(Vivian
Moodley & Bassy Bhola)
Accomplished actors take an amusing and
engaging meander down the old Grey Street days. (Review by Caroline Smart)
Currently running at Catalina Theatre is Quarter Beans Bru produced by the
Dingalings, a Durban theatre company which this year celebrates its 10th
anniversary. Dingalings started off with stand-up comedy and Yugan Naidoo’s Comedy Shop. Since then, they have gone
from strength to strength, producing a number of shows a year – mainly comedy –and
invariably performing to sell-out houses from their loyal and supportive fan
base.
Their latest offering is a two-act play written
and directed by Yugan Naidoo which features two of Durban’s most well-known Indian
actors/stage personalities: Vivian Moodley and Bassy Bhola, who themselves represent
an impressive contribution to Durban’s theatre history.
Quarter
Beans Bru is all about history. It’s set in Patel’s
Refreshment Lounge in Grey Street, formerly a buzzing trading area occupied by Indian traders and the best place
to find a good tailor or buy the glorious exotic material only India can
produce. The play reminds audiences of the Goodwill Lounge, the Shah Jehan
cinema, golfer Papwa Sewgolum, gangsters like the Crimson League and The Zealots
as well as the game of fa-fi.
Loosely translated, in old time Grey Street
parlance, Quarter Beans Bru means “One bunny chow, my brother”.
For the uninitiated, a bunny chow is half a
loaf of bread scooped out to make way for a large dollop of curry, after which
the item is topped with the bread that was removed. Its origins seem to be
varied but one thing is for sure, it’s a popular food item enjoyed on a wide
scale even outside the Indian community and is as much a part of Durban as the
old Grey Street itself.
Patel’s Refreshment Lounge is run by its
owner (Bassy Bhola) and his assistant (Vivian Moodley). The assistant refers to
the owner as Lahnie (boss) who in turn refers to his assistant as Lightie
(younger male). They have an easygoing relationship and there is much good-natured
banter as they go about the day’s work. We meet them on the day before celebrity
chef Keith Floyd comes to film the shop for his television show. The play picks
up after the shoot and their recounting of it is very amusing.
As the comings and goings of customers and
friends make up their days, the two actors take on other roles – Moodley as the
beggar and Bhola as the arthritic old man. Among their (unseen) customers is
Vijay, a university student who has come to find out the recipe for bunny chow,
much to their amusement.
Both actors acquit themselves well and this
is a good vehicle for Moodley’s versatility and his singing skills while the
ending allows him to display his strong dramatic ability. They have some
delightful lines between them but the best for me was the comment that “The
British can’t teach us spin-bowling – it’s in our eating habits” – referring to
the twist of the wrist used when eating!
I normally revolt at the use of microphones
for drama in a theatre the size of Catalina, However, with Catalina’s invidious
extractor fan noise, at least every word in this play was audible. Although I would
have preferred the actors to have had their mics placed in the more effective
way – on their hairline rather than taped to their cheeks.
Quarter
Beans Bru will surely go forward and tour so I
would suggest that before it does so, it could do with some judicious pruning.
There is a highly dramatic twist which would benefit with stronger “planting”
earlier on.
Quarter
Beans Bru runs at the Catalina Theatre, Wilson’s
Wharf, until May 19. Shows Thursday to Saturday at 20h00 (Sundays 14h00 and
18h00). Tickets R100 booked at Computicket or 0861 915 8000 or online at http://online.computicket.com/web/event/quarter_beans_bru
For more information, contact Catalina
Theatre on 031 837 5999 (between 10h00 and 16h00) or visit http://www.catalinatheatre.co.za or https://www.facebook.com/CatalinaTheatre - Caroline Smart
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