(Donna Steel, Pieter de Beer and Nompumelelo Ngwenya)Anyone opening a new theatre company in Durban with the city’s comparatively small community of theatre-goers needs every ounce of support they can get. Therefore Pieter de Beer needs to be lauded for creating Full House Productions and for getting La Rosa, a full two-act play and its ten-strong cast as well as all the technical logistics, up and running for its inaugural production.
Full House Productions aims to empower students and post graduates new to the very challenging industry of the performing arts. All strength to him for creating an initiative which might help to stop the migration to Johannesburg of so many of our highly talented UKZN and DUT graduates. In Johannesburg, they have better opportunities to work at their theatre craft on a sustainable basis because there is stronger theatre support as well as a film and television industry.
So, I would urge those who like to help Durban theatre survive to head for DUT’s Courtyard Theatre to see La Rosa and support this initiative. The storyline – which tends to get a bit complicated and rambling – is a play within a play – or rather, a movie within a movie. Or perhaps, even more pertinent, a television soapie within a television soapie. Continuing South Africa’s post World Cup affinity with all things Spanish, the play is set in Spain and sees the cast playing Spanish soap opera stars and their backstage technical crew.
La Rosa is based on UKZN Honours student Silindiwe Hlengwa’s Spanish Rose which she wrote and directed as a one-act play. Inspired by her humour and fresh approach, Pieter de Beer decided to “re-write the script, extending it, filling it out and giving it a life of its own,” as he says in the programme notes. He goes on to say that La Rosa “started off as nothing more than a fun frolic, but as the production has taken shape, I found myself more and more drawn to the concept of being able to laugh at the soapie within our own lives.”
Perhaps herein lies the problem in that Pieter de Beer has tried to do too much: take a script that worked in its original format and have it extended, perhaps skewing the balance in the process.
Make no mistake, there is strength aplenty. And much humour. Every single member of the cast gives a fine performance but overall, the play needs a much stronger directorial control and editing. Pieter de Beer appears in the production but it’s extremely difficult to direct a production and perform in it, as what is required are different “languages”, different “hats”, as it were. The director stands back and prunes, embellishes and strengthens, while the actor (being bound by his/her performance) naturally cannot see the whole picture.
The cast includes Pieter de Beer; Fortunate Dhlomo; Graham Ellis, Nomonde Matiwane; Thobani Mbele; Nomphumelelo Ngwenya; Musawenkhosi Ntuli; Donna Steel; Roberta Trenor, and Radwinn van Wyk. Generally, projection was good except for Nompumelelo Ngwenya whose slurred diction and tottering about made incoherent what is an extremely important section of information.
Well done to Courtyard Theatre management who have made the theatre available to employ and empower DUT students and graduates. The project is mentored by UKZN’s Tamar Meskin and DUT’s Tanya van der Walt. There is safe parking on campus.
La Rosa runs at the Courtyard Theatre at DUT from December 3 to 19. Tickets R60 (R50 students/pensioners). Bookings on 084 244 7425, Helen Richter on 072 953 8169 or e-mail: full_house_theatre@yahoo.com – Caroline Smart
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