Actors take flight in brave play
DIRECTOR: Lesedi Job
CAST: Mbulelo Grootboom, Martin Kintu, Kai Luke Brummer
VENUE: Baxter Flipside, until February 24
RATING: ★★★★✩
ATHEME as ambitious as that of global mobility – inevitably raising such issues as the plight of refugees, the conditions motivating mass migration, and the human imperative to seek a better life – is not a topic to tackle lightly.
Nor is its dramatisation lacking in challenges.
Mike van Graan, never one to shy away from daunting and topical material, has penned a trilogy of playlets rather than a single full-length work for his exploration of this subject.
The merit of this option is the focus it gives on specific aspects of the complex theme, and the human face, as individual dramas and tragedies are depicted.
On the downside, the brevity of the small-scale works results in a degree of superficiality since none of the actors is able to develop his persona sufficiently to progress beyond the stage of archetype.
Thus we have the brutal hostagetaker (Nigerian), the guilt-ridden victim (Canadian), the desperate asylum-seeker (Somali), the bureaucratic immigration officer (American), the coarse-grained racist (Australian)… This smorgasbord of nationalities underscores the global aspect, but turns the characters into representatives of certain stereotypes.
The inherent simplicity of each mini-play’s narrative is complicated by constant shifts from one to another of the trilogy’s components. This is distracting and puts unnecessary demands on the performers, who have to switch from one accent to another as well as maintain some continuity of characterisation.
This is what makes their performances all the more impressive: Kintu excels in ringing the changes from violence-habituated ferocity to cringing vulnerability; Brummer convinces in all three of his guises, notably as the thuggish and insensitive tormentor of refugees; and Grootboom brings his habitual brand of intelligent understatement to his trio of roles.
Mandla Mtshali’s lighting design has some inspired effects – like the vertical bars of light evoking a prison, and the effective illumination of individuals in penumbra to emphasise the drama of their circumstances.
Visual effects would be more impressive if their scale were greater (the three little screens above the stage are underwhelming), but at the end, the tableau of migrants silhouetted in their weary trudge towards an uncertain future is memorable.
When Swallows Cry is a brave attempt to give shape to a massive theme, but it addresses the mind rather than the heart.