Old Soul Waiting - performance

Slindile Mthembu’s Old Soul Waiting (2021 & 2023) is an experimental, multi- disciplinary production that converges film, theatre, music and visual art. It explores how an ancestral calling can be misdiagnosed as a mental illness. With its non-linear storytelling, infused with music and interpretive physical language, the piece attempts to show what a spiritual awakening might look like from Western and spiritual perspectives. The audience is introduced to this through the memory of the protagonist.

This performance aims to highlight the interconnectedness of all beings and emphasize the importance of community and cooperation-a collective responsibility we all share in shaping a sustainable future. 

“Part of Old Soul Waiting is an exercise in extending the theatre stage into an immersive exhibition. Through moving images and artworks we explore the inner world, its layers, and complexity as the protagonist is the bearer of multiple universes that collide and expand, implode, and recreate. Forces that are powerful, yet seem to slip through the porous mesh of our understanding.”-Nisha Merit

Performed by: Slindile Mthembu and  Sami Maseko with music by Thembinkosi Mavimbela

Artworks by:  Mvelo Mahlangu,  Hymie Sokupha and Andile Bhala