The Last Country is an immersive 50-minute theatrical production adapted from the 30 oral histories of migrant women collected as part of the above research and advocacy project. The script sensitively adapts the stories of the women migrants hailing from DRC, Zimbabwe, Somalia and KwaZulu-Natal. The stories are brought to life by top KZN actresses Mpume Mthombeni, Philisiwe Twijnstra, Nompilo Maphumulo and Zinhle Bobi. Through the stories of Ofrah from the DRC, MaThwala from Ndwedwe in KwaZulu-Natal, Aamiina from Somalia, and Aneni from Zimbabwe the audience intimately listens to experiences of leaving home and arriving in Durban, where the women find various strategies in which remake a sense of belonging. The script carefully weaves together experiences of struggle, pain, humour, hope and resilience in ways that explore the complexities, commonalities and differences of migrant women. This intimate theatre experience seats both actresses and audience together in a large circle, where actresses connect intimately with the audience. This format of theatre can be performed both in traditional theatre settings using lighting emphasis on the actresses, as well as in non- traditional community and public venues. Each performance is followed by a facilitated discussion with the audience.

Performances to date have been very successfully received with emotive and empathetic responses from the audience on how the performance has shifted their thinking around migration in the city. After each performance audience members have spoken powerfully about how they now perceive migration into Durban as part of their own South African story, through the linking of MaThwala’s story with that of the other women. To date four performances have run at the DUT Courtyard theatre on the 22nd and 23rd November 2017 to a full audience (with the evening show having to make available extra seating due to high attendance), and two performances on the 25th November 2017 at the Denis Hurley Centre in the centre of the city. These performances received kind support from the Refugee Social Services and the Denis Hurley Centre. During the week of the 19th – 25th February 2018, The Last Country will be performed at three community venues in Umlazi, Isipingo and KwaMashu, as well as in three performances in the city centre funded through the Migration project. Performances hold no cover charge and are aimed at creating a more sensitive and empathetic responses to thinking about migrancy in Durban. ​

Project Background
In 2016 the Cities Alliance funded a project titled Migration and the Inclusive City. This project was a collaborative partnership between two civil society organisations, one established (the Democracy Development Program) and one emerging (ASONET – the African Solidarity Network), and a research unit within a South African public university (the Urban Futures Centre at the Durban University of Technology). The core objectives of the project are to develop a network of partners who can inform a city led response to migrants in Durban, as well as develop a strategic report that focuses on social inclusion, integration and participation for the city of Durban. The research and engagement processes used in the project focus on the experiences of migrant women in Durban, both South African and from other African countries, using oral histories, interviews and dialogue sessions. The project purposefully uses a gendered lens through the collection of oral histories from migrant women in the city. These narratives of arriving and living in Durban are the starting point for reflective conversations and dialogue with a broad range of stakeholders. Migrant women have specific experiences and perspectives that are vital to the creation of responsive and inclusive policy frameworks, at present their voices remain silent in official and community level discussions. Using women’s stories as a foundation ensures that intersecting axis of power and discrimination are addressed within the research, dialogue and educational and awareness activities of the project.

The project uses the research to design a multi-tiered educational and awareness strategy, including radio shows and community theatre, that actively works at shifting problematic and xenophobic sentiment towards migrants and those seen as ‘foreign’. The Last Country theatre production was adapted using the 30 oral histories collected from this project. These oral histories were collected by migrant women fieldworkers, both immigrants and refugees, who underwent methodology training in the collection of oral histories. The oral histories consist of 10 stories from women requesting asylum seekers permits, 10 women who have obtained various kinds of entry visas, and 10 South African women who have come from surrounding rural areas to live one of the “hostels” in the city centre. Further information about the project, as well as the full set of oral histories, is available on the project website at http://durbanmigration.org.za.