A COMMON CONFUSION

A Common Confusion sees a trio of performers, namely Nhanhla Mahlangu, Sue Pam-Grant. and Antony Coleman, grappling with Kafka’s short story by the same name.

Kitted in out in matching blue coats, white dress shirts, grey slacks and black boots, the three flit between slick, synchronised choreography and sharp bursts of comedic narration.

Muddled instructions, the passing of time, and the existential yet slightly irreverent take on life and labour that Kafka is well-known for, all find resonance in this staging of A Common Confusion.

Additionally, like a musical bookend, trombonist Dan Selsick’s tongue in cheek contribution comes in the form of a single note at the start and a long, sonorous note at the end.

– David Mann

CREDITS:

THE PIGEON

Alienation, self-loathing, dour existentialism, and an encroaching sense of dread flock together in the 25-minute performance of The Pigeon.

A stage-adapted version of German author Patrick Suskind’s novella by the same name, The Pigeon follows the journey of 50-year-old Jonathan Noel, a compulsive and neurotic Paris bank-guard whose tightly wound existence is swiftly upended by a lone street pigeon situated on his doorstep.

In the hands of Nhlanhla Mahlangu, Sue Pam-Grant, William Harding, and Antony Coleman, The Pigeon becomes a tale of memory and tragedy manifesting in body and mind alike. Through the convergence of live narration, performance, and chorus work in a series of deliberate, poetic lines – both literal and literary – the play is a vivid and grimly humorous rendering of Suskind’s tale that ultimately zeros in on the interiority of a character held hostage by his own mind.

– David Mann

CREDITS:

TEXT | Patrick Suskind
ADAPTORS | Antony Coleman, Sue Pam-Grant & Kevin Smith
PERFORMERS |Antony Coleman, Sue Pam-Grant, William Harding & Nhlanhla Mahlangu
CHORUS DIRECTORS | Nhlanhla Mahlangu & Sue Pam-Grant
COSTUME DESIGNERS | SO Academy Costume Mentees

AND YET YOU GO ON

A solo work by William Harding, And Yet You Go On is an homage to the prose works of Samuel Beckett, illuminating amongst other things the humour, humanity, and pessimism of the playwright’s enduring work.

Whether you’re a life-long fan or a first timer when it comes to Beckett, Harding’s deft handling of the playwright’s prose makes for a punchy and engaging show. Harding stumbles onto stage, a fitting entrance for the bumbling and awkward character he assumes for the duration of the 15-minute performance.

And Yet You Go On is essentially a staged collage of many of Beckett’s texts. It merges absurd and humourous prose with a manic delivery. There is not much to speak of in the way of set – only a wooden footstool and a banana (a wry punchline itself) feature on stage, leaving the prose to hold and guide you. Harding’s performance is full of intentionally false starts and incomplete gestures, a nod to the writing process, perhaps, or to Beckett’s own wry take on existence and experience.

And what does a mixed bag of Beckettian prose amount to? What does it point towards and what are we to take away from it all? To borrow a line from the work: “Well, there we are. There I am. That’s enough.”

– David Mann

CREDITS:

TEXT | Samuel Beckett
CONCEPTUALISER & PERFORMER | William Harding
COSTUME DESIGNERS | SO Academy Costume Mentees

QUEENY & JOHNNY

Queeny & Johnny revisits the relationship between the two characters from Athol Fugard’s stage classic Nongogo.

Directed by Faniswa Yisa and performed by Asanda Hanabe, Elma Motloenya & Kaldi Makutike, Queeny & Johnny is a brief adaptation that prizes text and materiality in equal measure. While narration by Hanabe holds all of the text, the physicality of Queeny (Motloenya) and Johnny (Makutike) actions it out, bringing key interactions between the two characters to life.

What emerges is a close and considered reading between the two, their dynamic, their own sorry stories, and the hope for a better life they see in one another. Fabric is also central to the work, and the two characters animate dresses, curtains, tablecloths and washrags through the use of a single sheet, resulting in exquisite duets and affectionate gestures, as well as fluid flourishes and transitions between the text.

At the heart of Queeny & Johnny is the notion of desire. “Isn’t there anything you want, Queeny?” Johnny asks, tenderly. It is a steady theme and a palpable energy that pulses through the entirety of the play, equally present in the text, the movement, and the myriad material gestures.

– David Mann

CREDITS:

TEXT | Athol Fugard’s Nongogo
DIRECTOR | Faniswa Yisa
PERFORMERS | Asanda Hanabe, Elma Motloenya & Kaldi Makutike
COSTUME DESIGNERS | SO Academy Costume Mentees

GO DOWN MOSES

An adaptation of George C. Wolfe’s ‘Git on Board’ sketch from his 1986 play The Colored Museum, this is a performance that merges global history with South African musicality and frames of reference to present a sobering, contemporary take on the classic sketch.

Go Down Moses begins with flight attendant Miss Patronella who, playing on the monotonous formality that most often characterises the profession, guides audiences and unwilling passengers alike through the dos and don’ts of slave ship travel. A sombre ensemble stares out towards the audience throughout, rarely moving, and never speaking, compelling you always to look on, to bear witness to a painful history.

Through an affecting interplay of satirical prose and dead-pan performance, Go Down Moses leads audiences through the bloody and inhumane history of the slave trade aboard vessels such as the Zong, the Brookes, the Laughing Mary and more.

– David Mann

CREDITS:

TEXT | George C. Wolfe’s The Colored Museum.
ADAPTOR | Nyakallo Motloung
DIRECTOR | Faniswa Yisa
PERFORMERS | Bongile Lecoge-Zulu, Teresa Phuti Mojela, Elma Motloenya, Kaldi Makutike, Thami Majela, Katlego KayGee Letsholonyana, Molebogeng Phiri, Sibahle Mangena, Buhle Mazibuko, Alfred Motlhapi, Michael Mazibuko, Asanda Hanebe & Zandi Hlatshwayo.
COSTUME DESIGNERS | SO Academy Costume Mentees

MATSWAKABELE

Matswakabele uses song and intimate storytelling to explore and unpack the contradictions of a single event from the perspectives of multiple witnesses.

Written and performed by Sello Ramalahloane with music by Zandi Hlatshwayo, the play sees Ramalahloane embodying multiple characters, all of whom have been witness to a mystifying event – a swift and drastic murder, with only a suit and tie to speak of, and no sight of a weapon. Told from the premise of a series of witnesses testifying in court – bolstered and coloured by Hlatshwayo’s vocals – Matswakabele is a work that puzzles out the way a story is told, who tells it, and how this influences the quality of that story – its insights, perspectives and its proximity to the truth.

Witness after witness, we gain a fuller and infinitely richer picture of the event in question. We hear the voices of the crowd, the heat and activity of the day. Ultimately, we arrive at the final testimony, that of the accused, who delivers his account with compelling clarity, and ending in a sharp, brilliant twist.

– David Mann

CREDITS:

WRITER & PERFORMER | Sello Ramolahloane
MUSICIAN | Zandi Hlatshwayo
COSTUME DESIGNER | SO Academy Costume Mentees

PANTHER

Panther presents a performed version of the poet Rainer Maria Rilke’s poem detailing a captured panther behind bars.

Making use of live recitation, music, physical theatre and the Vimba stage (a custom-built, moveable stage from Season 6 of The Centre for the Less Good Idea), the performance is a brief, but rich interpretation of the themes of desire, futility, freedom and resolve.

The addition of live music and responsive performance brings a unique element of comprehension to the work, further exploring the potential of a written poem revised for the stage.

Finally, the physical performance of Panther can be seen as an unleashing of energy, and a poetic response to the containment of such energy. It is a liberatory reimagining of the original heart-rending poem.

– David Mann

CREDITS:

TEXT | Rainer Maria Rilke
DIRECTOR | William Kentridge
PERFORMERS | Teresa Phuti Mojela & Sello Ramolahloane
MUSICIANS | Micca Manganye & Volley Nchabeleng

A HUNGER ARTIST

A Hunger Artist takes its lead from Franz Kafka’s short story by the same name and employs live recitation, performance, and music as a means of further exploring the author’s text through the realms of the stage.

An intimate reading by Michael Mazibuko of Kafka’s tale of yearning, futility, and artistic integrity, A Hunger Artist utilises projection, narration, and the intermittent gestures of the trombone courtesy of Dan Selsick. At 15-minutes, the performance is short-form theatre that engages with the structure and form of the written short story.

In what can be viewed as a direct response to Season 7’s primary inquiry – what of text? – A Hunger Artist explores the possibilities of translating that which is designed to be read, into a staged work of theatre, and seeing what emerges. Like so much of Kafka’s work, it is enduring and oddly prophetic, a tale for starving artists in a time of great upheaval.

– David Mann

CREDITS: