Theater-Making in the Oceanic South: Empatheatre's <i>Lalela uLwandle</i>, Storytelling, and Protest in South Africa's Indian Ocean Littoral

Abstract This article discusses the use of sensorial storytelling about the deep ocean as a political act for environmental awareness and justice. On September 1, 2022, the High Court of South Africa (Eastern Cape Division, Makhanda) delivered a ruling in favor of local communities’ protests against the oil and gas company Shell being granted exploration rights to conduct deep ocean seismic surveys off the Wild Coast in the Eastern Cape area. Significantly, as part of the court proceedings, a radio play, Lalela uLwandle (Listen to the Sea in isiZulu), along with other creative outputs, was used to surface and support the communities’ rights to ocean governance. This article considers Lalela uLwandle to take up some of the representational concerns and narrative strategies found in literature from the oceanic South. It discusses the play's use of sound and soundscapes to create an immersive, sensory experience for the listener, akin to what Elizabeth DeLoughrey calls “the depth imagination.” Using DeLoughrey's conceptual lens, it analyses the representational strategies of Lalela uLwandle, highlighting their ability to challenge hegemonic, utilitarian, capitalist-driven knowledge and perspectives on the deep ocean.