Season 2
Shreds and Dreams 2 is adapted from the play Shreds and Dreams by Bongi Ndaba, which had a successful run at the Market Theatre.
After a highly-rated first season, we pick up the characters approximately seven years later. Everyone is still trying to escape their "ghosts" but in the second season their circumstances force them to deal with the issues that plague them.
Since our past is deeply embedded in each of us it can "haunt" us if we do not deal with it. This season, therefore, the protagonists are all on redemptive, heroic journeys.
The great premise of the series then is: What if four strong women are each confronted with their own demons? Would they be able to conquer the injustices of their past and their present obstacles?
In her past Lefika (Linda Sokhulu) experienced a deep sense of powerlessness. Her natural reaction to that was to exercise minute control over every aspect of her life including her intimate relationships.
At the end of Season 1, Lefika felt empowered because she discovered she was not infertile and she achieved her goal of attaining her LLB. When we pick up with her in Season 2, she continues to struggle with her fear of losing control. She believes that if you have no control over your life, others will automatically use you.
Her inability to communicate her feelings coupled with her fear of confrontation makes her alienate Mthunzi (Anelisa Phewa) instead of opening up to him and finding a compromise that would meet both their needs.
Last season Yoliswa (Lerato Mvelase) was in a very vulnerable and fragile state. She was fundamentally betrayed by the man she thought she loved when he served her on a silver platter to her rapist. She consequently shut down her sexuality, believing that it would safeguard her and that time would heal her hurt instead of proactively working through the aftermath of her traumatic ordeal.
When we pick up with her in the second season, the sudden death of her mother brings to the surface all her supressed insecurities and underlying, unresolved torment. Yoliswa now finds short-lived comfort in the arms of a new lover. In her professional life, Yoliswa cousels a very challenging runaway called Sosha (Vuyelwa Maluleke).
In Season 1, Nonto (Gugu Masondo) ran away from her home in her village because she was trying to escape her uncle Langa (Kid Sithole), who molested and impregnated her when she was a young girl.
When we pick up with her in the second season, Nonto is still making a meagre living as a cleaner in Lefika's law firm. Financial pressures mount as she has to pay for Nkanyiso's (Bhekisizwe Mahlawe) studies at university.
She is at her wits end until she finally meets her idol – Sis Pinkie (Busiswa Mambi). She offers Nonto an opportunity to make easy money fast. This sets Nonto on a dangerous and deadly path.
The second season introduce a new character: Annette Phillips (Zukisa Matola) comes from a place of true strength and is in the most positive space at the start of the season. She is confident and she has a positive world view despite the traumatic cases she often deals with as a psychologist and trauma counsellor.
Annette takes care of her 16-year-old sister, Chloe (Matshepo Sikaopi) and her unengaged, hypochondriac mother Paula (Tina Jaxa). She is a character who deals well with the world until her sister goes missing. The chase is on to find Chloe before she is lost forever.
In the second season of Shreds and Dreams the characters go on a journey that challenges all of their false perceptions of power, control, love and courage. Through facing rather than escaping their issues, they learn what they are truly made of and start to transcend the negative cycles of their past.
The ensemble cast includes Linda Sokhulu as Lefika, Gugu Masondo as Nonto, Lerato Mvelase as Yoliswa, Anelisa Phewa as Mthunzi, Wayne van Rooyen as Duane, Vuyelwa Maluleke as Sosha, Bhekisizwe Mahlawe as Nkanyiso, Zukisa Matola as Annette and Matshepo Siekaopi as Chloe.
Written and directed by an all-female ensemble, Shreds and Dreams is produced by Roberta Durrant for Paw Paw Films. Based on the stage play Shreds and Dreams by Bongi Ndaba, the head writers are Bongi Ndaba and Roberta Durrant, with storyliners Rosalind Butler, Kaye Ann Williams, Justine Loots and Anneke Villet. The Shreds and Dream theme song is by Murray Anderson.