RETURN OF THE ANCESTORS. Directed by Mdu Kweyama, with Mandisi Sindo and Siya Sikawuti. At the Artscape Arena Theatre, from Tuesday to Friday at 7.30pm and Saturday at 3pm and 7.30pm. STEYN DU TOIT reviews.
WERE the sacrifices made during South Africa’s long struggle for liberation ultimately worth it for everyone involved? Did the democracy that thousands of people died for, were displaced for, or forced into exile for, turn out to be a system of government powered by ubuntu?
These are some of the questions given to two of apartheid’s fallen struggle icons to come find out at the start of Mike van Graan’s Return of the Ancestors.
Tasked by Nelson Mandela and the Council of Ancestors to return to earth, what the spirits of Steve Biko (Sikawuti) and Neil Aggett (Sindo) find back here, however, seems to go against the very grain of what the ANC originally stood for. Poverty, corruption, greed, violence, xenophobia, distrust, consumerism and nepotism; the current situation, we learn, will see them literally turn in their graves.
Staged as the penultimate production in this year’s Artscape Spring Drama Season, this uncompromising satire follows Biko and Aggett as they travel across our sociopolitical landscape. The result is a sobering exposé that will end with the perversion that is Nkandla.
Free from the limitations of a human body, along the way they are able to alter their physical appearances in order to communicate with both living and inanimate objects. These include elderly rural women, foreign documentary filmmakers, charlatans wearing church robes, domestic animals and even a series of pickaxes and brooms.
Described as a genuflection to Woza Albert– Percy Mtwa, Mbongeni Ngema and Barney Simon’s 1981 play that saw the second coming of Christ during apartheid – the story is told through song, dance, and physical theatre.
Against Francois Knoetze’s minimalist set design, consisting of only a rack of clothing and a few tyres, director Kweyama asks us to use our imagination in visualising Biko and Aggett’s eventful journey. It is in this regard that the success of Return of the Ancestors largely relies on the acting capabilities of Sindo and Sikawuti.
Both incredibly talented young actors, through their passionate and multilayered performances they not only win over our hearts, but also inspire us as viewers to engage with the stories they tell.
Walking with them through graveyards filled with HIV/AIDS casualties, running away from suburban dogs trained to bark at black people and dodging police bullets fired into groups of unarmed civilians; there are many moments where one gets so lost in their characters’ experiences that you almost forget you are watching theatre.
Following his brief, but entertaining appearance in last month’s camp comedy Chomi, which was also staged as part of the Spring Drama Festival, it’s great that Sindo is here being given a greater chance to showcase his versatility as an actor.
Boldly jumping into each of his characters with gusto, seeing him (apart from Aggett) play anything from a talking gravestone to an Afrikaner living in London to a sassy female newsreader named Sunshine Tshabalala, makes for splendid viewing.
Sikawuti, through whose Biko we get to see the majority of the events depicted in the play, also does a first-rate job. The fact that he remarkably resembles the real Biko only serves to add to the authenticity of his character.
Displaying a gift for both physical and introspective performance, if ever there was a candidate perfectly suited for starring in a theatrical biopic of the celebrated Black Consciousness Movement founder it would be him.
While Van Graan is by no means the only playwright grappling with the deficiencies of contemporary South Africa, there is an accessibility to his work ( Green Man Flashing, Rainbow Scars) that transcends the boundaries of the suburbs and the Facebook likes garnered through privileged slacktivism.
Translated into any of our other official languages, or staged in, say, the middle of Khayelitsha, I have no doubt that Return of the Ancestor’s impact will remain just as powerful.
An artist that isn't afraid to be critical of the status quo, Van Graan remains an important figure in the local and African arts industries.
The ancestors are calling. They demand answers. And with this highly recommended play's run ending this Saturday already, it's best not to keep them waiting.
l Tickets: R55 to R90, 0861 915 8000, www.computicket.com.