(Mbongeni Ngema and Matshitshi
Ngema enact a battle scene. Pic by Val Adamson)
Tour de force performance from Mbongeni
Ngema. (Review by Caroline Smart)
The venue? Rhodes Theatre in Grahamstown at
the National Arts Festival.
The setting? The Place of the Pythons in
the heart of KwaZulu-Natal.
The process? One of South Africa’s theatre
icons, famed for a
string of international stage block-busters, steps out
of his music producer/playwright/director shoes and sets foot back on stage in the
premiere of his new play on the Main festival programme.
Directed by Christopher John, The Zulu
offers a tour de force performance
from Mbongeni Ngema who proves without doubt that, after his absence from
actual stage performances for 27 years, he’s still got what it takes to be a
compelling and vigorous actor and storyteller.
Taking stories he heard in his youth from
his blind great-grandmother, Mkhulukutshana Manqele, he has woven stories of
the Zulu nation and its culture into a near-solo performance of 80 minutes,
leading up to the defeat of the British forces by the Zulu army at the
legendary Battle of Isandlwana.
Isandlwana
is a lonely hill shaped like a sphinx close to Rorke’s Drift and is a
much-visited site today. On January 22, 1879, approximately
20,000 highly disciplined Zulu warriors armed with assegais and shields as well
as a number of firearms, attacked and overpowered a heavily armed column of about
1,800 British and colonial native troops.
Ngema
takes on the characteristics of the well-known personalities in this story on
both the Zulu and British sides. Even the performers’ dress reflects the two
cultures – with Zulu traditional from the waist up and dark contemporary
trousers and shoes from the waist down.
Providing
music interludes and often accompanying Ngema in maskandi song as well as action
and dance movements is musician Matshitshi Ngema.
With the acclaimed Sarah Roberts in charge of set design and Kenny Bolokwe handling the lighting design - the production is highly attractive visually, with sound effects adding
considerable impact.
There
is much humour but ultimately 80 minutes plus is a daunting process for an
audience, however skilled and engaging the performer. I would suggest some
judicious pruning or else an interval, although the latter would disrupt the
flow of the piece.
The Zulu was presented by
Committed Artists Foundation in association with the National Arts Festival,
with funding by the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF). This
year, the National Arts Festival paid tribute to Ngema’s contribution to South
African theatre by also presenting his Asinamali
as well as Woza Albert which he
co-wrote with Percy Mtwa and Barney Simon.
The
production now goes on a national tour, starting off at Empangeni in Zululand at
the Imbizo Hall from July 25 to 28.Thereafter it performs in Mbabane, Pretoria,
Johannesburg and in Cape Town at the beginning of 2014. The Zulu is also set to tour to the United States for a season at
New York University’s Aaron Davis Hall in May, 2014.
Tickets
for the South African tour are R150 (Tuesdays and Sundays), R180 (Wednesdays)
and R200 (Thursdays to Saturdays). Book through Computicket on 0861 915 8000 or
online at www.computicket.com.
For
more information visit Facebook page, Mbongeni Ngema’s The Zulu, or log on to http://ngemasthezulu.blogspot.com, or follow on
twitter @NgemasTheZulu – Caroline Smart
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