(Pic: Momelezi Ntshiba and Siyabonga Shibe)The Last Kick of a Dying Horse, a gripping three-hander starring Menzi Mzobe, Momelezi Ntshiba and Siyabonga Shibe, rounds off The Playhouse Company’s three-production New Stages Festival in the Drama theatre in October.
Two friends, trapped behind prison bars, contemplate their actions as they face possible life imprisonment – can they justify killing seven people to avenge the death of their friend? Should their actions have been tempered by the fact that the seven dead were refugees? Should they lose faith in the justice system because the killer who sparked off their actions is still at large? Why does society stand by and let individuals threaten the very freedom for which so many sacrificed their lives?
The show opens with Vuyo and Ntshosho in jail on the night after their last court appearance. A flash back takes audiences to the night they lost their innocence. It all started at a party: young people care-free, dancing, flirting, drinking; their heaviest decision being which girls to target. Then their friend Sipho staggers in, bleeding from his stab wounds. As his life drains from him, the last word on his lips is the name of his killer.
In their jail cells, Vuyo and Ntshosho share their feelings of horror, anger and despair as they failed to save their friend’s life; their quest for justice that would bring a measure of peace, although it would never bring their friend back. We see their futile discussions with the law-enforcement officers to try to get the culprit arrested. Their reflections are punctuated by visits from the prison warden which provide some comic relief. The action evolves through a series of flashbacks leading up to the sentencing in the final scene as Vuyo and Ntshosho examine their consciences.
The Last Kick of a Dying Horse has been performed to critical acclaim twice at the National Arts Festival, and its Durban season in the Playhouse Company’s New Stages festival is keenly anticipated.
There are two performances only on October 28 and 30 at 19h30. Tickets R40 booked through Computicket on 083 915 8000 o 031-369 9540 / 031-369 9596.
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