Interesting concept from a Durban-based production that
needs developing. (Review by Caroline Smart)
Empty Stage,
currently appearing on the Fringe at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown,
is a Kwa Mashu Community Advancement Projects (KCAP) production. Directed and
written by Edmund Mhlongo, it features Palesa Dunywa and Nokwanda Mlambi.
The programme notes state: “This absurdist play tells the
story of a woman who was an actor but nothing ever comes right. She goes to
watch a show but her heart gets heated to see an empty stage (with no actors)
while the audience is moved by action that she cannot see.”
The Library Hall is a small intimate performance space which
suited this production, allowing the audience to become closely involved with
the performers and their various moods and actions.
The play starts with a woman sitting in the audience of a production
waiting for it to start but when it does and the lights go out, nothing
happens. Nothing – no people, no sound, no set. She gets irritated and
struggles onto the empty stage (she is physically handicapped) bellowing that
she wants her money back. The director appears and tries to explain that this
is a show that deals with the absence of real relationships and spiritual
voice, inviting audience members to look within themselves.
The woman refuses to acknowledge this complex explanation
and leaves in frustration, only to return attired as a policewoman. As things
develop, we discover that she is a frustrated actor who was never accepted for
the roles she applied for.
Dunywa and Mlambi give good performances in what is quite a
convoluted plot which would benefit from some tightening and clarification. This
is an interesting concept from a Durban-based production that needs developing.
There are three more performances at the Library Hall: July
6 at 12h00; July 7 at 16h00 and July 8 at 12h00. – Caroline Smart
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