‘One man on a dark stage’ brilliantly conjures up blood ties

A MAN AND HIS DOG, St Andrews Hall until Saturday.

NHLANHLA Mkhwanazi is a brilliant actor who changes characters at the drop of a vowel and goes from a dog to a boy to a man and vice versa.

He starts off as a dog, which is the time before time – before man, which reflects our ancestors.

Then he is a husband who shouts at his wife as the fire is not lit when he gets home. He sends her out into the fields under a full moon, with the dog and her child on her back, to collect wood.

She gathers the wood and puts it on her head and is taken into the sky by the full moon, which causes the dog to bay.

Blood doesn’t forget, neither do families. The play reflects the stance by African people, who see the ancestors and blood ties as more important than humans.

He ejects his stepson from his house because he doesn’t have the same blood – the ancestors will not acknowledge him. He asks the question: “How can a shadow [another man’s child] have a seat at the table?”

When he was away, his wife was raped by a man, and so he cannot accept this stepson. This young man feels rejected and gets into mischief, as there is no one to guide him. He is chased from the village as he has no blood ties, no father. He wanders around alone with his dog.

What happens to the children who are raised by their mothers with no fathers? Their children are being denied their blood right.

Then there are the mothers who get jobs and sleep away from home. What happens to their children if they have no gogos?

This is a thought-provoking subject which affects a large proportion of the population. And it seems to be ignored – it is hidden and whispered about behind their backs.

One man on a dark stage with spotlights conjures up all these characters and subjects for the audience to ponder upon.

Brilliant – a must-see. – Ann Knight