Students
did well to grapple with the complex themes and bold language and characters. (Review
by Verne Rowin Munsamy)
Last night
I made my way to the Sneddon Theatre at UKZN, to bask in the writings of one of
the greatest playwrights of our history, William Shakespeare. Forming part of a
trio of plays presented by DUT, AFDA and UKZN in this #ShakespeareMustFall?
Festival, The Past is Prologue (a
line from The Tempest) is a selection
of scenes, writings and made-up dialogue from the Bard’s epic stories, sonnets,
themes and characters.
Directed
and devised by Tamar Meskin with Devaksha Moodley, Kamini Govender and Donna
Steel, the reworked and reshaped dialogues and scenes are structured to parallel a modern-day
society and present scenes that could mimic our current struggles like: fees
must fall, war and violence. We were treated to scenes from Romeo
and Juliet, Julius Caesar, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Othello, Macbeth, The
Tempest, Hamlet and more.
It was a
feast of flavour but I was still left hungry for a full-length play. I felt
that the scene selection suited the concept and message that the directors
wanted to propel to the audience, but the same message could have been told to
better effect by one of Shakespeare‘s full-length plays.
The
students did well to grapple with the complex themes and bold language and
characters. Stand-out performances were offered by Zibu Mkhize (a modern day
student), Sfundo Sosibo (Mr Shakespeare) and Sboniso Msimango (Macbeth). While
many of the students offered quality performances, they lacked the stamina for
the two-hour length of the show. I felt that two hours without an interval was
a little overbearing and indulgent. The audience start to get restless and the
actors tend to lose focus. The second hour needed more attention and detail. I
enjoyed the fusion of styles but some of it reshaped the text beyond meaning.
The set by
Rogers Ganesan was a marbled effect platform with multiple levels which served
well to host a cast of about 30. The lighting design by Tina le Roux is
exquisite. The most gripping for me were the visuals, designed by Devaksha
Moodley, which captured the essence of
every scene. The script is well put-together but it was simply too long, some
scenes like the ones from Macbeth,
went on for far too long, losing its impact.
A valiant
effort from all who had their hands in the production, it’s good to take risks
in theatre and try new approaches to old writings, some of it works and some of
it doesn’t ... all the world’s a stage, each man has his part to play.
There is
one more performance tomorrow afternoon at 15h00 at the Elizabeth Sneddon
Theatre. Tickets at the door. - Verne Rowin Munsamy
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