Producer Mpho Lengane pushes boundaries with 'Shebeen Queens'
After working on productions like “The Bala Family” and “How To Manifest A Man”, Barkers Media’s Mpho Lengane was once again determined to bring South Africans something they have never watched before.
As the producer of “Shebeen Queens”, he believes that he achieved that with the new Showmax Original series.
“We decided to get involved with the project because we love creating content that is a mirror to society,” he explained.
“We enjoy working with personalities who are bold and not afraid to be vulnerable with their truths.
“Furthermore, we enjoy taking our content to places the viewer has never been before.”
“Shebeen Queens” shines a spotlight on the indomitable women behind some of Soweto’s most popular shebeens.
The larger-than-life entrepreneurs from the Johannesburg township’s drinking establishments include Alina Sishange, the owner of Alina’s Place as well as a traditional healer and pastor.
She is joined by Big Mama’s Tavern’s Emily Thabang Leeuw aka Big Mama, who does not shy away from confrontation, and Xoliswa Shwayimba, who is the life of the party.
“‘Shebeen Queens’ unpacks the myths we grew up being told and were made to believe about women who run shebeens,” Lengane previously explained in a statement.
“Never has there been on screen such raw, relatable stories that will speak to the women's spirit of wanting to nurture their family, having to forego their soft feminine nature in order to take on masculine energy so that they can run businesses and households.
“Once in a while they drop their guard so that they can allow the men in their lives to love them the way a woman should be.”
He also told “Independent Media Lifestyle” that when they were conceptualising the show, they were looking “for tales of resilience from women who start up their businesses in a male-dominated industry and are thriving”.
“These are women who are goal-driven, selfless, nurturing and running businesses to take care of their families,” he explained.
“They have held a job in the past and when things fell apart they reluctantly went into the entertainment world.
“To them, this is the only option they have in order to take care of themselves and those around them whom they love and they are not willing to fail.
“In order for their businesses to succeed they have learnt the art of hospitality, how to entertain and nurture their clients and when to use a stern hand when their clients need to be managed.”
The show has been well received by viewers.
“Appearing in the Top 20 Most Watched Shows in the first week of broadcast is no child's play,” Lengane shared.
“We are happy to see a great response from the viewers and we noticed a number of viewers promising to come back for the season and tagging a few of their friends to also hop on to the viewing experience of the show.”
And while Lengane is currently enjoying the fruits of his labour, he admitted that putting the show together wasn't always plain sailing.
“It's always nerve racking creating a new show for viewers,” he said.
“The broadcaster, production team and characters have invested hours on end shooting the show and no matter how much we would like to believe that we left sweat on the floor, at the end of the day, the success of the show is highly dependent on the viewer's uptake.”
As new episodes release weekly, there is still much more of the show to come and Lebang believes that viewers are in for a treat.
“Big Mama is currently attending a court case with a customer who alleges that she was mishandled at her shebeen,” he said.
“We explore the women’s love lives. Alina is single and will not date unless she comes across a man who is more financially stable than her because she does not want to take care of a man.”
“Xoliswa fell in love with Mtshali who owns Rams Inn and their relationship started to bloom when the business was not running so well.
“She has since turned things around and she fears losing the shebeen to Mtshali's first wife, whom he is married to under civil law and in community of property.”
∎ “Shebeen Queens” is streaming on Showmax.