'Tiger' a great gritty triumph
THE melting pot of diverse cultures in Tiger Bay is evocatively brought together in the musical. In an ideal world, the burning social issues of inequality, exploitation and discrimination would all be overcome by harmony and reconciliation. It may be wishful thinking, but such is the power of this resoundingly successful musical that you start to believing such a possibility exists.
It takes a courageous team to create a musical of the magnitude of Tiger Bay for a world debut from what was an empty canvas. But as it burst on to the stage for its first world performance last week, it would be an understatement to say a precedent was created.
The collaboration between Cape Town Opera and the Wales Millennium Centre is based on real events that took place at the turn of the 20th century in the cultural melting pot of the old Tiger Bay (today’s Cardiff Bay).
Michael Williams, the managing director of Cape Town Opera, who wrote the story and lyrics, draws his inspiration from the immigrants who were drawn to Tiger Bay from the end of the 19th century to the infant years of the 20th century, seeking opportunities in the coal yards and docks in the burgeoning coal industry.
As Williams writes in his introduction in the programme, despite the inequalities that existed between the wealthy coal moguls and the disadvantaged workers and poor immigrants at the other end of the scale, there was a unique cohesion as the different classes and cultures mingled.
This wonderfully rich tapestry of nationalities is evocatively brought together in the show and sustains throughout in this extraordinary production.
Against this colourful background, the set is masterfully created so as not to detract from the focus. Astonishingly simple but effective, it allows you to keep your eyes on the high-energy movement on the stage.
The massive bow of the ship, with huge anchor chain and hoist, is the constant backdrop where smaller sets are moved as needed, allowing you to be drawn into the scene. Clever use is made of shadows as cast members are lit up, etching them starkly against the walls.
Luvo Tamba is Themba, a Zulu man who comes to the Welsh harbour after his wife and son die in the Boer War. There he meets his nemesis in the cruel and corrupt Seamus O’Rourke (well played by Noel Sullivan) whom he discovers was responsible for their deaths when he was deployed as a British soldier in the war.
Love comes in two forms for the grieving man – in the symbiotic relationship between water boy Ianto, who seeks out Themba as his new Donkey Man, and with shop girl Rowena Pryddy, played by Vicki Bebb in a sterling performance.
Ianto, played alternately by the 9-year-old Louise Harvey and 11-year-old Ruby Llewelyn, both from Wales, becomes the endearing mascot. Both children put on a masterful performance, with witty asides and supreme singing that appear almost effortless.
Tamba and the youngsters work together wonderfully and Tamba’s talent shines as he slowly but surely falls for the wiles of the streetwise Ianto.
Rowena is engaged to O’Rourke, who now is the much-feared harbour master, extracting maximum labour for the minimum pay from the dock workers. A shop girl at Morgan’s Department Store, she dreams of a better life and is also at the forefront of the nascent suffragette movement.
With the demeaning treatment of her fiancé, she soon falls for the more considerate and caring Themba.
When the dockworkers strike, Themba finds himself faced with a dilemma: should he become a “black leg” – someone who snatches work from the striking workforce?
Against this background is the wealthy John, the Third Marquess of Bute (played in another exceptional performance by John Owen-Jones), who owns the harbour but seems dismally unaware of the exploitation of the workers and the water boys.
As the strike deepens and the immigrants and strikers are at loggerheads, the Marquess is forced to face the realities by going to the docks. He discovers that deep in the dark galleys of the ship, the children are being grossly mistreated while corruption and swindling is going on up above.
Daf James, who had the onerous task of creating the music, more than triumphs, as do choreographers Kenneth Tharp and Lungelo Ngamlana, in the seamless series of highly evocative scenes of song and dance which play out the story.
The grittiness of life on the docks is evoked in scenes that alternate between humour and poignancy.
This drama is as richly textured as the colourful characters the cast portray. When tragedy strikes, the masterfully executed scene evokes such a sense of sadness that you are moved to tears, but its sense of reality and balance means that it is neither self-indulgent nor pitiful.
Despite the schism that has been created with the strike, it is what draws the community together, playing out the universal message that against the odds, cohesion and love can conquer all. Tiger Bay is an absolute triumph and hopefully, despite its short run, it will return because it appeared to resonate deeply with the audience who gave it a standing ovation.
It will be staged in Wales in November.