It is a most unenviable assignment to write a negative notice for the latest play by our greatest playwright. More the pity, since none of Fugard’s last five plays has had as much care and love lavished upon them as in this production by director Ross Devenish. The attention to detail is extraordinary. Designer Saul Radomsky’s set is an aesthetically accomplished work of art in its own right, transporting us to the very heart of the Karoo. Fugard should be pleased.
Unfortunately, no amount of direction except the right to cut at will, can rescue a play that although inoffensive in its errors, is overwritten, repetitive, sentimental and prosaic.
Coming Home concludes the sad life of Nieu Bethesda’s prodigal daughter, Veronica Jonkers (played by a lacklustre Bronwyn van Graan), started in Valley Song, Fugard’s first play after democracy. Much of act one is an unnecessary and contrived retelling of that story. The play picks up thereafter, thanks to Devenish accomplishing the difficult task of extracting a largely convincing performance from Devan Walbrugh in a substantial part for an 11-year-old actor, and to David Isaacs as the chuckleheaded Alfred Witbooi, who does a highly commendable job swimming against a tide of dull nostalgia for an imagined past.
Fugard proceeds to tick off the issues of the day, giving each distant and thinly informed treatment: Veronica has AIDS; her husband was killed in a xenophobic brawl; her child, a budding wordsmith, must assume the head of the household.
The most poignant result of Athol Fugard’s Coming Home is that it reveals just how far from home its author now is. At one point, he seems to criticise his own dotage, asking, what is the value of a whole lot of useless memories? He has not given us a satisfactory answer here, except to suggest that hopefully a grandson will write a better play.
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Musical legends Taliep Petersen and David Kramer worked together for two decades from 1986 to 2006, writing songs and creating musicals that have been performed to critical acclaim across the globe from Kuala Lumpur to London and New York. In memory of the late Petersen and to honour their friendship and the musical legacy of their extraordinary creative synergy, David and Renaye Kramer put together a Broadway style show of song and dance to showcase the songs from their many hit musicals. After an unprecedented success in the summer season, The Kramer Petersen Songbook now returns to the Baxter.
Except for two songs the first half is drawn from the musicals District Six (1987) and Kat and the Kings (1995). These are songs of loves and dreams. The closing number Dancing on My Own from Crooners (1992) gathers together a moving tribute to Taliep Petersen. The second half picks up the pace with vibrant ensemble numbers, the catchy beats of Ghoema (2005) and penetrating social commentary from Poison (1992).
A superb cast includes Kramer stalwarts Loukmaan Adams, Alistair Izobell and Mono Dullisear. The inimitable Terry Fortune anchors the show and even pulls off a hilarious turn in drag. Camillo Lombard leads a five-piece band with banjo, guitars, keyboard, drums and Donvino Prins’s mean saxophone. As one expects of a Kramer show, the production values are internationally high. Saul Radomsky’s set is a superlative marriage of style and function.
Petersen and Kramer’s songs are a joyous expression and reclamation of Cape culture, and they have become a part of the cultural fabric of the country. Their songbook is a gift to the nation.
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The innovative Nicholas Ellenbogen returns for the second time to his new pet project – the extraordinary space that used to be the lions’ den at the Old Zoo. Seated on platforms, the audience is separated from the mountain slope enclosure by a deep chasm. Ellenbogen makes good use of this gigantic canvas, hoisting actors up with ropes, dressing them in oversized costumes, and choreographing a great underwater sequence – part of the theatre magic created by design supremo Saul Radomsky.
Set on the Cape’s west coast, a feud between the families of the Grootbooms and the Thembus is healed through a parody on the story of The Little Mermaid. It is a lively combination of pantomime, physical theatre, Disney send-up, and burlesque humour with slapstick moments, in a sort of vaudeville format. The whimsical Godfrey Johnson, proficiently utilising a wide range of recognisable styles – smatterings of Broadway, local folk, pop and cabaret – has composed the musical numbers to lyrics from Ellenbogen.
With Nhlanhla Mavundla in the lead role, Ellenbogen has assembled a cast of respectable talents including Lindiwe Matshikiza, opera singer Bongani Bubu, and musician Roger Lucey. Ivan Abrahams gives one of his best career performances as Methusala.
A past master in the alphabet of theatre craft, Ellenbogen pulls his entertainment off as usual, though the story is not always clear and some of the antics off target. His success is his lack of pretension about his eclectic style, his spirit for fun and critically, the honesty with which he presents his stories.
Dinner is served nightly before the show in the unusual setting of the old lion cages.
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