Madiba’s moments of greatness
Madiba the Musical, The Opera House Thursday, February 7, runs until tomorrow Reviewed by Ruby Macandrew
Condensing such a well-known life into two hours was never going to be an easy task, particularly when that life was fraught with challenges, but the team behind Madiba
The Musical certainly gave it a good crack.
The English adaptation of Jean-Pierre Hadida and Alicia Sebrien’s musical tells – or more accurately, sings – the story of anti-apartheid revolutionary Nelson Mandela’s adult years, acknowledging his struggles and achievements in equal measure through music and dance.
The show, staged at Wellington’s Opera House, begins strongly with the majority of the cast on stage giving it their all to the first of more than 20 musical numbers throughout the show.
Early on we’re introduced to the narrator, played by David Denis – an incredible triple-threat when it comes to acting, dancing and singing. His inclusion serves to explain not only the storyline, but the necessary time jumps.
Denis, through breakdance, hip-hop and rap, helps bring the story into the present, with the style drawing parallels to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton.
His modern pop-locking movements and colloquial language work well with the more traditional dance numbers and use of the nation’s indigenous languages.
Without spoiling anything, the way the narrator is eventually brought into the storyline fold is also very clever.
One of the hardest things to capture in the two-hour-long musical is Mandela’s 27 years in prison however, through simple but clever set design, he is almost omnipresent throughout the story, even as the world, his friends and family continue their fights outside of his Robben Island cell.
Perfectly cast was South African-born Perci Moeketsi as Mandela. From the look to the voice, Moeketsi had him down entirely, even though it was at times detrimental in terms of clarity.
For all the good the cast serves up, there is certainly some lulls in the story with the first half bogged down in setting the scene and almost over-explaining the early years of apartheid and Mandela’s fight. That combined with a few cheesy musical numbers let the show down in parts but with the powerhouse vocals from the entire cast, much can be forgiven.
Controversial figure and Mandela’s second wife Winnie Mandela is portrayed in a positive light as the dutiful and strong-willed woman carrying on the anti-apartheid fight while her husband is locked up. Portrayed by Ruva Ngwenya – arguably the best singer in the cast – Winnie was a pleasure to watch throughout.
The concurrent story of Afrikaans police officer Peter Van Leden and his struggle to justify his violent actions towards black people sits well alongside Mandela’s jail time scenes, giving just enough of a glimpse into the other side of the fight without being too sympathetic.
The two acts, both an hour long, went quickly, however, the penultimate song
Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika felt like a natural end with the eventual end song Freedom feeling simply like one song too many.
All in all Madiba the Musical, released 25 years after the abolishment of the apartheid in South Africa, is a fun watch despite the occasional flaw.