Review from Keith Millar at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown.
In order to
showcase a significant body of work by a single South African playwright the
National Arts Festival nominated Mike Van Graan as its 2013 Festival
Playwright. Because of this I felt that it I should see at least one of Van
Graan’s works at the festival this year. I chose Brothers in Blood as this play was the 2012 Standard Bank Ovation
prize winner.
Well, after seeing
this production I can say that I certainly don’t regret my choice. This is one
of the most powerful, explosive and thought-provoking dramatic works I gave
seen in a long time.
The multi-layered
story is based in Cape Town in the late 1990’s against the background of the
activities of the group called People Against Gangsterism and Drugs (PAGAD)
which was causing tension within the city at the time. It explores the
universal theme of religious intolerance and prejudice between Muslims,
Christians and Jews. Three fathers, one from each faith, try to protect their
families from various external threats such as drugs, crime and xenophobic
violence. Each has suffered brutality and loss from gratuitous violence and is
finding it difficult to come to terms with the challenges they are facing in an
increasingly volatile world.
The cast for this
production are all gifted actors and give quite stunning performances. The
standout, however, is David Dennis. He is commanding, sustained and intelligent
in his portrayal of the Muslim father. A truly stellar performance. Not far
behind is Kurt Egelhof in the role of the Christian father and priest. Also a
quite remarkable performance.
The others in the cast
who all make significant contributions to the brilliance of the production are
Aimee Valentine, Harrison Makubalo and David Dukas. The outstanding direction
of this superb dramatic piece is Greg Homann. Lighting design was by Denis
Hutchinson.
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