KETEKANG
DIRECTOR and CREATOR: James Ngcobo
MUSICAL DIRECTOR: Tshepo Mngoma (violin)
CHOREOGRAPHER: Luyanda Sidiya
CAST: Nokukhanya Dlamini, Aubrey Poo, Caroline Borole, Dionne Song, Katlego Letsholonyana, Lebohang Toko, Lesedi Job, Thandazile Sonia Radebe, Mahlatsi Mokgonyana, Vuyelwa Maluleke
DANCERS: Vuyani Dance Company
VENUE: John Kani Theatre at |the Market
UNTIL: December 14
RATING: ****
IF you feel proudly African, this is your show. As the words of former president Thabo Mbeki’s I Am An African emotionally captured in dance plays out before your eyes, the impact of where we are hits you directly in the heart.
That’s what Ngcobo achieves with this reflection on 20 years of democracy with a special homage to the past struggles and those brave men and women who fought for freedom while linking it to the similarities of the American Civil Rights movement which started 50 years ago.
It’s an elegant coming together of words, music and dance which isn’t always the easiest thing to pull off, but it seems Ngcobo’s years of working with this type of genre has given him a confident grace of beautifully working the balance and achieving a flow through the production that is seamless.
It’s also the cunning choice of the words and the music that adds weight to a programme that he urges audiences to embrace rather than think about. It’s emotional as we listen to Verwoerd outrageously comparing apartheid with “good neighbourliness”, to Miriam Makeba’s heart-wrenching Gauteng (even without understanding the words), Sidiya’s soulful choreography capturing some of the country’s most horrific moments with a mournful majesty and the Langston Hughes poem I, Too, Sing America that speaks to a universal longing for freedom and belonging.
It’s nostalgia often drenched in sadness and sorrow, not to wallow but to celebrate what people have achieved, where they came from and how they fought for their dignity and determination to be free.
It’s not maudlin, there’s no pointing of fingers, it’s simply a remembrance of iconic moments, some searing in their sadness of what people do to others, how the cycle is never-ending, but also the sensational music, songs that have meaning for some or might be new to others, but always with the extraordinary singers, an absolute joy to experience.
That’s Ngcobo’s other gift. He knows how to cast yet give a helping hand to young performers who need their chance to shine and, oh, they do. From Toko’s nuanced performance from Boesman and Lena and his emotional singing of John Legend’s Coming Home, the indescribable performances from the trio of singers, and the spine-chilling Dlamini, Borole and Job in solo and tandem, Poo’s exuberant performances in song and words, Maluleke and Song as they tear at your heart with words and the excellent Lab graduates Letsholonyana (with especially his Itsoseng lament) and Mokgonyana, there wasn’t a wrong or bad note.
It’s the kind of show you want to witness a second time because as the music and the words flow, your head is working hard to hold on to some of the meaning while the heart pulls you in more emotional directions.
Ketekang is quiet and gentle in its mournful memories, but also piercing in its perception. The music is pitch-perfect, completely cushioning the song and the dancing adds another language which adds spectacle to the substance. Each and every performer is sizzling in the moment which is simply magical with, it seems, everyone in the audience proudly African.
It’s an adult musical which presents a perfect alternative for this time of year.