Critical analysis of the play ‘The Hungry Earth ‘

         Maishe Maponya is a South African playwright. He was also a victim of the apartheid system that existed in South Africa during the colonial rule. These experiences drew him in to the path of political theatre; he later became the part of Black Consciousness Movement. The Hungry Earth (1978) is one of the important plays of Maponya dealing with the miserable plight of rural as well as migrant labourers working in mines. Maponya clearly traces the living and working condition of the Black people in this play.

                        Maponya concentrated on plays where he presented the cruelties of  colonial rule and thus to make the people aware about their condition and to rise against colonial powers. The play makes use of the traditional gumboot dancing as a mode of protest. The labouring people were not allowed to talk to each other, so they found out a solution for their problem, that resulted in introducing gumboot dance as a means of communication between the workers. Later it was exhibited for tourists.

There are six scenes in the play. Each scene is depicting various harassments faced by the mineworkers in various places. The play also reflects social, economic and cultural effects of south African migrant labour system. The first scene is set in the hostel room where four workers share experiences such as humiliation from the hands of the whites. Scene two, the sugar plantation depicts the condition of labour on a plantation where wages are low, working condition are poor and children are made to do manual labour to earn poverty wages.

Scene three ,the train, presents the picture of rural men travelling to Egoli, on their way they were ill treated by the white people. Johannesburg represents wealth and opportunity. On the train,

however, a brutal ticket inspector arrests the men for smoking 'dagga1, a scene of police brutality follows, and the scene ends with these words directed at the audience.

"Most of us were requested to produce passes and permits.

Those who failed to produce them spent two weeks in jail

And were deported to their respective homes on their release.

This is the inhuman and unjust procedure to endorse the

Unjust laws that make another a stranger in the land of his

Birth and rob him of his freedom to move wherever he wants.

Is freedom not the law of nature? Then what? "

 Scene four is set in the mine. Here the working conditions of miners are depicted: the danger, the dissatisfaction with living conditions, the relationship between makhulubaas, naduna and workers. The final scene, the mining compound, presents a picture of the living conditions, the loneliness, the poverty. The scene ends with the story of the death of a young husband on the mines and the lamentation by his wife. Above all, there is a social consciousness which attempts to make audiences aware of the disorders and malfunctions in its social institutions.

While coming to Indian context we can find similar plays dealing with the exploitation of poor people. And through these plays they protest against the authorities to attain their rights.