NAF: THE BUTCHER BROTHERS

Another great Festival highlight for me. (Review by Caroline Smart)

The incomparable Sylvaine Strike does it again. Taking a concept by Daniel Buckland, who is also the assistant director, she has created a dark piece (think Sweeney Todd!) in which not a single intelligible word is spoken. Lots of sounds but no words.

Presented by Dark Laugh Theatre on the Fringe of the National Arts Festival, The Butcher Brothers is set in a butcher’s shop – pieces of meat are displayed in a fridge, there is a simple table and chair and a metal structure indicates the entrance and a window. A copper mincer and a colander emit a warm glow in the otherwise plain surroundings.

The production features Mongi Mthombeni and Jacques da Silva - although their identity, and who’s playing who, is only revealed at the curtain call when they remove their masks.

These masks are more “heads” than masks – the one belonging to the ballroom dancer (Mthombeni) is melancholic. He desperately grieves the loss of his parents, who owned the butcher’s shop which is now his responsibility. He venerates his parents’ photograph and refuses to eat despite his assistant’s ministrations.

A gentler mask is worn by da Silva as the much-put upon assistant who takes care of his boss. Da Silva also takes on the role of a gung-ho policeman and here the mask has a jaunty smile and tousled hair. Another character he portrays has an evil countenance with streaks of hair covering his bald head.

In an interview with Cue reporter Daniella Potter, Sylvaine Strike explains that masks are now being used extensively in South African productions. “In my opinion, the motive to use masks is because people are looking for something new. The mask cuts to the chase in a way that doesn’t need words, it gives a sense of immediacy.”

With eloquent body movement, dialogue is indeed unnecessary between the characters in The Butcher Brothers. There is delightful percussive fun as the two men sharpen their knives and choppers to go about their daily preparation of the meat. There is also an excellent soundrack heard to good effect when there’s a major storm. This causes the accident outside the shop which is to change their lives as they rescue a baby from the car crash. To complicate matters, there’s also a dangerous criminal at large.

As the story moves towards its gory end (which is not seen but imagined off-stage), the dancer is rejuvenated and there is much pathos, humour, tenderness. The nappy changing scene is hilarious! All kudos to Mongi Mthombeni and Jacques da Silva for their performances. Definitely not to be missed! – Caroline Smart