CLASSIC STORY OF 1970sAPARTHEID
ONCE in a while some director comes up with a stage play that leaves the audience in awe.
Cincinnatti, currently on at the Market Theatre in Newtown, Joburg, is one such show. It is a classic that deals with apartheid stories perhaps not so different from the ones you ’ ve read before.
It was first staged in 1979 and has returned to remind people of the harassment blacks in particular experienced under apartheid.
The storyline ticks all the boxes. It is witty, interesting, lively and entertaining, with just the right dose of suspense.
The stage design and use of light are out of this world. The story is based on a club that existed in the 1970s in Fordsburg, Johannesburg.
This is where blacks, whites, Indians and coloureds shared the dance floor, where classy hookers picked up clients.
Those were the days people dressed the part when going out. It was the era of Afros and hipsters.
Cincinnatti had cabaret shows and even karaoke and was the hottest spot in Jozi, attracting international stars to SA, which made it vulnerable to police raids that finally forced its closure.
The play takes the audience back to a time and place when laws were unfair and injustice was rife.
Cincinnatti seeks to address deeper issues beyond mere body shaking on the floor. It encourages a discussion of issues like race and religion.
While some white people mingled and mixed freely with black people, some took the Group Areas Act, a law setting aside separate residential areas for different races, very seriously.
It ’ s commendable how artistic director Clive Mathibe has interpreted the script and understood the writer ’ s conceptualisation. However, the story has been unnecessarily extended.