J.Bobs sticks his hand in and pulls the\nwhole thing inside out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018I\u2019m sublime on them limits, on them limits I\u2019m sublime\u2019. Or something like that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Can\u2019t you sing along to my catchy\nsing-along?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He starts with the choral, the blues wail of the mine and the field and kicks it bhoboza, slamming us straight into now by slipping the rural patriarchy onto the downtown street outside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Index point, thumbs up, palms flash,\nfingers flicker\u2026rap is just a hand job.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Get my shallow on.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The entire first chapter rips into contemporary consumer culture. The toxic stew of hype, advertising, instagram; our idolisation of the image is lampooned. Mercilessly. Which marks the line where Jefferson Tshabalala struts into performance art. He plays loose with the concept of theatre, yet theatre it is. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The hoodie tracksuits, the instagram\naccount, the suitcase, prominently displayed on its own altar in what looks to\nbe the rehearsal studios at The Market Theatre Laboratory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
What you gonna do? \u2018Make a video.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018No cameras, no tapes, if I\u2019m not in my dapper drapes\u2019. If you follow J.Bobs on Insta you\u2019ll totally get this. \u2018Seen pha kwa\u2019 Mzansi. The pink suitcase at the airports, the selfies and the self-promotion are all a character. The over-play is deliberate. Deliberately, and entirely ironic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
‘La kot del swag, front cover of your mag.’ It\u2019s Frank Zappa in vernac right here right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From \u2018swagga ovaloada\u2019 to \u2018can I get a holla\u2019, Jefferson slices into the bullshit we buy into and holds it glistening in the light where we see its emptiness. It\u2019s the same light that glares on him; the entire production is exposed to our gaze as he lays us a language you can\u2019t find in an urban dictionary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then we click on Chapter 2, Location Lekeyshini Lokasie <\/em>(there are five chapters).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The exhilaratingly caustic rap, brilliant beatboxing and harmonising by the accompanying cast of Kwasha Theatre Company members who are right in the ride with Simphiwe \u2018Beatz\u2019 Bonongo at the wheel, opens the show. It\u2019s the game show. A J.Bobs special, only here with no live audience it\u2019s the technical crew whose knowledge of township street lingo is put to the test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fair enough, it\u2019s an entertaining 18 minutes of finger-on-the-pulse South African-ness, throwing Alex across the bridge into Sandton, and back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a theme that bleeds into Chapter 3 \u2013 Victor and the Venacs! (To Mogodu or To Haggis \u2013 That is the Conundrum) <\/em>where we have the players reading a scene in which six young black writers are working under an indescribably delusional white guy. It is excruciating because it is so on the money you want to offer Jo\u00ebl Leonard a manly side-hug for being the sacrificial lamb. (Is it white solidarity or humane empathy?)<\/p>\n\n\n\n We move through more of that in Victor and the Venacs (Kale Tuesday) <\/em>but immediately the sound lets the show down. Really not good, amateur, the mics not working, we\u2019re listening to what\u2019s being picked up on the cellphone vid. Still, we we’re invested enough to turn up the volume and focus through. Years of perching at the back of an unheated hall in a Makhanda winter has steeled us for the necessary stamina. We\u2019re also at this point thinking: \u2018off book would be nice.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n But no, there is no acting here. It is a badly recorded 12-minute staged reading of cutting and disturbing text laying bare the worst of blind racism and sexism our society has to offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Which leads us swiftly to Chapter 5 \u2013 The J.Bobs Let\u2019s Play Texts! (Of Prose. Of Poems. Of Plays) \u2013 <\/em>where the young theatremakers J.Bobs has chosen to work with for this Standard Bank Young Artist production come into their own with monologues that give us a clear view of what it is Jefferson has to say, providing some thrilling acting; the \u2018Make Magic\u2019 monologue a gem of a manifesto and \u2018iStoko\u2019 a scathing reposte to male arrogance that channels Nina Simone\u2019s Four Women from the depths. But when it gets to repetition, it\u2019s time to cut, after that it\u2019s just improv, and that\u2019s not what we came here for. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Taken as a whole, the five parts, with\ntheir repetition of intros and outros, their disparate quality and occasional,\nyes, well, sketchiness, provide less than the sum of its parts. There\u2019s too\nmuch thrown into the pot, too quickly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet: Whatever township street culture I\u2019m tuned into is about 30 years old from the Vaal Triangle and was mostly maplaas to begin with. I have no place tuning if J.Bobs is genius or not. But whatever he\u2019s tapped into and tapping out, it\u2019s electrifying. It\u2019s got energy and it\u2019s got style and it\u2019s got no fucks to give. J.Bobs makes no excuses and what he does here is take the SBYA budget and resources, and writes and plays with young exciting people who get where he\u2019s at. He pulls it all apart. The whole thing, the whole setup. He turns it on its head so that the bad sound, the amateurism, can, if you argue hard enough for it, become part of it. The concept can hold, just throw in enough swagger. After all, you got a videeeo. Which means I\u2019m contradicting myself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But also, eish! A good editor, you know. The right one: beat up and tuned in and taking no prisoners. I want to see that version with the shit cut out and grabbing me by the lapels. \u2018Cause you know J.Bobs, he coulda just left off at Chapter 1, I would\u2019ve been happy. Pha!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jefferson Tshabalala is the Standard\nBank Young Artist for Theatre. You can watch <\/em>Seen\nKwa Pha J.B! on the virtual National Arts Festival<\/em> here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ub\u2019dope Shishini in association with Kwasha\nTheatre Company, Market Theattre Foundation and National Arts Festival present\nJ.Bobs Live \u2013 Seen Pha Kwa JB! (Of Prose. Of poems. Of Plays)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Directed by<\/strong>: J.Bobs Tshabalala For Kwasha Music Videography<\/strong> For Market Laboratory For Ub\u2019dope Shishini<\/strong> For National Arts Festival For Market Photo Workshop Make up Special thanks to: Market Theatre Foundation,\nNational Arts Festival, Standard Bank, Market Laboratory, and the true heroes\nof this productions: Ub\u2019Dope Shishini Team<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Photographs on the web page by: Mlungisi\nWarren Mlungwana<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" J.Bobs sticks his hand in and pulls the whole thing inside out. \u2018I\u2019m sublime on them limits, on them limits I\u2019m sublime\u2019. Or something like that. \u2018Can\u2019t you sing along … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4296,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[1125,1124,1126,1002],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4295"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4295"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4295\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4304,"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4295\/revisions\/4304"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Music by<\/strong>: Nkululeko \u201cMuchacho\u201d Nkosi<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/strong>Dinsthitile Mashile
Joel Leonard
Mosie Mamaregane
Sboniso Thombeni
Upile uThixo bongco
Wonder Ndlovu<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/strong>Composer \u2013 Jefferson Tshabalala
Music direction \u2013 Nkululeko \u2018Muchacho\u2019 Nkosi
Beat boxing \u2013 Simphiwe \u2018Beatz\u2019 Bonongo<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Videography \u2013 Gomotso Morobe
Assistant videographer 1 \u2013 Sizwe Dube
Assistant videographer 2 \u2013 Tebogo Sandile Mfaba
Stills \u2013 LuNgelo Mntambo<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/strong>Clara Vaughn
Rudy Matseatsea \u2013 Kwasha Manager
Thozama Buseka \u2013 Marketing Manager<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jefferson Tshabalala \u2013 Director
Nandi Nhlapho \u2013 Production Manager
Noluthando Jevu \u2013 Production Administrator
Jackson Tshabalala \u2013 Marketing Manager
Khanyisile Malatsi \u2013 Stage manager<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/strong>JHB Production Manager \u2013 Thabo Pule
JHB Technical Manager \u2013 Barry Strydom
vNAF Production Manager \u2013 Abby Thatcher<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/strong>Hoek Swaratlhe \u2013 Photographer
Mngoma Mphahlele \u2013 Photographer<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/strong>Thandeka Sincadu<\/p>\n\n\n\n