AMAJUBA: Like Doves We Rise. To 20 November.

Coventry

AMAJUBA Like Doves We Rise
conceived & directed by Yael Farber & written in collaboration with the cast

Warwick Arts Centre To 20 November 2004
Tue-Sat 7.30pm
Post-show talk 17 Nov
Runs 1hr 30min No interval

TICKETS: 024 7652 4524
www.warwickartscentre.co.uk
Review Hazel Brown 11 November 2004 at Lighthouse, Poole

Everything theatre should be, simple, truthful and moving beyond words.This is one of the best pieces of theatre I have seen. Five actors, with a minimum of props, sing, dance and tell the stories of their early lives in South Africa in the 80's in such a moving and simple way that, even though there had been little reaction during the play, at the end the whole audience in Poole rose in tribute, many in tears.

The five actors come on stage at the beginning of the play and stand in small washing bowls, singing in 5-part a capella harmony. One of them opens the play by saying, All my life, I have been waiting for the future to arrive, the present to become the past. Then the whole cast declares: We come from a place and time we would rather forget. As the cast circles one of the actors, singing, it becomes his or her turn to tell their story, the bowls and tin baths the only props, a few blankets, hats and umbrellas the only costume changes. This is ensemble acting at its best.

The stories tell of starving orphan children, families broken asunder by the the Land Act and Group Areas Act, bullying, the formation of Winnie Mandela's football' team, the loss of fear, the rape and killing of adolescents. In fact all the brutal realities brought about by the appalling Apartheid system and its effects on the many different people and parts of that diverse country.

However, the evening is not completely bleak, there is much loving and caring demonstrated, as well as touching moments of humour. The finale, with the cast rising like the doves of the title, sand spilling from their outstretched hands, beautifully creates a vision of hope. Whilst the actors declare they are not seeking pity, everyone left the theatre with a deeper understanding of what their lives had been and hoping to look jointly to the future.

This is everything theatre should be, stories told simply and well, with wonderful singing, dancing, acting, beautiful and terrifying images created before your eyes, so you leave the theatre changed a little forever.

Cast:
Tshallo Chokwe
France Conradie
Bongeka Mpongwana
Phillip Tips Tindisa
Jabulile Tshabalala

Director: Yael Farber
Lighting: Tim Boyd

2004-11-16 01:26:26