(Pic: Dhaveshan Govender)Consistently focused and highly versatile performance from Dhaveshan Govender in Ashwin Singh’s new one-hander. (Review by Caroline Smart)
Just opened at the Catalina Theatre is Ashwin Singh’s new one-hander, Shooting, a two-act play featuring one of Durban’s most versatile and accomplished actors.
Dhaveshan Govender appeared to critical acclaim as the police sidekick in the successful Catalina whodunnit Shear Madness. I’ve watched his progress as an actor for a long time and we’ve worked more closely together over the past four years in the LotusFM drama programmes. He is one of the few local radio actors who are able to alter their voice convincingly and this play is a perfect vehicle for him, showcasing as it does his dramatic and comedy skills as well as the fact that he’s no slouch with movement!
As with his To House and Spice and Stuff, Ashwin Singh tackles his subjects head-on, using his considerable writing skills to blend important historical and contemporary issues with entertainment. Now moving into a directorial capacity, he has pulled a kaleidoscope of moods and energies from his actor.
Well-placed for the World Cup Soccer focus, Shooting is the story of two cousins – Jehan and Ishaan – and their growing up in Reoca. The boys are both soccer mad but it is Ishaan who shows the capacity to shine. The story is told from Jehan’s point of view as he goes about the forlorn task of tidying up Ishaan’s belongings after his murder - a killing which has yet to be fully explained.
While Jehan sifts through childhood toys, papers, insurance policies and an old photograph, the memories come flooding back. He lets his mind wander down memory lane where we meet the characters of his and Ishaan’s youth. Dhaveshan seamlessly moves from one character to the next with changes in body movement and speech - and very little help from props or costumes, other than a flag or a hat.
Jehan and his mother, the softly-spoken but feisty Mira, live in the outbuilding on the property of Ishaan’s parents: Mira’s sister, the long-suffering Shanti, and her abusive husband (Uncle Tony). As neighbours: there’s the garrulous Auntie Angie on the one side with the volatile Slasher Sewlal on the other. The other characters are too numerous to mention but Dhaveshan gives each one a clear framework, such as old man Deolal, drunken Gonasalan, the flirtatious Chazelle and gangster/drug dealer Michael Maharaj with his camp sidekick. Adding to the list is the upright Sifiso and the energetic condi his aunt ran off with, as well as the shop boys who never talked in full sentences!
Themi Venturas’s expressionist stage and atmospheric lighting design add to the quality of the production.
Produced by Catalina Unlimited*, Shooting has low-price previews on May 29 and 30 at the Catalina Theatre. Thereafter, the play runs until June 13 with performances Thursdays to Saturdays at 20h00 (Sunday at 18h00) with matinees on Saturdays at 17h00 (Sundays at 14h00). There is an under-12 age restriction.
Bookings online at Strictlytickets.com or theatre box office on 031 305 6889. Pensioner and student discounts apply. For more information visit www.catalinatheatre.co.za or call the Box office on 031 305 6889. – Caroline Smart
*Morphing out of Theatrebiz through Rainbow Chicken’s forward business plan for Catalina, Catalina Unlimited is run by a board of directors. While the board runs the theatre venue, it also operates as a production company which identifies potential Catalina productions which can be taken further afield. The Catalina’s “Man of La Mancha”, soon to be seen in Grahamstown on the National Arts Festival’s main programme, is just such an example.
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