The piece strongly references longstanding South African theatre traditions of protest theatre, with the two-person production Woza Albert constantly being alluded to in how the show has been conceptualised and directed. The primary difference, of course, is that protest theatre historically challenged the apartheid regime while this piece critiques current (“post-apartheid”) South African society.
There are some wonderful one-liners in the piece, one being that South Africa has moved from apartheid to “tripartheid”.
The framework for the script is that a Council of Ancestors comprising activists who struggled against apartheid decide to send two anti-apartheid activists who died while in police custody, Steve Biko (played by Siya Sikawuti) and Neil Aggett (played by Mandisi Sindo), to visit South Africa as two decades of democracy is being celebrated.
Their mission is to establish the extent to which democracy and human rights have been realised. They travel extensively around the country, although their ultimate destination is Nkandla.
A collage-like series of scenes unfold on a stage littered with newspaper, vehicle tyres and an old broken cupboard, which for the most part resembles more of a symbolic closet in which any number of skeletons may reside.
Using satire, witty repartee, shameless puns, mime and song, Sikawuti and Sindo play a series of characters who reflect on day-to-day realities, quirks and paradoxes of current South Africa. The diverse settings and characters enable a range of issues and contemporary attitudes to be dissected, interrogated and sometimes ruthlessly criticised.
Between the first scene, in which Biko meets a homeless woman waiting for Jesus to come and save her from her dire circumstances, to the closing moments when Biko is confronted by security personnel at the gates of Nkandla, Van Graan highlights the many insidious ways in which power, resources and racial identities continue to be abused and exploited in an era of so-called democracy.
The use of Biko as a key character in the piece also invites reflections on how the Black Consciousness Movement, which he helped found, has in various ways been disregarded, appropriated, vulgarised and exploited for capital gain.
There are some wonderful one-liners in the piece, one being that South Africa has moved from apartheid to “tripartheid”. Another is the Nkandla security guard informing Biko “there is no room for the people here.
The leaders will eat cake on their behalf.” And then there is the presenter of Sunshine Television for Rainbow News Tshabalala announcing that the good news story of the day was that no miners had been killed in South Africa in the previous 24 hours.
Sikawuti and Sindo bring a lot of energy and verve to their performances. Being a new production, the show inevitably needs some development and polishing.
The links between scenes are sometimes ponderous, and the pace of the dialogue occasionally develops a metronomic quality. The script also feels as if aspects can be tweaked and tightened. But these are details in what has the potential to become a classic of South African theatre.
– By Theresa Edlmann
