Nika Jazaee enjoyed an unashamedly political play about South Africa.
A play based on political speeches? You must be joking! Turns out some of it is funny (and meant to be), but overall this is seriously gripping stuff about South Africa after the end of apartheid, and, in particular, the tensions between Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki, Mandela’s successor as South African president.
In Rhetorical, written and directed by Mpumelelo Paul Grootboom, winner of South Africa’s 2005 Young Artist Award for drama, the two leaders compete for the podium and the struggle between them breaks out into a fight – a battle of ideas between Mandela, Mbeki and Mbeki’s frustration at being constantly compared to the ‘saintly’ former president.
The play is a mixed media piece combining political speeches, dialogue, mime and news video footage. But the thread running through it is Mbeki’s political career and the various, vexatious issues which he encountered – HIV-AIDS, poverty, crime, and the position of the African National Congress (the ruling party in post-apartheid South Africa).
The play also highlights the huge gap between intellectual and political concerns, and the plight of the individual. When it comes down to it, what use are magical speeches promising societal change, if such speeches don’t put food on the table?
Presley Chweneyagae, who starred in the Oscar-winning film Tsotsi, gave a brilliant performance as a South African Everyman – his house having burnt down around him, he stands alone in the townships with his mattress on his back, with no way of making his voice carry over to the politicians.
Half-way between drama and lecture, Rhetorical offered a fresh way of approaching South Africa, its people and its politics. Produced by Afro Vibes, the show was performed at Stratford Theatre Royal as part of Black History Month.
