We have an unfortunate national habit of considering ourselves uniquely dreadful when it comes to bad news. Corruption, incompetence, hypocritical diplomacy, political bullying, the undermining of the judiciary etcetera – these afflictions are alive and well in almost every country. Yet when it comes to those things that do make us as a nation truly special, we don’t seem to see it.
We owe director David Kramer a big thank you, for this is the overriding thought one comes away with from Three Wise Men. In a clever piece of secular, but meaningful meta-textual referencing of the Christmas story, we are reminded with humour of the diversity, tolerance and common humanity of our nation. At the risk of not fulfilling the review brief, it’s worth dwelling on the fact that there are very few countries where an openly gay imam lives at peace within his community, Israeli visitors comment on how little security surrounds the synagogues, and many respected Christian leaders embrace evolution. And so we can have a comic trio from three different perspectives making fun of prejudice to rapturous applause and unselfconscious laughter.
The three wise men bringing seasonal cheer are well known stand-up comedians, Marc Lottering (gay son of a Pentecostal minister), Riaad Moosa (Muslim and a doctor) and Nik Rabinowitz (a Xhosa speaking Jewish comedian), all at their best and never having looked better, especially when they drag up. Each takes a turn, and using a format that might have been suggested by Jay Leno or the Saturday Night Live show, solos and group sketches are interspersed with musical entertainment by Donvino Prins’s live onstage band.
First-rate production values, a healthy balance of broadly appealing material and more poignant moments, the compatibility and measured delivery from the three stand-ups, makes this a soul nourishing entertainment to welcome in the new year.
