Images by Word N Sound

Fellow Livemagger Polly Sekwala and I celebrated last week’s Woman’s Day with a couple of friends and a dose of spoken word.

We headed to the Soweto Theatre for the Word N Sound Experience.  As we approached the theatre, we noticed that the waiting area was almost full. Sowetans had come out in numbers, filling up the venue’s biggest theatre.

The Open Mic segment featuring amateur poets and singers was a little tough to start with. Nerves started to kick in as I had invited a few poetry virgins (people who have never attended poetry sessions before) and I was afraid that they would go home with a negative idea of what these experiences are like. Aspiring poets should invest time in their craft….unrehearsed performances are not cool. There were some promising candidates like Angela Nima who opened her performance with a love poem called Tights of Love.

Shortly after we had the Word N Sound 2012 Queen of the Mic Mandisa Vundla  (aka Mandi) open the official line-up with captivating poetry. Her poems spoke more to Africans who have forgotten the hardships that their forefathers had endured during apartheid. Many stories have been told on apartheid, so her take was refreshing and the way she played with words was intriguing. She had everyone glued to their seats and begging for more.

Cornelius Jones, Mutle Mothibe and other Word N Sound regulars followed and didn’t disappoint. Myesha Jenkins then came in with her very mellow poetry that soothed everyone’s heart.

Planet Lindela  jazzed us up with their set and Vuyelwa Maluleke was just the perfect act to close with.

Word N Sound host their monthly event at the Bus Factory in Newtown, Johannesburg.