Operatic Drama: Legacy of slavery gets the 'iron clap'

24 October 2014 - 02:24 By Shelley Seid
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SOMETHING TO DECLARE: Mdu Mtshali as 'suspended traveller' Robert Gumede, with Flora Eszter Sarlos and Laurent Festas in 'The Last Anniversary'
SOMETHING TO DECLARE: Mdu Mtshali as 'suspended traveller' Robert Gumede, with Flora Eszter Sarlos and Laurent Festas in 'The Last Anniversary'

African tourist Robert Gumede is stopped at a European airport and searched. He is found carrying the traditional Zulu herb imphepho and detained by customs police.

They have four days to make a decision - will he be allowed in or deported? For those 72 hours he is trapped in no-man's land.

This is the premise of The Last Anniversary, an ''operatic drama" developed through the creative input of artists in five countries and co-developed and directed by Durban theatre director and actor Themi Venturas, the man behind the Zulu opera Princess Magogo kaDinuzulu.

"I got involved in what was going to be solely an opera project," says Venturas. "We were looking to perform the 1949 opera The Barrier. It uses the context of American slavery to look at human rights issues. We soon realised that not only could we not afford to mount a full-scale opera production but that we had many other - more relevant - stories to tell. So we have included pieces of the opera within a new, modern story that includes a French jazz saxophonist, and traditional African music and South African jazz - the works of Abdullah Ibrahim and Madala Kunene, for example," he says.

The result was a ''fascinating fit". At the world premier in Budapest, Hungary, the audience gave ''the iron clap".

"This is a slow clap," said Venturas. "South Africans use it when they are fed up. We got the fright of our lives until we were told that, for Hungarians, it is the equivalent of a standing ovation."

The drama is a contrast between two levels of activity: the real-life activities of the day when Gumede deals with bureaucrats, is interrogated, meets his lawyer and interacts with a Japanese tourist (the only word they have in common is "Facebook").

At night, when Gumede is alone in his cell, the atmosphere is moody and fantastical and his deeper consciousness reaches back to the days of slavery. It is here that scenes from the original opera feature, and resonate with what is taking place during the day.

This hybrid musical drama that includes 3D animation, subtitles and dance, is now being brought to South African audiences.

"It's been a long road, but I'm very excited about having it perform at the Market Theatre. I'm curious to find out what local audiences make of it," Venturas says.

  • On at The Stable Theatre in Durban today and tomorrow and the Market Theatre in Johannesburg from October 30 to November 2. Bookings through Computicket
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