(Rory Booth as Sunil Mohan. Pic by Val
Adamson)
Tour de force performance from Rory Booth in
excellent and thought-provoking one-man drama. (Review by Caroline Smart)
In his first one-man play, Rory Booth appears in Reoca Light, an excellent and
thought-provoking drama written by Ashwin Singh and directed by Ralph Lawson. The
quality is such that one would expect from three award-winning theatre
personalities. It runs for a few more days in the Playhouse Loft before going
on tour.
Reoca Light is all
about unsung heroes in the Reoca community linked to Sunil Mohan and his
family. The play opens with a scene featuring Sunil‘s great, great grandfather, (Booth
bare chested in black trousers and wearing a turban), who dreamed of starting a convenience store
while working on the sugar cane plantations in the 1870s.
We meet Sunil Mohan as he is in the process of
closing up his father’s convenience store and his mother’s wendy hut after a
spate of robberies, the last one putting his father in hospital. The store was
a popular meeting place and the wendy hut was also the safe house of a number
of activists. He is talking to an unseen newspaper reporter who is writing an
article on him and his family. He then goes on to wander down memory lane,
being reminded of the people who made a major impression on his upbringing.
His father was known as the “sweet uncle” for his
generosity but there was a side to him that the community didn’t know and these
are difficult memories for Sunil to revisit without anger.
Booth gives a tour de force performance as he
handles an impressive number of characters involving numerous accents, voices,
ages and sexes. Memorable characters are Themba, his family’s employee, and
Uncle Johnny whose romance he helped encourage, as well as a hypocritical
television presenter with a false smile. Pure delight was a tiny scene where he
played Sunil’s mother quietly doing her sewing. He also plays a puffy faced
spoilt brat … and two dogs! The dog fight was a true highlight of Booth’s
energy and versatility.
Booth
is a fully qualified Indian classical dancer and we had a chance to see some
gentle hand movements as well as a hilarious send-up of Amitabh Bachchan in a hip-thrusting
number!
The quality of Ashwin Singh’s writing is well known
and his characters are well-drawn. While driving a strong socio-political
message, the story focuses on the people and their lives and struggles. Amidst
the humour and amusing scenes, there are some beautifully poignant moments. There
are often lightning changes in moods, brilliantly executed.
Using the full space of the Loft theatre, it’s a
simple set with two sets of covered black blocks and a raised platform on a
square of linoleum. The lighting, which is designed by Ralph Lawson and Dylan
Heaton, is highly effective, often creating an other-worldly atmosphere.
Presented
by The Singh Siblings (an artistic collaboration between Ashwin Singh and
Shantal Singh), Reoca Light runs in
The Playhouse Loft until April 8, 2017, at 19h30 before embarking on a national
and international tour. Tickets R100 (concessions for students and pensioners)
booked via Computicket on 0861 915 8000 or online at www.computicket.com. Alternatively, call the
Playhouse Box Office on 031-369 9540 / 369 9596 (office hours). – Caroline Smart
Posts
