State Capture captured in the production The Brothers, Number One and A Weekend Special at Market Theatre

By Edward Tsumele, CITYLIFE/ARTS Editor

The fact that the Market Theatre artistic director, Greg Homann in his maiden speech, after his appointment last year, announced that the Market Theatre was open to new ideas, scripts from people who would want to try their ideas on stage, and not necessarily experienced playwrights, was breath of fresh air.

This is because often, artistic directors, particularly those associated with public playhouses, such as the Market Theatre, State Theatre, The Playhouse and Arts space, for better or worse, have been known to guard that space. Often they will cite the issue of quality as one reason.

That might be true. But the other reason they will often not say loud, is that that sacred space, the stage, is often reserved for theatre royalty. These are people who will put bums on seats. That is one of the reasons you will see plays by the same people on these stages, Nothing wrong with that, for as long as the seats are not empty, with theatre lovers flocking to these playhouses, creating an exciting buzz on the foyers of these theatres and even creating more excitement during the after drinks party. That has certainly been true for the longest of time, and that is before former Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, closed the tap, calling that kind of use of public funds wasteful.

If we are honest, many of us in theatre circles have not forgiven him for that decision. Believe you me, it has nothing to do with the financial prudence of it, for there is no doubt the fact that, that decision saved a lot of money for the Fiscus. But problem is, save it and direct it towards what?

All we know, a lot of money during the State Capture period, ended up in the pockets of an Indian family, brothers, corrupt and politically connected tendepreneurs and certain politicians. The feeding was frenzied, akin to the impatience of a perk of lions that have been starved in a cage for two weeks and then get unleashed on a heap of meat. It was not fun witnessing that spectacle of the greedy, many will admit today.

Now this is where Homann’s genius when it comes to opening up space to new voices, to contribute to the Market Theatre’s vision bringing new South African plays onto the stage comes in. One of the results of that decision, is the play Brothers, The Brothers, Number One and A Weekend Special, currently on at the Market Theatre. It opened on Friday, and I found myself, with several other theatre lovers watching this production that deals with State Capture. And it is written by a non-theatre writer, but a political analyst Richard Calland and is directed by Homann. Indeed this is opening theatre space to fresh voices.

The play digs deep into the issues surrounding State capture, and the individuals that were implicated. There is no need here to try and say who these individuals are as this is an event that has happened in the recent history of this country, and the memory of that spectacle is still etched in the imagination of many.

And do not worry. You will not struggle to identify some of them, especially because some of them are seeking political power. Again. That is in the upcoming elections to take place on May 29, 2024.

But I must say, I struggled to identify my special character, the Weekend Special, whose term of office must rank as the shortest for any minister in the world.

After all, when he was appointed there was tremor in the financial markets, as the value of the rand tumbled, and in one fell swop, wiping out significant investments on the JSE. The consequence of it is that the Weekend Special never returned to the office by Monday. This is where I feel that the play does not take advantage of that drama of the weekend and translate it into something reliable and familiar to the audience on stage.

What I mean is that I wanted to see the Weekend Special, walking into Treasure boisterously, with his advisors on tow, scuttling the treasury officials all over the place in fear of a new political head, appointed to the position, as it has been reported, by the most powerfully politically connected family at the time, to do their bidding when it comes to state tenders and other trappings of power.

I guess this is the problem that always arises when as a writer you write a work of fiction that is not really fiction, about something that has just happened, and most of us still very well remember the events of that weekend. After all, we have our expectations of what must be emphasized and what must not be emphasized in a play about such an event. The play does not necessarily belong to the author, but all of us. It is so unfair to the author.

And do not make a mistake, and think that this play does not have space in top flight theatre. The fact is it does, and this is a very important story as a whole country was almost sunk into a depth from where it would struggle to come out. What I am saying is that I feel that this productions attempts to summarise everything that took place during that weekend, including the behind the scenes political manipulation, instead of focusing on a few moments that well captured the political drama and stay there to capture the audience’s focus.

I struggled at times to focus as I found myself dealing with a lot of issues surrounding that event. After all the writer in a story like this, which is partly realistic fiction and partly Non-Fiction, has the license to choose how and what they want to tell about this tragedy.

I therefore feel that this important story has too much to contribute not only to the development of democracy in this country, and good theatre to be allowed to die because of a few things that can easily be fixed. There is therefore a need to fine tune this story, and am sure as it takes a life of its own on the country’s theatre stages, those few misgivings of mine will be fixed and The Brothers, Number One and A Weekend Special, will reach the theatre heights that it yearns for.

There cast is some of the best in the country and this is demonstrated by some of the most brilliant scenes that tend to blunt the sharpness of some of the misgivings that I have stated above. You muist see the brilliance in acting by David Dennis, particularly towards the dying moments of the play to understand what I am talking about.

CAST (In alphabetical order)

1. Astrid Braaf as Journalist

2. David Dennis as Uncle

3. Melissa Haiden as Virginia

4. Michael Wayen Richard as Tim

5. Zane Anthony Meas as The Lawyer

6. Ziaphora Dakile as Tiger Claws

CREATIVE TEAM

1. Author: Richard Calland (no biography received)

2. Director: Greg Homann (no biography received)

3. Assistant Director: Aalliyah Zama Matintela

4. Set & Costume Designer: Lisa Younger

5. Lighting Designer: Hlomohang ‘Spider’ Motheto

6. AV Designer: Xolelwa ‘Ollie’ Nhlabatsi

7. Sound Designer: Vangile Mpumlwana (no biography received)