(Dieketseng
Mnisi, Nic Beukes and Diana Maseko)
Impressive dramatisation of Zakes Mda’s
award-winning novel. (Review by Caroline Smart)
Madonna
of Excelsior is a celebrated award-winning novel by
Zakes Mda. The 2013 National Arts Festival in Grahamstown saw the dramatised
version adapted from the novel by Kobus Moolman through a commission by PACOFS.
The idea for the production was incubated
in the Novel-Script Project, a development workshop held for writers at the
National Arts Festival in 2010. Funded by the Netherlands Embassy and
coordinated by the Twist Project, the workshops brought together emerging South
African writers and Dutch writers to explore the possibility of adapting Mda’s
novel for the stage.
Madonna
of Excelsior is set in 1971, when 19 citizens of
Excelsior in South Africa’s white-ruled Free State were charged with breaking
apartheid’s Immorality Act, which forbade sex between blacks and whites. This
play focuses on the story of one such fallen Madonna (Niki) and her family, who
are at the heart of the scandal. It explores the emotions and the endless searches
for Niki’s daughter, Popi (a coloured girl) and her father, in order to
discover her true identity.
Directed by Roel Twijnstra, the production gets off to a resounding and
energetic start. It is the first time that the new Rainbow Nation councillors have
been inside City Hall, let alone the council rooms. The Town Clerk of the
Municipality of Excelsior is a belligerent Afrikaner who feels that the
hallowed halls of the City Hall are being tainted by the Comrades from
Congress.
Constantly
interrupting the procedure, he is full of racist remarks such as “this is a
municipality meeting not a taxi rank”. He is also battling to come to terms
with the policy of accepting people he grew up with as a master/servant
relationship as well as those he considered enemies during his time in the
army.
There is much
friction between the Town Clerk and Popi and we discover the links between the
two as the story moves back into the past when the arrests were made and the
impact this had on the community.
Diana Maseko delivers a powerful
performance as Popi, skilfully handling the gamut of emotions the character
must undergo as she searches for the truth. As her mother, Nikki, Dieketseng
Mnisi provides the fine dramatic presentation we have come to expect from her
while Matshidiso Thinyane as the young Nikki also impresses. Notable performances
also come from Nic Beukes and Marli van der Bijl.
This is a strong
ensemble piece comprising 13 members, all with good singing voices and movement
ability. While the inclusion of song and dance in a dramatic piece – or even a
musical – makes for a rich multi-layered production, the storyline becomes
diluted if speech is drowned by song. I missed several important pieces of
information in this way.
Artistic Director of PACOFS, Jerry Pooe, is
in charge of music with Brandon Hewetson and Huup Laurens handling the set. The
vocal coach is Jaco Bezuidenhout.
Madonna
of Excelsior is an impressive dramatisation of
Zakes Mda’s award-winning novel. – Caroline Smart
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