BREED

(Pic: Thami Baba and Nox Danyeli play daughter and mother in one of the show’s most memorable moments).

Fine performances all round in thought-provoking piece. (Review by Caroline Smart)

Presented by the multi award-winning Ubom! Eastern Cape Drama Company, Breed deservedly won an Ovation Award at the 2010 National Arts Festival. These awards recognise and celebrate innovation and excellence on the Fringe programme of the NAF by putting the spotlight on cutting edge work that is strong, diverse and original.

I missed this one in Grahamstown but was delighted to catch it at the Witness Hilton Arts Festival last week. Described as a story of deceit and dark disappointments, it is set in the rural Eastern Cape. Field glasses ever at the ready, an embittered farmer (Andrew Buckland) is keeping a watchful eye on the veld where squatters are moving into a disused building on his property.

Conversely, we see the delight on the faces of a mother (Nox Danyeli) and daughter (Thami Baba) as they find a place to live where there is something to sleep on and – luxury of all luxuries - a table. Pretty soon they are joined by a glamorously dressed woman (Tshego Khutsoane) and a man who appears to be suffering from any number of aches and pains (Sisonke Yafele). Suddenly their new home houses five.

Back at the farmhouse, a delivery man (Dean Van Der Vental) battles to deliver a parcel but is continually thwarted by a vicious pit bull terrier called Vleis (voiced by Buckland, I hazard to guess!), despite numerous and innovative attempts to achieve his task. The dog is then moved to the veld to guard the borehole and a particularly beautiful scene happens when Thami Baba sings Bach to (the invisible) Vleis and he responds with pants and howls.

Then there’s Pearl (Ilana Cilliers), the farmer’s talented violinist daughter who decides to come home from working in Europe to give free violin lessons to any young person in the township who shows an interest.

Skilfully directed by Janet Buckland and written by Brink Scholtz in collaboration with the cast, this is a beautiful piece of theatre with fine performances all round. There are dark moments as the farmer comes to realise how his actions have wreaked consequences that have made his position even more untenable than before. A good soundtrack and music backing adds to the quality of the production. – Caroline Smart