Exploring politics and the personal

Hayani means "home" in Venda, and actors Atanda Kani and Nat Ramabulana consider what this concept means and how it shifts over the years.

A sense of "homeliness" is evoked in their play, not merely through content but also the set itself: a simple, warmly lit stage is framed by a backdrop of painted faces, courtesy of Cape Town graffiti artist Mak1one.

The faces of Kani and Ramabulana themselves are there, but so, too, are other figures whose presence looms large over this production, such as Atanda's famous father, John Kani.

When the audience takes their seats, a figure is already on stage - musician Matthew MacFarlane, whose guitar provides a haunting, live accompaniment throughout the play. It's an idea that could feel intrusive in a different production, but here it works wonderfully, adding to a sense of energy that invigorates the play from the actors' first entrance.

Hayani is a workshopped piece built around Kani's and Ramabulana's autobiographical experiences of childhood, family and the transition to adulthood over years when South Africa was giving birth to democracy.

It's a play about growth and change in two senses- the personal and the political. In South Africa, as we know, the two spheres are often inextricably linked, and so it is here, too.

This is not to say that Hayani is a polemical play. The stories the two men tell are intimate and individual, but inevitably shaped by their historical moment. Some of the most successful scenes deal with the tensions - and accompanying comedy - of both men trying to adapt to "Model C" schools and, in Kani's case, the growing affluence of his family.

The actors inhabit a range of characters convincingly, but one deserving of special mention is Ramabulana's impersonation of a jockish teenage white boy. It is uncanny. Both actors are blessed with abundant natural charisma, and their energetic, multilingual performances are hard to resist.

For the main part it's a fast-moving production, and director Warren Nebe has skilfully overseen the interweaving of light and dark. Towards the end, it seems to lag in pace a little, and the narrative trajectory is unfocused in a way that's to be expected when you're dealing with the messiness of real lives.

But ultimately Hayani finds its home in its heart: it is moving, funny and deeply South African.

'Hayani' is on at the Market Theatre, Newtown until October 27. Call 011-832-1641