Thabiso
Radebe (pictured) gives excellent performance as a young gay man looking for answers.
(Review by Caroline Smart)
After performances
earlier this year at the Durban University of
Technology (DUT) and
KZNSA art galleries, Thabiso Radebe now appears in a run of his High Heels … with Balls at the Catalina
Theatre, handling the challenges of this venue with its wide stage and infernal
extractor fan noise.
He comes
out a champion – his clear articulation and projection means we hear every
nuance of his script and he uses the stage well. The stage is a mess – and it’s
supposed to be – there are clothes strewn all over the place. This is a measure
of the life of the leading character Asiphe Xaba. He doesn’t know who he is, trying
to come to terms with being a homosexual in a homophobic society. He’s looking
for answers and doesn’t know who to turn to. He craves maternal guidance but
his mother is dead, a horrendous scene he cannot erase from his memory.
The
audience moves into the theatre to the background of a recorded poem written by
Nomandla
Mchunu dealing with the complications of love.
As the show
starts, Asiphe (Radebe) is curled up on the sofa in a scarlet figure-hugging
tube dress and wearing red high heels. Clutching a long rope and sensually
licking a lollipop, he takes us into his world. On either side of him stand the
motionless figures of Mchunu who represents his mother and Thuso Mathe, who says nothing but
draws on a whiteboard indicating that the clock is ticking. The mother launches
into a diatribe against her son, saying that the ancestors must be angry to
have cursed her with a homosexual son.
As each
disturbing memory of his life goes by – sexual abuse by his father, the suicide
by hanging of his mother and early encounters as a prostitute – he is
galvanised into a compulsive “clean up”, rushing around and picking up items of
clothing and shoving them into an already overloaded basket. My admiration knows
no bounds for his frenetic activity in those stiletto heels, not once tripping
on the minefield of things to fall over!
A DUT
graduate, Radebe cuts an impressive figure in female clothing and he gains the
audience’s sympathy in numerous tender moments. He is to be commended for his
well-scripted and well-directed production. High Heels with Balls is hard-hitting and there are simulated
scenes of rape and sexual activity made all the more dramatic by vocal effects
from Mchunu and Mathe.
High
Heels with Balls was prompted by Radebe’s
experiences as a student where his “straight” colleagues would taunt and insult
him and his gay friends. The play is a mix of Zulu and English.
While there is focus on sexual violence and
victimisation, High Heels with Balls carries
a strong message about tolerance, acceptance and human rights. Above all, it
reminds us of the need to understand one another, whatever our differences. It
is worth seeing.
Created and directed by Thabiso Radebe and
presented by Catalina Unlimited, High
Heels with Balls runs until November 4 at 19h00 at Catalina Theatre,
Wilson’s Wharf. Tickets R60 booked through Catalina Box Office on 031 305 6889
or visit www.strictlytickets.com – Caroline Smart
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