| Ipi Tombi | |
|---|---|
| Music | Bertha Egnos |
| Lyrics | Gail Lakier |
| Book | Bertha Egnos |
| Productions | 1974 Johannesburg 1977 Broadway |
Ipi Tombi (also produced as Ipi N'tombi, both corrupted transliterations of the Zulu iphi intombi, or "where is the girl?") is a 1974 musical by South African writers Bertha Egnos Godfrey and her daughter Gail Lakier, telling the story of a young black man leaving his village and young wife to work in the mines of Johannesburg. The show, originally called The Warrior, uses pastiches of a variety of South African indigenous musical styles.
The show, which starred Margaret Singana, enjoyed major success in South Africa and Nigeria, and toured Europe, the United States and Canada to critical acclaim. It played in the West End at Her Majesty's Theatre and on Broadway at the Harkness Theatre.[1]