THE MOTHER OF ALL EATING
DIRECTOR: Makhaola Siyanda Ndebele
PLAYWRIGHT: Zakes Mda
CAST: Mpho Osei-Tutu, Pusetso Thibedi, Bernett Mulungo (pianist)
VENUE: Momentum, State Theatre
UNTIL: May 23
RATING: ***
Set in the 1980s in Lesotho, this play is about the horrific effects of corruption and greed which turn people away from their humanity as they wallow in their exaggerated entitlement.
First performed in Maseru in the early ’90s, it is the prophetic nature of this morality tale that allows for the laughter from the beginning as the audience recognises a story all too familiar – yet tragically sad. It seems almost inevitable, according to the playwright writing from and about a neighbouring country – but he could have been writing about anyone.
“The play was speaking truth to power,” writes the director in his programme notes. “It was funny, it was protest, it was revolutionary and it was potent. I knew after watching it that I had made the right decision to study drama. I realised the impact the theatre could have.”
“Eating” is a term loosely used and points to the gorging of civil servants and politicians on the riches of the land. They’re not stealing or turning their backs on their people, they’re “eating”. And those who don’t sit at the table are reviled and usually fired because they could turn on those who do, instead of serving them.
Mda must have witnessed this behaviour to tell a story so real about things we witness now more than 20 years later. That’s the sadness and the tragedy, it’s not an exception but the rule. The audience knows this and become yet another voice in this narrative of The Man, someone who has lined his pockets at the expense of everyone around him. Nothing can stop him and finally, with an expectant wife, he has an heir for all this accumulated wealth.
Ndebele made very specific choices in presenting this play. Choosing two actors instead of one delivering a monologue, he has two actors who pass the baton to and fro as they tell their tale of excess. In the back-ground, a lone pianist tinkles away almost as if in a silent movie as he fills the emotional void of what is happening on stage. But he also provides the sound effects, the phone ringing or loud knocking at the door.
The style is burlesque, but the buffoonery should be slick and stylised, not caricature. What needs to happen is a build-up of buffoonery that spills into shock as the life that seemed to fly so high starts unravelling. That and the reality of what is unfolding on stage.
Thibedi, who has replaced the actor who performed in the first season a year ago, plays rather than breathes The Man. This makes it difficult for Osei-Tutu to play at his desired level. He has to exacerbate the decibels which drive the comedy rather than the tragedy about to erupt. It’s comical, yes, but underneath it all is this field of loss and sadness. And we must feel horror at the end.
Everything needs to be super slick, smartly imparted and sweetly bounced from one to the other and back. It should be like an elegant dance even with the comical moments, and there are many.
But the structure is there, the actors are capable and once they dive back into The Man and who he needs to be, they will deliver a knock-out blow. They did the first time round and can do it again. And nothing can dim the brilliance of Mda’s powerful play and the construct by this smart director.