World Premiere in Munich: 12th May 2026
Wiesbaden Premiere: 22nd May 2026
“Isithunzi” means ‘dignity‘ in Zulu – but can also be translated as ‘spirit of death and renewal’. The idea: within each of us lies a connection to our ancestors and to a universal energy that gives rise to all life. Based on a text by Afrofuturist author Shanice Ndlovu, composer Monthati Masebe tells the story of three protagonists searching for connections in the past and their own identities. For her first music theatre piece, she invites audiences to a cultural encounter, combining Western instruments with South African playing techniques, and takes to the stage herself as a performer of electronic soundscapes.
Composition, concept, electronics, performance: MONTHATI MASEBE
Text: SHANICE NDLOVU
Musical Direction: TIM HAWKINS
Director, Costumes and Video: THERESA MARIA SCHLICHTHERLE
Stage Design : MARIELLA MAIER
Costume Collaboration:MARGARITA BOCK
Light: MARINA RACHNER
Choreograph & Dance: TUMI SHARON MKHONDO
Soundengineering: DOMINIK PABLO VOCK
Dramaturgy: KATJA LECLERC
Dramaturgical Advisor/Outside Eye: JULIEN ENZANZA
Thuna: CARLA NAHADI BABELEGOTO
Ndalo: CARMEN MIČIĆ
Tenor: MICHAEL B. SATTLER
Michael Bonganjalo Sattler and Carla Nahadi Babelegoto, Foto: Laura Nickel
Selected Press
Allgemeine
Zeitung
„Eine Art afrikanisch-westliches Gesamtkunstwerk […] Eine intensive Mischung.”
“A kind of African-Western Gesamtkunstwerk […] An intense mixture.”
Merkur
„Ein musikalisches Schattentheater zwischen Traumwelt und Zukunftsvision […] ein afrofuturistischer Bild- und Gedankenraum, der um Salz und Erinnerung kreist – eine Wirklichkeit jenseits eurozentrischer Rationalität.”
“A musical shadow theatre between dreamworld and future vision […] an Afrofuturist space of images and ideas, circling around salt and memory – a reality beyond Eurocentric rationality.”
★★★★☆ Sehenswert / Worth seeing
„Das Bild des Salzes als dreckig und weiß, als zerstörend und steril, wirkt nach.”
“The image of salt as dirty and white, as destructive and sterile, stays with you.”
„Der kleine Raum im Einstein Kultur ist brechend voll, alle Plätze sind besetzt […] Je tiefer man eintaucht, desto mehr möchte man erfahren.”
“The small space at Einstein Kultur is packed, every seat taken […] The deeper you go, the more you want to know.”
Carla Nahadi Babelegoto, Carmen Mičić, Tumi Sharon Khondo, Monthati Masebe, Foto: Mariella Maier
Theresa Maria Schlichtherle 