| Sizwe Banzi is Dead |
| Written by Jan Chandler |
| Thursday, 18 October 2007 08:21 |
 Left - Pitcho Womba Konga and Habib Dembélé. Cover - Pitcho Womba Konga and Habib Dembélé. Photos - Pascal Gelly / Agence BernandWhat a partnership! Renowned British director Peter Brook, he of The Mahabharata fame; Afrikaner playwright Athol Fugard, noted for his political plays exploring the realities of life for Black South Africans under apartheid; and two wonderful African actors. Expectations are raised and, in this case, fully satisfied. Under the talented direction of Peter Brook performers Habib Dembele, a writer and political activist who stood as a presidential candidate for the Republic of Mali and Pitcho Womba Konga, a celebrated rapper, hip hop artist and producer from the Congo, bring this thirty year old play alive in the here and now. The play's central themes of the struggle for identity, humanity, truth and survival in a society that judges people solely on the colour of their skin, are as relevant today as they were when the play was first performed in the 1970s. Sizwe Banzi is Dead is one of three so-called 'statement' plays developed by Fugard in collaboration with African actors John Kani and Winston Ntshona, who performed in a recent production of the play at the National Theatre in London. In the 1970s Fugard, Kani and Ntshona toured the plays around the black townships, often only performing for one night before moving on to another venue, be it Church hall or community centre. The audiences, recognising experiences from their own lives, were vocal in their response, applauding, crying, calling out - this was live theatre in the truest sense. And all this at a time when apartheid forbade the interaction between white and black and insisted that every African carry a pass, a numbered identity card that gave details of name, place of birth and their right, or not, to work in the city. Sizwe Banzi is Dead tells the story of a black African worker who has his pass rescinded. This means that he must return to his homeland where there is no work and he will be unable to provide for his wife and children. When he and a man who is helping him hide from the police, happen upon a dead body they see an opportunity for Sizwe to adopt a new identity which will allow him to work. The open expanse of the Merlyn stage looks a little like it might at the end of a run, when most of the scenery has been removed and all you are left with are a couple of empty clothes racks, a large rubbish bag, a broom, an odd shoe, some discarded clothes, and a number of large cardboard sheets. This is minimalism at work. The play opens with a lengthy monologue delivered by Habib Dembele as Styles who works at the Ford factory. His wonderful physicality and ability to take on different characters ensures that the audience is in fits of laughter over the preparations that are being made in anticipation of a visit by Henry Ford Jnr. The terrible working conditions in the factory are exposed as we laugh. The rest of the play shows the struggles, practical and emotional, experienced by Sizwe (Pitcho Womba Konga) as Buntu (Habib Dembele) urges him to take on the identity of the dead man. Konga brings a gentle dignity to the role of Sizwe and there is a particularly moving scene where he asks what is the matter with me? I'm the same as everyone else. It reminded me, in its power, of the famous speech of Shylock from Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice. Dembele creates Buntu as a cheerful, energetic, trickster, a survivor, a perfect foil for the honourable and honest Sizwe. The action flows beautifully and there is never a dull moment. My only wish is that my French were stronger as I did find that I needed to follow the sur-titles and this meant I couldn't give my undivided attention to the performers. The audience in the Merlyn Theatre at The Malthouse on Tuesday night certainly responded positively and vocally to the current production; laughing, cheering on Sizwe when he finally managed to adopt his new identity and giving the performers a standing ovation. In his writing on theatre Peter Brook has argued that theatre is always a self-destructive act and it is always written on the wind and it is this impermanence that distinguishes it from all the other arts. What then remains after the performance?
when emotion and argument are harnessed to a wish from the audience to see more clearly into itself – then something in the mind burns. The event scorches on to the memory an outline, a taste, a trace, a smell – a picture. It is the play's central image that remains, its silhouette, and if the elements are rightly blended this silhouette will be its meaning, this shape will be the essence of what it has to say. Peter Brook, The Empty Space, 1968
Well I think this production has achieved just this. The result, a stunning night of theatre that had the audience engaged from the first moment; a performance full of laughter and full of poignant insight into life in a society where one is a number rather than a human being. And because, again in Brook's words ... meaning never belongs to the past. It can be checked in each man's own present experiences ... this play and this performance has important resonances in today's world and in our current Australian society. A theatrical experience that no one who loves theatre should miss.
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