(Menzi Mkhwane)
(Review from the artSMart team covering the
Witness Hilton Arts Festival which ran at Hilton College from September 19 to
21)
Mlambo fills play with humour and a strong sense of
survival. (Review by Pauline Dalais)
The Shoe Man deals
with a subject that is currently close to me as an acquaintance has taken
himself back to school at the age of 23 in order to improve his job prospects. This
highlights the plight of many youngsters today where they are not educationally
equipped to attract reasonable salaries and eke out a living doing menial jobs
with little hope for the future.
Supported by the KZN Dept of Arts & Culture, the play received
two awards for drama from the Masakhane Festival and won the 2014 Musho!
Audience Award.
It features a young man nicknamed The Shoe Man whose uncle
gave him the advice to always keep his shoes shiny as one day they would “give
him a brighter future”.
Where he lived in the township, not one student had passed
grade 12. Also, lack of government service delivery meant they were still waiting
for electricity and toilets. So he moves to live with his uncle in town to
attend a multi-racial school. The play is simply set in his uncle’s home with
only a few props.
In order to pay his school fees, he starts a dodgy business
for the school bully but the principal finds out and he is suspended. During this
time, the young man works for a neighbour and shines shoes. However, the future
is not as bright as his shoes and many challenges lie ahead when he returns to
school.
Menzi Mkhwane plays a character much younger in years than he
is but he produces a credible young learner who is full of vigour and
determination. He also takes on a number of characters from the bully and his
alcoholic uncle to the principal and his kindly neighbour.
Writer and director Samson Mlambo has created a script that portrays
the realities faced by children whose parents are challenged by payment of school
fees. This could easily become a depressing scenario. However, Mlambo fills it
with humour and a strong sense of survival. He also focuses on human kindness to
those less fortunate. – Pauline Dalais
Keith Millar reviewed
the production for artSMart when it was presented at the 2014 Musho! Festival
and featured Reggie Ndlovu (http://news.artsmart.co.za/2014/01/musho-shoe-man.html)
Posts
