AFTER ANIMALS
CAST: Nataniël, Nicolaas Swart, Francois Joubert, Martin van Heerden, Bradley Dreyer
MUSICIANS: Charl du Plessis (keyboards), Juan Oosthuisen (guitars), Werner Spies (bass), Hugo Radyn (drums)
VENUE: Theatre Of Marcellus at Emperors Palace
UNTIL: September 27, Wednesdays to Saturdays at 8.30pm, Sundays |at 3pm
RATING: ****
Nataniël’S After Animals is all about staging, visual showstoppers, songs and in typical Nataniël style, suprise. He has a way with these large-scale annual shows and gives them familiar packaging but as you unwrap and peel off the layers, there’s always spectacle and something astonishing involved.
This time it’s all about the vision and the visual impact of the show.
Instead of his usual extravagant sets, he paints his pictures on stage with the male quartet and props that turn from chairs into people, from design shapes into Superman and animals that are fast disappearing while adding a strong acrobatic and dance element, all with sublime lighting.
Changing the stage from white to red, bright to violently quiet, he has the stage bathed in sunlight or dazzles with beams that seem to cleave the stage into different zones, adding another dimension which highlights or fades into darkness as the stories dip and soar in the wondrous wanderings of Nataniël’s mind, with animals being wiped out by man as the metaphor.
It all started with a thought. “The beasts that try to rule us, the demons that haunt us, the monsters we may become,” is how the story emerged.
And it turns into a fantastical fable with Nataniël’s usual imaginative imagery, his playfulness with language, the way he speaks his mind and harshly, but hysterically describes people, places or identifying moments that are all recognisable in a way that’s so obvious, yet so original.
That is his brilliance, the way he takes the ordinary and turns it on its head as he describes a state of mind, or place or even nation, world or planet in a way that’s funny but fiercely critical; invariably in favour of those that can least cope or those stripped of power for whatever reason.
They’re all trying to leave but every place is as bad as the next. We’ve already lost so much we hardly notice the theft.
The music holds sway without letting your mind off the hook as his lyrics often take the process even further as he tries to emphasise or make his intentions clear. He steps in and out of costumes that change on stage at the flip of a few fabric panels, takes one off to reveal another, some consist of plaited braids and another is made from old LP’s.
Costumes dominate a Nataniël stage because it’s where the dream starts, from where the stories flow and how the vision of the stage finally settles with an accent of colour, a dizzy design or something weirdly wonderful to catch your eye.
After Animals is clearcut and classy, it has clean lines but messes with your mind, holding your attention so you can see something so exquisitely crafted with lighting and movement from the dancing acrobats (Dreyer and Van Heerden) who flash by while the master storyteller holds your attention, making you laugh and cry while shaping and twisting dreams of a world going awry as opposed to the one we’re wishing to hold in our hand.
WIN ! WIN ! WIN !
Five lucky readers can each win two tickets for the show on Wednesday September 9.
To enter, SMS the word PTANEWS, followed by your name and the answer plus yes or no if you would like us to contact you for marketing purposes |to 43637.
The line closes at midnight tonight and winners will be notified by telephone.
SMSes charged at R1.50. Ts and Cs apply.
Question: Who is the star of the show?