(Pic: Jethro McNamee and Tiffany Harold)Shirdika Pillai is to be congratulated on her first drama-dance production. (Review by Caroline Smart)
It’s always exciting to see a new director moving onto the local theatre scene, particularly in Durban where the performing arts battle to attract a strong enough following to make the industry sustainable here.
So, all kudos to Shirdika Pillai for presenting – both as a writer and a director - her first offering titled Hum Tum (meaning “You and I” in Hindi) which opened at The Zone at Suncoast Casino last night. Having completed her Honours degree in Drama and Performance Studies, Shirdika is currently reading for her Masters degree in Culture and, among other issues, Hum Tum looks at love across a religious divide – in this case Hindu and Muslim.
The drama, which incorporates dance links from Zama Mtshali and Shaneel Sookdeo, is set to well-known Bollywood hits and is placed in a university drama department. At the start of a new semester, drama lecturer Aanchal (Dhiya Bahadur) is directing a play and has just identified her cast which is made up of a contrasting group of students - some egotistic or free-spirited, others emotional and insecure.
There’s Tahir (Jethro McNamee) who considers himself irresistible to the ladies and his loyal friend Zaakir (Warrick Frank). The love bug hits Tahir for real when he is paired with the feisty Dhiya (Tiffany Harold) in the play, much to the amusement of her friends Ashley (Nhlakanipho Mangele) who is gay and the bubbly chatterbox Sapna (Tasha Govender).
While things are volatile enough at work for Aanchal, things are just as complicated on the home front. Her relationship with her lover Yasteel (Byron T) is in tatters and her mother Smita (Yegeshnie Chetty) and grandmother Daadi (Krisandri Padayachee) aren’t helping!
All kudos, too, to producer Shivani Kara of Eastern Moves Productions and Suncoast itself for having faith in a drama production and hosting it in this expansive venue. With four settings – Aanchal’s sitting room, the rehearsal room and Ashley’s room as well as outdoor campus scenes – the stage set-up works well with curtained areas on the side highlighting these locations and helping to break up this wide stage. The screens also provide good surfaces for the attractive lighting design.
Generally, the speech delivery was too rapid for the size of this venue and there were some uncomfortably shrill sections but this can easily be corrected. Shirdika Pillai has pulled credible and sincere performances from her well-focused cast as well as characters that are well-sustained. The script is humorous as well as sensitive and would work well in a more intimate venue. Notable performances came from Dhiya Bahadur, Tiffany Harold and Jethro McNamee with Nhlakanipho Mangele stealing the show in many instances.
Hum Tum has matinee and evening performances over this weekend (February 26 to 28). Tickets R100 via the Suncoast Box Office and Computicket on 083 915 8000. Tickets are not for sale to persons under the age of thirteen. – Caroline Smart
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