(Bhekani Shabalala and Fortunate Dhlomo)
Musho! off to a superb start will emotive and well-crafted
production. (Review by Keith Millar)
The eighth annual Musho! Festival was off to a superb start
last night with the emotive and very well crafted production Veil setting the scene.
Veil is set in the
Port Elizabeth township of New Brighton and tells the bitter sweet love story
of Ali and Nosipho.
Ali is a refugee from Somalia who is striving to start a new
life in South Africa, while Nosipho is the young Xhosa girl who assists him in
his spaza shop and teaches him the ways of his new country. They are beautiful
souls and it is inevitable that they fall in love. However, all is not plain
sailing with their relationship and they have to deal with society disapproval,
xenophobia and rejection on all fronts. Tension mounts until the story comes to
a shocking conclusion.
Fortunate Dhlomo and Bhekani Shabalala were outstanding in
the roles of Ali and Nosipho. They gave powerful and dramatic performances
filled with passion and emotion. They were ably assisted by an insightful and poignant
script written by Zwai Mgijima, which exposes many of the social ills of
township life. Veil was a finalist in
the 2012 PANSA new writing competition, and one can see why.
Zwai Mgijima assisted by Bandile Mkhize was also responsible
for the direction of this production.
From a technical point of view, the innovative touch of
chalk drawings of a township on the floor of the stage worked very well. It
certainly added to the feel of the production.
Unfortunately, the background music used to heighten the
tension and add to the drama, did not work as well. It was badly distorted and
kept cutting out instead of fading away. While this shouldn’t be too difficult
to fix, it is possible that the work is strong enough on its own and does not
need this superfluous music to help it along.
Veil is very good
dramatic theatre. Keep an eye out for future performances of this play, or any
other work by this team.
The Musho! Festival runs from January 16 to 20 at the
Catalina Theatre on Wilson's Wharf in Durban. For more details visit www.mushofestival.co.za
or email kzn@pansa.org.za.
For bookings, show times and details contact Catalina Theatre on 031 305 6889
or visit www.catalinatheatre.co.za/musho-festival
Tickets for all shows R50 (R30 PANSA paid-members as well as
OAPS, students and children under 12). Special all-day ticket on Saturday /
Sunday - R100 per day. Twist / Fringe tickets - pay-what-you can. Children’s
show R50 (R30 for children)
See the artSMart Events List for dates and times. – Keith Millar
Posts
