WeeklySA_AdminDIALOGUE: A theatre piece with broad appeal that caters to everyone…
By Gugu Sibiya
If you thought protest theatre is done and dusted, think again. Philangezwi Nxumalo’s one man satirical play, State of the National DisAster (SONDA), whose sobering dialogue will have you sitting at the edge of your seat.
Firmly rooted in tampering lively conversations around challenges facing communities in the country, SONDA becomes instantly relatable. Treading where angels fear, Nxumalo’s theatrical piece tackles protest theatre from a contemporary outlook.
Through satire, physical comedy and poignant storytelling, he sheds light on post-apartheid, democratic South Africa, 30 years on.
Courage in hand, he raises bread-and-butter issues that concern multitudes, to the point of causing them sleepless nights. Directed by Aaliyah Mantintela, he lists the high crime-rate, unemployment, poor service delivery, ailing educational system, widespread poverty, prevalence of incompetent public servants and unfulfilled promises.
SONDA’s playful, yet thought-provoking approach, keeps the temperature in check without deviating from the script. Integral to the play is bringing attention to the plight of the people on the ground.
The young playwright’s aim is to engage audiences and community members from all walks of life in meaningful dialogue about the state of affairs and challenges that affect ordinary compatriots.
Intent on connecting, his passion is to tell stories of marginalised communities. Born and bred in Mbazwana, a small village in KwaZulu-Natal, he says he lives for telling stories of Black people in their truest form. His dream was realised when he managed to take his work to school halls, community centre and his home town of KZN. Dialogues that generate critical thinking about the state of affairs in the country are essential. SONDA was incidentally inspired by Woza Albert, which premiered at the Market in 1981.
The fringe-style theatrical piece is a call to action to South Africans. Nxumalo’s SONDA captures the struggles, triumphs and complexities of life in South Africa today. All this brilliance is captured in an energetic 70-minute performance.
Tickets cost R100.00 while block bookings for 10 or more cost R75.00. Tickets are available through webtickets, www.markettheatre.co.za or at Market theatre’s box office just before the show.
The play is worth checking out at the Market theatre’s Kippies Fringe, in Newtown, Johannesburg, from March 14 to17. Actor/Playwright – Philangezwi Nxumalo: director – Aaliyah Matintela
MADAM WEB RESUSCITATES A FLAGGING TROPE
SEQUEL: In the latest addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the narrative introduces new characters amid a storyline that battles to sustain the thrill…
By Sonke Gumede
Cast: Dakota Johnson, Sydney Sweeney, Isabela Merced, Celeste O’Connor and Tahar Rahim
Director: SJ Clarkson
Producer: Lorenzodi Bonaventura
Casandra Webb (Dakota Johnson) is an awkward Manhattan paramedic. After an accident she gains psychic abilities.
Using her gift to see the future, she finds herself protecting three young girls from a Spiderman-like villain who’s trying to kill them because of who they’ll become in the future. Chased all over the city, Web reluctantly grows into the hero she never knew she could be. The plot, while pretty straight-forward, lacks in delivering a satisfying movie experience. It’s basically psychic Sarah Connor protecting three females from John Connors from Spider-Terminator. The film lends itself so much to this generic plot that it essentially disregards the whole character development side of things. Then what you are left with is four barely likable protagonists – three of whom are nothing more than plot devices with little to no growth whatsoever. What compounds the disappointment even more is the bad CGI effects coupled with a forgettable antagonist whose only memorable trait is his likeness to Spiderman. This all culminates in an even worse movie experience than the utter train wreck that Morbius was.
Sony, the company behind this production seems to have this fixation on adapting Marvel characters and pairing them with poorly written storylines just to have something to take to the box office. The worst part about it is that they shamelessly piggy-back on the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s success, while delivering outrageously subpar movies. And with the recent upsurge of ‘woke’ culture infecting mainstream media, you essentially have a product doomed to fail.
But being the ever optimistic movie enthusiast that I am, I couldn’t help but find a little bit of good from this carcass of a motion picture. Dakota Johnson delivers a good performance as Cassandra. She’s by far the only standout in the film. Not to say the other actors were bad, but rather pointing that she’s the only one who made the best out a bad situation. It’s fair to say that the others were pretty much fighting on the back-foot because of the bad script.
At the end of the day, these characters are more than just words and pictures confined within the covers of a book or the four corners of a TV screen. These characters are the accumulation of years of childhood happiness, nostalgia and intrigue. And I, as a fan of superhero movies, am always excited to see how characters and storylines are adapted onto the big screen. If nothing else, Marvel Studios has set the bar high in this regard. Bringing us some of the greatest cinematic experiences we have seen in a very long time. So I guess it’s no surprise that a company like Sony, still a fledgling in the superhero genre, would fail to meet these expectations. All in all, if you do end up going to watch this movie, just go in there with a ‘what happens in the cinema, stays in the cinema’ mentality. Then you’ll be alright.
