Photo: Charley Pollard
As part of his writing residency at the University of Cape Town drama department, Mike van Graan gave a public lecture in which he wondered why we have moved from protest theatre to the theatre of conformity. Are we too confused by our past loyalties and the complexity of our current problems to feel justifiably outraged? In the same lecture, Van Graan singled out Pieter-Dirk Uys as one of the few who had remained true activists, who “aimed his barbs at the current wielders of power as much as he did to the previous government”.
What a welcome boon it is then to have Van Graan following suit and entering the satirical scene. Always the activist, Van Graan finds much to be dissatisfied with and therefore to satirise in the new South Africa. His latest production, Bafana Republic, is inspired by the impending 2010 FIFA World Cup, and its subtext is the question: are we in danger of becoming a banana republic?
Van Graan has composed a dozen sketches. Director Lara Bye has drawn impressive versatility from actress Lindiwe Matshikiza, whose delivery is closer in style to that of John Leguizamo (Mambo Mouth) than Uys. There are fewer visual jokes, but each character has a distinctive and recognisable voice – the coach Raymond Hack, Chardonnay the footballer’s abused wife, and Jorge, Carlos Perreira’s BEE (Brazilian Economic Empowerment) partner who collects the coach’s salary in two large suitcases. The text is dense with puns and the sprightly word play we expect from Van Graan, which makes it worth seeing a second time.
It opens with a proudly South African welcome for the fans arriving in 2010 when Zuma is President and nothing works. Soon we meet Martine van Schalkwyk conducting township tours and the Bhamjee entrepreneurs selling 2010 magic wands that eliminate poverty and crime (no refund). Some portraits are more biting, Pahad (read Essop) suppressing dissent and Kabouter who has a remarkable resemblance to Wouter Basson.
Van Graan, as a columnist, knows how to produce pithy vignettes, the most successful are those that have a dramatic vehicle to deliver them – a roller coaster, Bafana idols, match commentary and a climactic farewell song, a re-lyricised version of De La Rey that goes:
Van der Spuy, Van der Spuy
Sal jy ons hoere kom vry want ons lei Van der Spuy
Ons is kaal kom betaal
Dan mag ons eet nog een maal
Asseblief Van der Spuy
