CUT AND DYE

Hardworking Essop Khan, Mahomed Alli and Savy Ramsamy entertain the crowds. (Review by Caroline Smart)

First off, I’d like to pay my own personal tribute to Essop Khan and Mahomed Alli who have been producing comedy theatre for over 45 years - latterly, through their EKMA Productions which was formed in 1986.

Pooling their energies and taking their talents to many who do not have access to mainstream theatre venues, they’ve become entrenched household names within the Indian community and beyond. Creating a hugely popular comic duo with the added help of the bouncy and feisty Savi Ramsamy, they continue to produce about three shows a year which they take around South Africa, performing in a variety of venues with varying – sometimes non-existent – theatre technology in terms of proper lighting and sound facilities. Their shows are highly popular for community fund-raising purposes.

EKMA Productions is always to be commended for its commitment to furthering young talent and this latest show, Cut and Dye currently running at Suncoast’s Supernova over this weekend, includes Katinga Busarello and Teakshania Chetty (who appeared with EKMA Productions in 2008) and Jonathan Tifflin, who makes his EKMA debut this year.

The setting is a hairdressing salon run by Sandra (Savy Ramsamy). It is situated in a shopping mall which is run by the volatile Haroon (Essop Khan) who also has designs on Sandra, not having been entirely truthful with her about his marital status. Another tenant of the same mall is the lugubrious Pooven (Mahomed Alli), a fledgling politician who has designs on going to Parliament. The threesome forms the backbone of the production and whenever they are on stage, the audience response accelerates into overdrive!

Working in the salon is the endearing and vulnerable Lallita (Teakshania Chetty). Her elegant city-wise friend Anna (Katinga Busarello) decides to pay a visit as does the exuberant Tony (Jonathan Tifflin).

The action from here on deals with numerous exchanges of stories, banter, discussions – all developing into a rehearsal for Tony’s performance in a forthcoming show. Tony and Lallita start to have feelings for each other, Sandra tries to fend off Haroon’s advances, Anna offers sympathetic support to her friend and Pooven keeps telling everyone what he’ll do once he’s in Parliament. In the end, Sandra and Pooven – who have an ongoing battle to pay their rent - get their one-upmanship on Haroon by threatening to reveal his closely-guarded secret!

From a structure point of view, the script could do with some pruning in terms of the 2½ hour running time as well as re-designing by condensing the first half hour or so and changing scenes around to allow a more inter-active flow. However, these quibbles were obviously not shared by the near–capacity audience so I guess the old adage of “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” applies here. What does apply and can be “fixed, however, is a sound problem where the levels are way too strident, making the female voices very shrill.

There is an extremely funny sequence where the cast “rehearse” for Tony’s show and present an Indian send-up of Cinderella. I believe that EKMA should explore the medium of pantomime as this section – appearing fairly late into the running of the play – injected a strong sense of energy and enjoyment into the audience.

Cut and Dye runs at Suncoast Casino’s Supernova until June 21 with performances on Saturday at 20h15 and Sunday at 18h00. It can then be seen in various venues as it moves around the country. To book or for further information, contact 031 328 3349 or 086 124 6362. Organisations wishing to book Cut and Dye for fundraising purposes should contact Mahomed Alli on 083 982 2362. – Caroline Smart