Escape

A theatrical warscape opens Programme 4 of The Centre for the Less Good Idea’s 5th Season.

Conceptualised and performed by Mdu Nhlapo, Escape is a play about oppression, struggle, and sacrifice. Nhlapo, who switches between the roles of dictator and freedom fighter with ease, showcases both his tremendous physical ability as well as his penchant for character-based performance across these 11 minutes.

Escape is a harrowing bit of theatre. It is full of chaos, fury, and loss. The sound of gunfire, explosives and helicopter blades make a battlefield out of a stage and Nhlapo’s traverses it with a charged and dynamic choreography.

Here and there, tender, sobering scenes remind us of the cost of war – physical, psychological or otherwise. Like the sobering moment when the freedom fighter gently and methodically scoops up the ‘bodies’ of his contemporaries and lays them down on the ground, away from the chaos.

Once the dust has settled and the gunfire has ceased we are left only with Nhlapo, arm outstretched and hands wrapped around his weapon as if to say: The struggle continues, for better or worse.

CONCEPTUALISED AND PERFORMED BY | Mdu Nhlapo
SOUND DESIGN BY | Wilf Mahne
MUSIC | The Mass by ERA and TheProtagonist by Dead Can Dance

WRITER | Dave Mann
VIDEO ENGINEER & EDITOR | Noah Cohen
STILLS PHOTOGRAPHER | Nina Lieska