The Ugly Noo Noo: Astounding cricket capers remain contemporary

There were probably few, if any, people who, when they gave The Ugly Noo Noo a standing ovation in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, thought it could be even more relevant in distant 2024.

After all, when Andrew Buckland wrote and performed it in 1988 it was, disguised beneath the surreal humour and superb physical comedy, an essentially political play. Perhaps the apartheid censors never caught the one-line reimagined SAP (South African Police) acronym, nor link the CCC to the Communist Party (a positive force against oppression and racism at the time), for it is a wonder it was never banned.

That Buckland could write and perform a protest play centered on giant crickets is testament to his theatrical brilliance born of discipline, talent, and the ability to play. That the play has never dated other than a slight nip and tuck despite apartheid being 30 years and more in the past, and has become even more relevant, reveals its allegorical genius. It also, sadly, reveals that the struggle against oppression in its multifarious forms will likely exist as long as the human species does. For now, we don’t have the vicious verkrampte National Party and its brutal police force in mind, but autocratic dreams of unfettered Capitalism and its messiah in Trump, the isolationism and rise of the right in Europe, and the shocking annihilation of Palestinians by Israel.

Its ability to so adroitly shift from an hilarious evisceration of apartheid racism to a reflection of contemporary international politics (and elements of national politics, such as xenophobia and populism espoused by players such as the EFF and MK), is due to its focus on the most basic pecking order we have created – the hierarchy of species – rather than any political particularity. Arguably, The Ugly Noo Noo could be the most subtle protest play in the South African canon.

For within the clowning, mime, and absurd prowess at using his body to communicate scene, emotion, and physical attributes (the man morphs from insect to dog to human to chicken in a blink), that there is a protest against our species’ tendency to divide and destroy is in no doubt; there is pathos within the laughter.

There is also the matter of how one person, alone on stage with no props – not even a chair – and only two lighting changes (one being a blackout for the length of time it takes to remove a black t-shirt and put on a white one) can hold an audience rapt for 70 minutes. He is directed by Janet Buckland, but still.

The story, which Buckland notes on his blog, was inspired by his study of Franz Kafka’s works and his fascination with “a particular species of insect peculiar to the suburbs of Johannesburg”, would not hold us on its own. Of course it is the way Buckland tells it; the text delivered in a mixture of mime and physical illustration – the body as semaphore – combined with masterful wit that holds us in thrall. It is quite astounding. It is also physically demanding, and that Buckland can still perform in what is his demanding signature style (which is not to say he is not also capable of being a brilliant ‘straight’ actor – see him in a Beckett) at the age of 70-something, is testament to his greatness as a performer.

The Ugly Noo Noo is on at the Baxter Flipside until 10 August. Shows are selling out fast. Go to baxter.uct.ac.za to book tickets, which cost R170.