A PLAGUE OF HEROES

Vusi Mazibuko’s story is skilfully handled by Maurice Podbrey and Thami Mbongo. (Review by Caroline Smart)

The second production featured in the launch of the new KZN company – Just in Time Productions – opened in the Playhouse Loft last night. Titled A Plague of Heroes (55 minutes – no intermission), it is a semi-autobiographical piece written by Vusi Mazibuko, directed by Maurice Podbrey and featuring Thami Mbongo (as Vusi).

Just in Time Productions is a theatre trust which intends to focus on development work. It will train theatre practitioners; produce new South African theatre; raise funds to develop and stage productions, and put a touring programme in place for indigenous work.

A Plague of Heroes, which deservedly won the Best Production Award at the Baxter Theatre Ikhwezi Festival 2010, is set in the Greyville horse-racing tote call centre. I must admit to being extremely intrigued when I read the press release and wondered how the storyline would fit in such a setting.

Vusi Mazibuko has every right to be highly pleased with Maurice Podbrey and Thami Mbongo, in whose hands his one-man show is so skilfully handled. Under the screened images of a horse race, the stage is set with two desks adorned with laptops, representing contact points at the Telebet call centre. At the second desk, a figure sits with its back to the audience with a pair of crutches close at hand - we come to realise their importance later.

Calls come in from various people – among them No.33719. Every operator’s nightmare, he’s a judge of the old regime before whom Vusi once appeared in his days as a gangster. Then there’s Mr Govender whose every sentence addresses Vusi as “my friend”.

In between the betting calls, Vusi unravels his story which takes him from a youngster growing up in KwaMashu to the time when he fell into bad company and became embroiled in the world of the gangster elite – the “heroes” of the townships. He was primed by those who manipulated him to believe that he was destined for greater things – “a fully fledged clever!” Starting off with opening fake bank accounts which generated a wild shopping spree, his activities become more devious. Wild parties are the norm with scantily clad “hostesses” and eventually he goes too far and lands up in prison.

The script is well-written and full of laconic or amusing phrases such as “every hero needs a taste of prison” and “where does one find decent corrupt Whites?”

By now, Vusi has turned his companion around – it’s a dummy but its photographic-image face makes it look very real. Once out of prison, Vusi’s life takes another – more devastating – turn as he is shot in the stomach by someone who has a grudge against him. His injuries are severe and he becomes a paraplegic. This is where Thami Mbongo’s acting skills come into play. As the character rails against his own fate and the injustice of the world’s discrimination and lack of understanding of the disabled, his fury and passion held his audience riveted.

If this is the kind of work that Just in Time Productions is fostering, then it deserves every ounce of support.

Coming up next week is uThembalethu- Tshepang (80 minutes –no intermission) written by Lara Foot. Translated by Bheki Mkhwane and directed by Maurice Podbrey, it features Bheki Mkhwane and Silindile Ndlovu.

Booking for A Plague of Heroes is through Computicket on 083 915 8000 or www.computicket.co.za or Playhouse box office on 031 369 9540. For performance dates, call up the artSMart Events List through the Forthcoming Events window on the right-hand side of this article. On April 23, there will be a performance of all three plays: Sitting Round the Fire, A Plague of Heroes and uThembalethu- Tshepang. – Caroline Smart