Forming part of the Expressions Sessions will
be an epic battle between the classic Bertold Brecht text of The Good Person of Setzuan, and a very
contemporary picking up of where Brecht left off around this seminal socially
astute and politically engaged 20th century theatre text, into a workshopped
production called The Free Person of
Such-A-One.
Directed by iainEWOKrobinson and Karen
Melissa Logan and created in collaboration with a cast of Drama and Performance
Studies students from Howard College Campus (UKZN), The Free Person of Such-A-One-combines elements of Brecht’s
signature style of theatre making with contemporary Hip Hop and spoken word
theatre. Brecht was intent on creating
theatre that was relevant to its immediate social context and The Free Person Of Such-A-One seeks, as
Brecht intended, to address current sociopolitical concerns about the nature of
freedom in South Africa, 2012.
The play begins when ‘The Gods’ return to
Earth on a mission; to find a person who is truly “Free”. But this time they’ve
landed in South Africa, and finding “Such-a-One” is not as simple as it first
appeared
What happens when the people the Gods have
come to preach to don’t recognise their Godly ways? In a world where technological miracles are
happening all the time, the God’s old-fashioned water-to-wine tricks don’t seem
to pack the same punch as they used to. People have turned to new “deities” -
everyone from Malema to Lady Gaga - and found their scriptures in the machinery
of materialism. It is some decades since they left the poor Shente struggling
to be good in an economically harsh world, the Gods now embark on their new
mission to find a ‘Free Person’ - because
without freedom, the quest for goodness is an uphill battle few seem capable of
conquering.
The audience will be taken on a whirlwind
journey across the country, from Park Station to Mangaung, from seedy pavements
to lavish Freedom Day concerts, as the Gods attempt to complete their difficult
quest, with (and sometimes without) the help of a motley crew of true-to-life
South African characters. Come watch the three Gods bumble their way around
21st century South Africa, in the hope of finding the ever illusive Freedom in
this precarious South African democracy.
Performances take place from October 4 to 6
at 19h30 and on October 7 at 15h00 at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre. Booking is
at Computicket.
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