(Aphiwe
Livi & Amy Wilson)
If this
is what Joanna Evans is producing now, I can’t wait to see
her future work. (Review by Caroline Smart)
Forming
part of the Playhouse Company’s special November season of four productions to celebrate 20 Years of
Democracy in South Africa, The Year of the Bicycle comes to Durban highly recommended.
Written
and directed by Joanna Evans, who also handles lighting and set design, The Year of the Bicycle received a
prestigious Standard Bank Silver Ovation Award at the 2013 National Arts
Festival.
The Year of the Bicycle is about two youngsters – Amelia
and Andile – who connect when Andile mistakenly kicks his soccer ball into the
garden of Amelia’s home.
Coming
from a well-to-do and protective environment, Amelia’s heroine is the world famous Amelia Earhart, who was the first female aviator
to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. Living in a township, soccer-mad Andile’s
life is in stark contrast. However, his intelligence and curiosity match hers.
What links them most is their delight in flights of imagination.
Amelia has just received a bicycle but
she’s not very good at riding it and she boldly invites Andile onto the
premises to show her how it’s done. Thus begins a friendship full of joyous
energy and fantasies. They create an imaginary baby brother but Amelia takes
the sharing of this joy in their lives to the extreme which spooks Andile.
Amy Wilson (Amelia) and Aphiwe Livi (Andile)
give riveting performances and are totally believable whether they are playing
eight year olds or teenagers. There is much gentle humour in the script and the
actors bring this out perfectly.
We first meet them when they are both
trapped in inescapable situations. In the darkness of their separate predicaments,
they find each other again in their minds and take the journey of their future
together. Wilson and Livi handle this moment and other poignant ones with
sensitivity and grace.
Evans
has created a simple set composed of two versatile structures on wheels, the
larger one operating as a bunk bed at times. The area is circled by lamps which
get linked with red wool signifying both an enveloping theme as well as a
barrier.
Small
and slight, Joanna Evans’ appearance belies her strength. She has packed in a
whack of experience in her 24 years. She an award winning writer, performer and
director and her plays have been performed at festivals in Europe and in South
Africa.
If this
is the kind of production she is producing now, I can’t wait to see her future
work.
The Year of the Bicycle has three more performances in
the Playhouse Loft: tonight and tomorrow
(November 14 and 15) and at 15h00 on Sunday (November 16). Booking is at
Computicket. – Caroline Smart
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