(Zanele
Mhlongo & Londiwe Ngwazi)
What
I witnessed was beautiful - a small, raw story told with honesty. (Review by
Bryan Hiles)
I had the privilege of attending a new work
by Peter Court and Creative Madness, not simply as an audience member, but as a
critical eye.
I was met, on this cold, wet Durban
evening, by the Playhouse Grand Foyer (how lovely to see this wonderful space
used) strewn with boxes, pieces of cardboard, an overturned trestle table and
the fragments of a fancy-pants corporate banner frame. These formed the
setting, the props, the projection screen of the story that was to unfold
before me.
I was disappointed at the lack of audience.
I know it was raining and cold. I know, too, that the Playhouse is situated in
Durban town, but these excuses are tired.
What I witnessed was beautiful - a small,
raw story told with honesty. Peter Court’s imagination and craftsmanship
regarding puppetry, soft sculpture, origami and pop-up books is used to
excellent effect. The boxes, bits of cardboard, frame and table; along with
many other recyclables, become a landscape, a shack (exterior and interior), a
spaza shop, a taxi. It’s all there, plain as day.
The premise is simple - a woman wants a
better life for herself and her daughter. She is a domestic worker. They live
in a location. We know it well. The challenges and difficulties that face those
who live in informal settlements are understood too, but to what extent?
Here we are met with over-crowding, theft,
teenage pregnancies, drug abuse, gang violence and revenge, and ultimately, the
moth of hope that flutters up from inside Pandora’s shanty-box.
Performers Zanele Mhlongo and Londiwe
Ngwazi guide us through the trials of Lillian and her daughter, Gugu. At times
a little apprehensive, thus breaking the flow of the piece, but not taking away
from the impact it holds.
This is not a show that will leave you
chuckling away to the nearest pub where you can forget it as quickly as your
first drink. This is a show that will hopefully keep you thinking about your
fellow human beings, realising that they, too, have hopes, fears, troubles,
joys. And lives.
Don’t be that person who says, “There’s
nothing on” or, “Nothing ever happens”. It is there. I encourage you to get off
your couch, put the remote away, and explore the stories that are around us
always!
The
show runs until September 15 at the Playhouse in the Grand Foyer. Duration one
hour with performances at 19h00 and matinees on September 7 and 14 at 14h00.
(No under 10's).
Tickets R100 booked through Webtickets -
www.webtickets.co.za/…/featu…/kwa-themba-pupperty/1492951512 – Bryan Hiles
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