Jordy Pordy Makes it Big in Africa

By Jordan Herskowitz

Most actors wait many years to finally make it big. They are waiting for that lead role on Broadway or that starring role opposite Tom Hanks. I knew I made it big when I performed in a small church situated on a plot of land that used to be a trash dump. Seriously!

Let me explain: I just spent the past five months studying abroad in Cape Town, South Africa. In addition to my studies at The University of Cape Town, I ran an after-school drama program for middle school boys in Kensington, a coloured township. Townships were the areas the apartheid government deemed for blacks and coloureds (anyone of mixed black and white descent) outside of the city. Now, fourteen years after apartheid, Kensington has 75,000 inhabitants and is a hotbed of all socioeconomic levels. One area looks like any other suburban town in America with white picket fences, gardens, and four to five bedrooms in the home (this area is where the white people used to live); another area is much more disadvantaged, with five to ten people sharing a small, dingy, 1-2 bedroom poorly structured "house"; and on the far end of the spectrum are the "squatters", people with no real home, "squatting" in their space on open land. These people are the worse off. Because of their poor living conditions, sanitation is horrible. I was told that last winter a small girl froze to death because she had no warm clothes and no heat in her tent. Another girl went to use the outhouse and ran to the police station with rat bites all over her arms. The Kensington Township is one of the many unique components of South Africa.

My work in the townships like Kensington gave me the opportunity to perform my autobiographical one-man play, Jordy Pordy: Taking the Bull by the Horns, to township audiences. My first performance venue took place in (yes, you guessed it!) a small church situated on a plot of land that used to be a trash dump. Many township community centers find themselves using whatever space can be available to them. The play's major themes deal with family, identity, and Judaism. I was very nervous about the response I would get for my show. After all, I was some twenty something white guy talking about growing up as a Jew in Texas. Why would anyone in South Africa care about my story? Were they even educated about Judaism? Would they take anything away from my performance?

I was very surprised with the response I received. Most South Africans claim to practice some sort of Christianity and have a very close relationship with God. I was so taken by the interest following each performance about my own journey as a Jew and what similarities and differences I have with them—even if I live on the other side of the world. Being a Jewish actor and performing for Jewish audiences, I often catch myself in this "Jewish bubble". Rarely do I get the opportunity to step outside of it and really experience what others are doing and practicing, as well as sharing personal narratives with each other. Performing in South African townships gave me this eye-opening experience. So, even if I'm a twenty something white guy talking about growing up as a Jew in Texas, I have an important and meaningful story to share with the rest of the world. Even if it means performing in a small church situated on a plot of land that used to be a trash dump, I still think I've made it.

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