Neil Labute’s BASH
DIRECTOR: Megan Willson
CAST: Daniel Janks, James Alexander, Jessica Friedan, Ashleigh Harvey
VENUE: Sandton’s Auto and General Theatre on the Square
UNTIL: September 27
RATING: ****
THE timing, believed the director, is right even if they have wanted to do this for a few years.
She’s right. With the country debating the Oscar Pistorius trial and what or when or how he did what, Labute has taken exactly those parameters in peoples’ lives. This is a play drunk on sober realism with razor sharp monologues. He tells three very chilling stories that make you gasp at how suddenly a world turns crazy because of one deed that might have happened in the blink of an eye or something untoward that simply seems to jump out of nowhere.
We have all had those moments. Hopefully they are less traumatic and life- changing than the stories that unfold on stage but we know those feelings of doing something so silly and so unexpected that it makes your heart stop. It’s about a moral centre, who you are, how you think about the world around you, whether you think at all and what you do when your world spins out of control.
In Labute’s world, it seems you will do anything –mostly lie – to right a wrong. But in the end, the way the universe plays out, something will mess with your plans, your head and your loudly thumping heart and make you deal with your actions.
How do people live with their choices?
It’s something that many of us wonder about in a time when money seems to be the only driving force. When will it ever be enough? How often have we heard that phrase? What do people tell themselves when they do wrong – even in plain sight?
All these questions circle in your head as you listen to the characters tell their stories. It’s really about listening says the director. And again she’s right. You have to follow the stories carefully, listen to how people fall into traps that seem to grip at their hearts without letting go. It’s just a moment in time but it changes their lives and perspectives in a way that is gut-wrenching.
It’s not easy viewing and yet, because it is so masterfully written and played with such attention to detail, it’s compelling viewing and theatre that engages on a very different and exciting level.
Watching this same work almost a year ago, it’s thrilling to see how a few mini runs that allow the cast to work again and again take it up a few notches – and allows the director to make changes that enhance the meaning and the performances.
It’s something to get your teeth into. It’s tough emotionally yet very accessible and theatre that plays with your mind.
It’s a great play told well by a group of actors and a director who were there for the long haul and it paid off – big time.