Ricardo P. Silva, playwright

Que Ainda Alguém Nos Invente [That Someone Might Yet Invent Us] is a text inspired by the life of Queen Njinga Mbandi, queen of the Kingdom of Ndongo and Matamba. It results from an intense process of filtering narratives left behind by people conditioned by their own political agenda, religious ends or mere commercial affairs over three centuries ago. The play puts forward a few clues, presentiments and signs of what could have happened. It is well known today - as it also was at the time – that by deliberately distorting narratives to influence how different ways of life are understood, it becomes impossible to separate with any certainty what is fact, myth or manipulation of facts. Academic discussion has so far been based on documents produced by the Capuchin priest, Cavazzi de Montecúccolo, and by the Portuguese historian and soldier, António de Oliveira de Cadornega, who were contemporaries of Njinga Mbandi, as well as more recent studies by historians such as John Thornton and Joseph C. Miller, together with a great many research articles by contemporary authors. It has become clear that there is no consensus about many of the renowned events that were recorded and have solidified with time as facts. However, something still reaches out and remains independent beyond all fantasy, apology and censorship. In this case, it’s Njinga Mbandi’s extraordinarily strong, skilful and impulsive nature. And because of this, the play evolves in a constant game of insinuation and speculation, conflict and trust, between four characters all of whom are both alive and dead: Njinga and Ngola Kiluanji, her father, and Ngola Mbandi, her brother, who are both of Mbundu origin, and Kaza, her husband and ally, of Imbangala origin. Njinga is a warrior herself and clairvoyant, a despot and heroine, defender of her own people and a slave trader, learned and vain, cruel, proud and unpredictable. Njinga was terrifying – pursued as well as the pursuer of others, she resisted and never surrendered.