Rooftop
SCENE 21: ROOFTOP
Dusk. SILUMKO and VALERIA are hanging washing on the roof of her building. The washing billows gently. SILUMKO is hanging a pair of Valeria's panties. It is an intimate act.
CHORUS: And lo, on the mines / as the wind stirs the dust from the dunes / a cloud of uranium passes silently over the skyline / and drifts towards two people on a rooftop in Hillbrow at dusk.
VALERIA: It's weird when you look out over Joburg from high up.
SILUMKO: Like it's nice to look at for once?
[...]
SILUMKO: It’s called Alice, where I come from. The British people came there to start a mission station.
VALERIA: (in a posh voice) I’ll have a side of religious domination with my piece of the colonial pie, thank you! (beat) My sister says you’re going to win the case. They’re close to settling.
SILUMKO: Ja. I know.
VALERIA: Are you going back to Alice?
SILUMKO: I haven’t made up my mind yet.
VALERIA: Well. I for one will miss you. And I need you to help me with my business, I’m getting so many orders in I can’t keep up.
They hang washing in silence for a while.
VALERIA: You’re different, hey.
SILUMKO: Different from what?
VALERIA: From when I met you. You’re like… calm.
SILUMKO: Ja. I am.
She rips a sheet off the line and drapes him in it.
VALERIA: Now do a fashion show with me or get off my fucking rooftop.
He pauses for a minute, then struts.
VALERIA: And YASSSSS! She's serving queer royalty, she's serving Hillbrow laundry chic, she's serving Sta Soft Realness ! (Silu howls with laughter)
CHORUS: Follow my voice now / follow it as we drift over the Hillbrow skyline / trace, with us, the outlines of these suburbs that were carved out of the veld / named for some Johannes or other / this place, which has weathered many cycles of boom and dust / this Witwatersrand / this Ridge of White Waters / Ponte City / the Telkom Tower / From up here you can see the railway tracks / the few trains moving slowly along them / the roads crisscrossing through the land / the trucks, the cars, the buses / carrying bodies towards and away from home / which will it be, Silumko?
Dusk. SILUMKO and VALERIA are hanging washing on the roof of her building. The washing billows gently. SILUMKO is hanging a pair of Valeria's panties. It is an intimate act.
CHORUS: And lo, on the mines / as the wind stirs the dust from the dunes / a cloud of uranium passes silently over the skyline / and drifts towards two people on a rooftop in Hillbrow at dusk.
VALERIA: It's weird when you look out over Joburg from high up.
SILUMKO: Like it's nice to look at for once?
[...]
SILUMKO: It’s called Alice, where I come from. The British people came there to start a mission station.
VALERIA: (in a posh voice) I’ll have a side of religious domination with my piece of the colonial pie, thank you! (beat) My sister says you’re going to win the case. They’re close to settling.
SILUMKO: Ja. I know.
VALERIA: Are you going back to Alice?
SILUMKO: I haven’t made up my mind yet.
VALERIA: Well. I for one will miss you. And I need you to help me with my business, I’m getting so many orders in I can’t keep up.
They hang washing in silence for a while.
VALERIA: You’re different, hey.
SILUMKO: Different from what?
VALERIA: From when I met you. You’re like… calm.
SILUMKO: Ja. I am.
She rips a sheet off the line and drapes him in it.
VALERIA: Now do a fashion show with me or get off my fucking rooftop.
He pauses for a minute, then struts.
VALERIA: And YASSSSS! She's serving queer royalty, she's serving Hillbrow laundry chic, she's serving Sta Soft Realness ! (Silu howls with laughter)
CHORUS: Follow my voice now / follow it as we drift over the Hillbrow skyline / trace, with us, the outlines of these suburbs that were carved out of the veld / named for some Johannes or other / this place, which has weathered many cycles of boom and dust / this Witwatersrand / this Ridge of White Waters / Ponte City / the Telkom Tower / From up here you can see the railway tracks / the few trains moving slowly along them / the roads crisscrossing through the land / the trucks, the cars, the buses / carrying bodies towards and away from home / which will it be, Silumko?
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e1cc410b7103b5fdedd39d5a52487f032107e905fd2096109efba0720b182ee5/Xerox-Scan_08062021151704__Page_56.jpg)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e2831200bf3efe13b84af4b5c10ca7d20554b6ecf4f03d1b2d180faff8bffdc4/Xerox-Scan_08062021151704__Page_57.jpg)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4254c40b54dca2a0fde8fa767e63070a5568e940d493a4aa589f2928bf89afb3/peg-9.png)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/aa284d67d8f03467d59b78e2e6eb0bc7e00e334a04a912876d5a3fe22cae8bbe/peg-8.png)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/bbf5aea95b6336e49465e48f7e4ab31dd0cfd248413a81e9edec51425bd995a7/peg-4.png)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f9f54795a1b4023b3fd2e97fb579d48beb11d886a1490ff8ee54244f22b67184/peg-2.png)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/76319dc23155769f6d0651644abfad9b05f45649dc5d0be1e0a5b0fbc3fd459b/peg-1.png)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/54f388814ee6fec4849664d5d64df94ce643ebc7e5fa30362bee143991bd6593/peg-5.png)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5f5fe0adf7bd1b57ca3d0312ad547ea239674cbb16f00eabc6bf5a6437dda869/peg-7.png)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ab972676ea31d42a749da66bc7621b24f6987a95a060ce17c655678aae234fd3/peg-10.png)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d72404199593f7b42cf2e3dff8f76bad59b3693e96dd29ea607d808e8f2bde64/peg-6.png)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/022f7ce5a087143f246853502bf8d91e2c7ddf2b6607bbd5f649640ef2e81696/peg-3.png)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1e1f346b2843591cfe96bf12885678aee090ee3f0864cf5ef632f08326ff2026/fabric-2.png)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/25482b910aa3ab0611a2e5e9a7b655bda4caeaf981f75fca12881954e7c548bf/fabric-3.png)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/50b11fe632f97c66c6579f966cc7c17de4f870dd0023bbf47e1430774d8a2a5c/fabric-pink-2.png)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/580440b8197cf28dcdd3f6d4c20ba989cc731fcc5ea46e6baed27758200c888f/fabric-2-1.png)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8b761ae10e1b3b49011f4d4661d9f4d9e3ee908a416a771f16784d67c74b28a2/fabric-1-2.png)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1e1f346b2843591cfe96bf12885678aee090ee3f0864cf5ef632f08326ff2026/fabric-2.png)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/580440b8197cf28dcdd3f6d4c20ba989cc731fcc5ea46e6baed27758200c888f/fabric-2-1.png)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0131be8d1f6b57309eb7c4065dc2b9e2ae502c2e2678831e40cf42e7247c3d6f/stop-all-videos-no-click.png)