“What a beautiful show indeed!” (Review by Caroline Smart“What a beautiful show” was the comment I heard as the audience moved out of the Playhouse Drama last night after seeing the internationally celebrated musical, African Mamas.
I couldn’t have agreed more. It was a glorious evening of beautiful performances, top-class direction, vibrant music with good sound quality and excellent lighting and set design – all in celebration of the strengths and challenges of African womanhood. A perfect choice to open The Playhouse Company’s 14th South African Women’s Arts Festival.
Another memorable aspect of the evening was the guest appearance in the show - on this one night only - of three legendary South African jazz megastars, Abigail Kubeka, Thandi Klaasen and Dorothy Masuka who performed in memory of their friend and colleague, the late Busi Mhlongo. What a thrill for the cast and musicians to share the same stage with them.
The theatre complex was buzzing with three productions opening on the same night, all getting the festival off to a strong start.
International Netherlands-based producer Peter Ultee took his first African show to theatres in the Netherlands in 1988 and since then has created productions in Africa every year, using talented young people from South Africa, Senegal and Guinea. During his travels, he saw what African women meant in terms of survival, opportunities, talent and sheer determination.
This prompted him to produce a “new and different show” and, as he states in his programme notes, he found the ideal director in Leoni Jansen. Based in Haarlem in the Netherlands and knighted by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands for her work with women’s groups, she shared his dream. From the original auditions five years ago, she developed his “vague premise” into a production that went on to play to packed houses in Europe. A year after the tour, Jansen and Ultee have now reassembled the cast on home soil for the first time to stage it in South Africa prior to touring the African continent. I heartily endorse Ultee’s own description of African Mamas: “It is not a glossed over and glibly produced showcase of tribes at war and township larks, but an often emotional, personal production, and always bursting with vitality.”
Essentially a vehicle to showcase some of the best contemporary music South Africa has produced, African Mamas is designed by Andrew Botha and Stan Knight, well-known in Durban for their collaborations in musicals directed by the late Geoffrey Sutherland.
The simple but effective storyline focuses on a young girl who is fortunate enough to have a group of strong women guiding her on her road to adulthood - Afro Fairy Godmothers, as it were.
Dressed in the highly attractive African haute couture styles of today, each performer shines with her individual skills, making them a compelling team to watch. Among them are KZN’s Nomasonto Khumalo, a fine actress and singer who appeared in several Mbongeni Ngema productions, and Lucia Gumede whose torchy tones resemble Eartha Kitt. Alongside them are Vicky Vilakazi, Londiwe Mthembu, Thembisile Portia, Aveline Twala, Nompumelelo Nhlapho, Edith Mudau and Mercy Meruti. Slindile Ntini, an audience favourite, is the vocal coach and responsible for the group’s accurate harmonies. Amo Chidi is pure enchantment as the young girl – delightful and outspoken, without being precocious.
There’s one more guiding spirit in the form of Mpumi Nhlapo who is the percussionist in the all-male band. The combo provides tight first-rate backing with clever arrangements ranging from isicathamiya to pop.
Gentlemen, please be assured that this is not a male-bashing exercise – in fact, the men seated around me were as enthusiastic in their response as the females. My advice is to catch it early before the word spreads and houses fill up.
African Mamas runs in the Playhouse Drama Theatre until August 8 with performances on July 31 and from August 4 to 7 at 19h30. Sunday performances take place on August 1 at 14h40 and August 8 at 14h30. Schools performances on August 3 and 5 at 11h30. Tickets R80 and R95 (R35 scholars) booked through Computicket on 083 915 8000 or Playhouse Box Office on 031 369 9540 (office hours). – Caroline Smart
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