Scorched: No blood or dust

Scorched was a long play so we’ll keep this short. For sure for sure for sure.

The first half was awfully boring. On an expressionist set that at first held promise, the actors delivered their lines as if all the effort of memorising the demanding text had leached their ability to act. Only Jaques de Silva, cast as one of the twins, was able to put any punch in his performance but unfortunately his was the most silent character.

Standard Bank Young Artist award-winning director Jade Bowers’s decision to work with a cast of seven rather than having fewer actors to fill multiple roles, left all the non-involved characters on the Rhodes Box stage, looking on at the action, but rather than heightening tension. In the context of lackluster delivery it created a feeling of lassitude.

This epic play dealing with the Lebanese civil war and issues of atrocity, revenge and love is essentially a thriller which should have had us on the edge of our seats as the drama played out. Instead, I was nodding off, atrocious sight lines doing little to aid my efforts to stay focused. And I wasn’t the only one.

Interval gave us a welcome chance to regroup our forces.There was a temptation to head off for a drink or a bite rather than go back in, but we chose to suffer for art. Many others weren’t as brave, which allowed us to choose a different spot in the bleachers – higher up with a more commanding view – and this may have helped. The break seemed to have helped the actors as well, there was a spark of energy as the lights came back up for the second half and they were assisted by a few moments of more imaginative staging. The kind of back up they sorely needed to help them drive the ambition of the text.

Some directorial choices were incredibly confusing, such as having Mpho Osei-Tutu as our psychopath who holds all the cards in this narrative, sitting down at the great reveal, a position which prevents him from rising up to claim the strength of the moment. We should have seen him crumple to the floor. Instead he was left as a parody of extraordinary violence rather than portrayed as a man who is so appalling that he finds such violence humorous.

There were a number of other lost opportunities that left the actors unsupported. A notable one was Ilse Klink, who had the part of Nawal, trying unsuccessfully to convey the horror of a bus full of people burning, without the assistance of the ghastly theatrical imagery such a scene demands. This lack of creativity in direction was the overarching failure of this exacting text, a text the choice of which did nothing to make life easier for Bowers.

Scorched is on today (Saturday 9 July) and tomorrow. Programme notes and bookings here.