Last chance to see an incomparable animal mime
‘ACELEBRATION” is how theatre-maker Nicholas Ellenbogen (pictured) sums up the forthcoming show Kwamanzi at the Rosebank Theatre – with good reason. Apart from celebrating African wildlife (Kwamanzi features animals at a watering hole in the bush), this restaging of the popular production dating from 1985 also honours its lead actor, Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, who, when asked what role he plays in the work, chuckles, “Everything!”
Ellenbogen describes Mkhwanazi as “the greatest practising actor in South Africa today”, explaining that in addition to an enviable grasp of character, he has the rare ability to approach his material with “heart” and the humility of an ant: “He can shed the cloak of traditional Western theatre and start with what’s there, not with what he’s bringing to it. Very few actors can do that, not even the great John Kani. Nhlanhla acts from within rather than in response to directions.”
This production of Kwamanzi has the added poignancy of being the last time Mkhwanazi, now aged 50, will be appearing in the show. As an exponent of animal mime, he is without equal; David Kramer is on record as saying that his way of “becoming” an animal is unique and that when he no longer performs, this art will sadly disappear with him.
Ellenbogen comments that in every actor’s life, the time comes to ease off, and since Mkhwanazi has a shoulder injury, it is more than likely that permanent damage could be sustained if he continues to perform this intensely physical piece of theatre. “That is why it’s high time to celebrate him and his talent,” he adds.
Appreciation was not always forthcoming in Mkhwanazi’s life, especially when he was still at home: “I never knew love from my parents and I was treated like a servant in my house.
“The first time I had praise was when I was 15 years old and showed traditional dances (of mourning, weddings, war and celebration) to a company in rehearsal brought by Gibson Kente to township theatre; they involved me in their work and I also became an activist and gun-runner, as I moved from one township to another in KwaZuluNatal with weapons in bags (it was at the time when the IFP and ANC were at war).
“Then Cosatu recognised my talent but saw I lacked self-belief, so they sent me to CAP (Community Arts Project) to further my education in Cape Town, and I loved this city at once… I had exciting teachers and my confidence grew.”
It was at this point that the serendipitous encounter between Ellenbogen and Mkhwanazi occurred. The former had staged his signature show, Horn of Sorrow, at the Baxter Theatre Centre in Cape Town and was off to Durban; Mkhwanazi was on the same flight on a visit home.
A business card changed hands, one thing led to another and Mkhwanazi made his debut in Horn of Sorrow in Germany. The rest is history.
On the subject of Kwamanzi, Ellenbogen recalls: “It started in 1984 as an entertainment for Amstel Playwright of the Year Awards and was the first work with Napac’s Loft, a company of equal opportunity with no gender or racial bias.
“It’s a ‘levelling’ play with no dialogue, just observation of animals in the wild with their own stories to tell. The term ‘physical theatre’ was coined for it in Grahamstown in 1985; it was hugely appreciated overseas and hugely resented in this country under apartheid.”
After touring Germany, France, England, Holland and Belgium to rapturous audiences, the company, now called Theatre for Africa and independent of Napac, presented it at Sun City in the Pilanesberg with a new recruit – Mkhwanazi.
His stamina has proved equal to this piece for nearly 30 years and this is the last opportunity audiences will have to experience for themselves the extraordinary calibre of the man.
Kwamanzi runs at the Rosebank Theatre from tomorrow for five weeks.