The acting was passionate, the set straight out of a Market Theatre tradition, and the story looked interesting, but here is the thing: There are 11 official languages in SA. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the national arts festival you have every right to put on a play in any language or cultural style you want. If shows opt for long tracts of text in a language others might not understand then let the poor punter in the seats know. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If the aim was to exclude, in this case, little Eastern Cape English-speaking me, or confuse, discombobulate, disassemble or eviscerate me as an audience member, then you succeeded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had no idea what was going on. The notes say this piece touches on an incident of racism in a Schweizer-reneke primary school in which a black child was photographed alone and isolated from the rest of the white children<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is horrific for the feelings and development of the child, but it seems the show used this as a blast-off pad for a panoply of missiles aimed at colonialism and apartheid , but actually, in the way it was performed and presented, felt like an angry black statement about whites in general. A stereotype if ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It bares mentioning that three million children in the Eastern Cape are officially designated as “multi-dimensionally poor”, and you will have to work really hard to persuade the public that after 27 years of triumphant ANC rule, those starving children are the result of only racist colonialism. Ideologues can have the stage now, I won’t argue, except to say minority opinions such as the blame-it-all on colonialism and whites — vile and vicious as it\/they were — is no longer the opinion of the masses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There have been a number of movements which have advocated racial violence against white people, or those not “black enough”, the ANC among them when they blew up whites at food franchises in the late 80s, so this is a theme most worthy of artistic investigation and expression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If there is someone else, who speaks Tswana, who wants to review the show, then l look forward to reading it, though I might possibly not be able to understand it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In terms of staging choices, a large stripe of hazard tape across the stage, blocking the view of the action, might make a socio-geographic or political point about roadblocks and divides, but as a theatrical device it simply served to alienate and exclude the audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have no idea where the reference to Ahmed Kathrada, who was born in Schweizer-reneke, is made in the piece. I could not join the dots to the play title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was a silence at the end and a dribble of applause. We wanted to flee. Was that intended?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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