A very clever two hander, short, simple and well constructed, which also packs a powerful punch. The audience are made to identify very quickly with the two characters as both the script and the performance style is very open and personal. Often we were being spoken to directly and the warmth and intimacy which this involved was quite charming. It was also clever how the play restricted itself to the central injustice of apartheid, the lie that one human being is worth more than another because of their colour and should be treated as such, allowing us to understand that by getting to know the characters in a very personal way. The fact that Sizwe had to give up his identity in order to maintain a simple right to live where he wanted and support his family was horror enough- especially when the actors had built up such a personal relationship with the audience. Both of them were excellent. Louis Emerick showed great versatility as Styles and Buntu and quickly established a rapport with the tiny matinee audience. He has great presence and used that to full effect. Seun Shote is charming and funny but he also showed great presence and dignity in his speech asserting his worth as a man.
The set was quite beautiful. It was made up of sepia photographs of township people and back projected images were used right through the show to add colour and resonance. During the street scene the whole back wall of the theatre was used to provide a township street as a setting and it gave the enclosed scenes which we were mostly seeing a context which worked very well indeed.
Only one tiny mis-judgment. I wouldn’t have had John Kani and Winston Ntshone’s names used within the play as it broke through the suspension of disbelief. It will have been meant as a tribute but it still shouldn’t have been done.