(Wanda Zuma & Sandile Magwaza)
Excerpts from productions
showcased by the Playhouse Company. (Reviews by Priya Dala)
The Playhouse
Company are supporting various theatre practitioners to help them stage their
work at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown from June 30 to July 10.
“We at The
Playhouse Company strongly believe in supporting artists and assisting them to
showcase and develop their work in a professional context,” said The Playhouse
Company CEO and Artistic Director, Ms Linda Bukhosini. “This is why we are
supporting a number of artists to take their work to the National Arts Festival
in Grahamstown this year.
Excerpts from the
productions were showcased at the Playhouse and I was able to catch a few of
them:
Aspire Arts, an
exciting new Durban-based theatre organisation, showcased three stand-out
productions: Denuded Thoughts, Boy
Ntulikazi and Asazi.
Denuded Thoughts: Written by Samantha Sameinstein Tobela and
Wanda Zuma is a brave and thoughtful piece bringing in aspects of humour and
energy production to the serious world of mental illness as seen from the point
of view of a psychiatrist, who is clearly troubled by a dark history. psychiatrist
who is waiting for patients to book consultations at his small, private
practice. As it becomes apparent to him
that potential patients are not going to come, he starts talking to the
audience. As the conversation with the audience continues, he starts
interacting with imaginary characters who enter his office. These include a
sexually-excited priest, a suicidal and drag queen, and a prisoner who holds
the psychiatrist hostage in his own rooms. All these characters exist within
the Doctor’s troubled mind, bringing forward aspects of his buried secrets, and
his resolution eventually comes in the form of a confession that shocks as much
as it heals.
Boy Ntulikazi: This one-hander examines the theme of mental
illness again, and also takes it from the angle that there is always a deep
back-story to those that we deem “mad” or “crazy”. Written and performed by the
riveting Thobane Nzuza, it tells the story of a young man kept in a mental
hospital. As he sits on his hospital bed, he tells the audience of how he went
looking for his father and how finding him changed him forever. The production
did exceptionally well at the UHURU festival in Wushwini, and took audiences on
an exciting journey of emotions and intrigue. Nzuza is a formidable stage
performer with a powerful stage presence. His finely-crafted physical
performance is accompanied by live music played by musical maestro, Nhlanhla
Zondi.
Asazi: a beautifully presented, very
nouveau piece of experimental theatre by the young writer, Mnqobi Msimanga. You
are immediately drawn into the tale of that speaks of the dichotomy of old
world vs the new order in a rapidly changing South African landscape. Msimanga
plays an old grandfather travelling through the desert with
his grandson, played by Anele Nene. The old man has left the so-called
civilized world that he views as corrupt. The production showcases the prowess
of the performers who play these two characters separated by two generation
gaps. They use voice and body to defy their real ages in creating a parable about
not forgetting how insightful old people are. Both performers seamlessly
transform into a host of characters, and even though they speak in African
vernacular, narrative is easily understood by expert use of body language, tone
and expression. – Priya Dala
For more information on the National Arts Festival click on the banner
advert at the top of this page or visitwww.nationalartsfestival.co.za
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