Re-exploring old frontiers
Nat Ramabulana is one of South Africa’s highly respected young actors, one who seamlessly straddles the world of theatre and screen as easily as a baby cries for milk. Buhle Mbonambi interviewed the actor
CREPUSCULE tells the story of writer Can Themba and his forbidden relationship with Janet, a white woman, in the heyday of Sophiatown. It’s based on Themba’s short story of the same name and has been adapted for stage by Khayelihle Dominique Gumede. Nat Ramabulana plays Can Themba and Kate Liquorish stars as Janet.
The play is on at the Playhouse today at 2pm. I find the timing especially perfect, with race relations in the country not great. Do you think Crepuscule is the right play to remind people that at, the end of the day, we’re just people?
Yes, absolutely. I think you’ve picked up on something compelling and smart about the play. Although Can and Janet, the two central figures in the play, are respectively black and white, it’s not overtly discussed in the play. I don’t think either of them ever brings it up.
And that’s what’s so special about the depiction of their relationship. It’s not about a black man and a white woman. It’s about two people with their own issues and insecurities about love and how they try to overcome them in an environment that has outlawed a romantic relationship between people of different races. What is it about Crepuscule that makes it an important tale?
Ultimately, I think it’s an important story to tell because it’s about two brave individuals who were not prepared to be limited by the environment they lived in.
They wanted to be together and were prepared to explore those feelings regardless of the threat it posed to their lives. It’s such a liberating story and so inspirational. And I think we need that kind of inspiration in an age where systems expect us to be or behave a certain way. How big a deal is it for you to play the character inspired by Can Themba?
It’s a big deal. I love playing black male characters from a bygone era who were brave, intelligent and defiant in the face of mockery, imprisonment and all kinds of social injustice.
We need to see more of these characters on stage, film and television. It says so much about us. Sometimes for black people there’s a danger of limiting our representation, especially of characters back in the day, to people who were ignorant and focused only on fighting apartheid. The play has received glowing reviews. Is there always a fear that sometimes the audience won’t get the gist of it?
I don’t think so. It has been seen by such a wide range of people and they have enjoyed it, so it’s exciting for us to have an opportunity to test it with a different audience, wherever they may be. That’s the beauty of theatre: it’s live and you know right there and then whether an audience likes it or not. The director is relatively young. Do you find new blood in the industry injects a new sense of urgency, especially in stories told on stage?
Young blood offers a great opportunity to move arguments forward in a way that previous generations may not have thought of. Dominique is a brave but also sensitive soul. And he has such a keen sense of where the country and people are. It’s wonderful to work with him to convey classic ideas and themes in a bold way. What do you hope the audience will take from Crepuscule?
That’s a tough question. I hope they just enjoy it and appreciate the wonderful, hard work and storytelling techniques that have gone into making this glorious piece of work. You’ve moved interchangeably from theatre to screen. Do you prefer one medium to the other?
I love both, but stage holds a special place in my heart. I studied theatre and feel it’s the only platform that separates the thespians from the wannabes. There’s no experience like it and it’s something that can truly live in your heart forever