Die Stoep, a theatrical debut by Jonathan Sasha, premiered in 2019 and charmed audiences throughout Namibia. The powerful play is rooted in the complex and often overlooked experiences of Namibia’s Coloured and Baster communities.
This playwright’s talents extend beyond the big stage. Jonathan Sasha is a Namibian journalist, human rights activist, comedian, and screenwriter with a deep passion for his heritage and a desire to explore everyday issues.
Die Stoep weaves together themes of alcoholism, generational trauma, faith and identity to create a moving narrative about a family’s struggle to confront and survive its demons. All with a spice of humour. Through characters such as Jantjie, Sara, and Koba, the play shows how inherited pain and unexamined beliefs can shape lives, often trapping individuals in cycles of suffering. It stands as one of the first theatre pieces to focus on this community and explores its identity.
The play centres around Jantjie, an alcoholic man and his sister, Sara, who live together after the unfortunate passing of their mother. An argument within the family sparks a chain of events that creeps beyond their family walls and rocks the community at large. As tensions rise, their bonds are tested, and the characters are forced to confront each other and themselves.
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At its core, Die Stoep explores the impact of alcoholism on families, portraying it not merely as a coping mechanism but as a serious mental health condition. Sasha shares his desire to share the contrasting effects of alcohol within a sibling relationship rather than a romantic one. Through our protagonist’s struggle with depression, we can see how substance abuse creates a destructive cycle that affects both the individual and those around him.
Sasha said he drew inspiration from his personal experiences. Surrounded by problematic drinking habits growing up, Sasha wanted to explore the effects on one’s mental health on personal relationships. After all, experience is the best teacher. He notes that alcoholism is an issue that perpetuates itself across generations. The play calls on its audience to view its characters with a sensitivity that many may not be ready to confront.
In one scene, Sara berates Jantjie, saying, “Dink jy die drank sal op word?/Do you think the alcohol will run out?” This line captures Sara’s exhaustion, as she feels burdened by her brother’s dependency and the toll it takes on their family, as well as her own personal issues. It also reveals a larger problem Sasha addresses in this production: the normalisation of alcoholism in many communities, where excessive drinking is common and rarely questioned.
“We often talk about the problem but not the root cause,” he said. By highlighting the internal and external conflicts created by Jantjie’s addiction, Sasha’s play urged viewers to consider this often-silenced reality, a call to dig beneath the surface
Alongside alcoholism, generational trauma is also a major theme in Die Stoep.
“Trauma is often passed through families,” he explains, noting that “we tend to behave and act and handle situations from how we see our parents or elders handle things.” This idea is evident in how Jantjie’s struggles affect his son Boetitjie.
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Throughout the play, the weight of unaddressed trauma reveals itself in the repeated patterns of addiction and violence within the family, seen through constant fights. Jantjie reflects on his own upbringing and the pain he carries.
“My pa het fokkol in my lewe beteken nie. Maar ek het self n man geword/My father meant nothing in my life. But I became a man on my own”, he said.
Seemingly unaffected by the absence of an adequate male authority figure, he unconsciously mirrors the neglect he experienced as a child by neglecting his own son. By illustrating this cycle, Sasha highlights the need to break destructive patterns to create healthier family dynamics.
While faith serves as a source of strength for some characters, it is also portrayed as a means of judgement and control by others. Sara’s character highlights the deep-seated effects of religious hypocrisy through the play. Her reliance on Christ keeps her grounded amidst Jantjie’s destructive behaviour, while the Duminee (pastor) uses religious doctrine to condemn and shame, rather than uplift. Sasha noted, “Faith is important in Coloured communities, but also the source of a lot of pain.” This invites the audience to question how faith can sometimes be used as a weapon rather than as a path to self-actualisation.
Perhaps one of the most striking aspects of Jonathan Sasha’s Die Stoep is its delicate balance of humour and tragedy, regularly eliciting laughter from the audience. This is an intentional reflection of how we use laughter to cope with pain.
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“As a people, that is how we deal with our pain,” he explains, allowing his characters to confront difficult truths without succumbing to despair.
Koba provides much of the play’s witty one-liners and flamboyant attitude. In one scene, he quips, “Even spaghetti’s straight until it gets wet.” This line speaks to his refusal to conform to societal norms and expectations and his resilience in a world rife with prejudice and hardship.
Die Stoep/The Porch, as the title and the central location of the play, serves as both a literal and symbolic space for communal bonding, storytelling, and observance in this production and is a gathering place for the characters to explore their struggles and the desire for control over their lives.
“The stoep is an integral part of a Coloured household,” Sasha notes. “This is where we kuier [visit], tell stories and observe how people are acting on the street.” The stoep, then, is not just a setting but a character in its own right.
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By setting the play on the stoep, Sasha underscores the importance of community spaces in shaping and reflecting cultural identity.
The narrative is harrowing, and the ending will leave you in pieces. But it is not without hope. By shedding light on these issues, Sasha’s play encourages us to engage in honest conversations and confront our own inherited struggles.
Sasha’s final words, “It is important to be honest with yourself and seek help,” ring true, and make Die Stoep a call for healing in a world where the cycles of trauma can be broken but not without courage.
Jonathan Sasha and Ethan Januarie are both nominated for Die Stoep in the upcoming Namibian Theatre Film Awards (NTFAs), with Sasha up for Best Original Script and Januarie nominated for Best Newcomer Actor.
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