to leave the country.
“But when we arrived in Los Angeles, the theatre where we supposed to perform had been blown up and there we were as a cast but without a venue for the show.
“We were already on the radar of security police back home and our American friends advised us not to return home and hence we were all exiled as of that day,” Maredi said.
Maredi said the organisers quickly found us a new venue and the show went ahead but the entire cast never returned home. “I only returned home and back to Alexandra following the release of former President Nelson Mandela,” Maredi added.
“I am not so sure of the direction of the country now but here I am in a free and democratic South Africa. I am indebted to Mpho Molepo who started the arts academy and offered me space to continue with my work of giving young and aspiring actors the tools of the trade,” he said.
Without wanting to give away too much on the show, Maredi, who is highly sought after all over the country for training workshops, called on art lovers to come and watch the show for themselves and then judge it.
