SILENT VOICE. Directed by Aubrey Sekhabi, with Zenzo Ngqobe, Boitumelo “Chuck” Shisana, Tshallo Chokwe, Don Mosenye, Presley Chweneyagae and Motshepe Pusho Kgawane. At the Baxter Golden Arrow Studio theatre, Mondays to Saturdays at 8.15pm (7pm for certain evenings - see Computicket) until November 1. STEYN DU TOIT reviews.
Aubrey Sekhabi’s Silent Voice wastes no time in launching an aggressive assault on its viewer’s senses. Taking place in near darkness, the opening scene is one of confused running, heavy breathing, chaotic shouting, rapid gunshots, industrial sparks flying and the burning smell of an angle grinder hanging in the air.
Caught in the middle of what appears to be a botched cash-in-transit heist, a strange sensation starts settling in your stomach. Confronted by four gun-wielding, balaclava clad men running towards you when the lights are eventually switched on, you suddenly realise what that feeling is: fear.
Not interested in creating a safe theatre experience, this multiple Naledi Award nominated heist thriller, first staged in 2008, continues to juggernaut through the fourth wall before leaving the audience to consider the social rubble making up contemporary South Africa.
Starring Zenzo Ngqobe, Boitumelo “Chuck” Shisana, Tshallo Chokwe and Don Mosenye as the four robbers, the play’s sense of urgency is further heightened by real-time sounds produced by musician Motshepe Pusho Kgawane.
Presley Chweneyagae ( Tsotsi) will take over the role from Chokwe between 27 October to 1 November.
Carrying their loot in bags strapped to their bodies and referring to each other only as “Charlie,” we learn that the group only has a brief window of opportunity during which to make it back to their safe house. In a commendable performance feat of stamina, determination and stellar acting, their running becomes a vehicle through which the characters’ thoughts and motivations, their silent voices, gets articulated against a sociopolitical backdrop.
Often lacking in subtlety and with a plot strongly reminding of Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs– its frantic narrative and surprise character twist at the end – this isn't a play concerned with debating whether or not the group’s actions are right or wrong within a moral context. It instead concerns itself with the choices these characters have to make based on the limited options life has handed them. Not prepared to let anyone to stand in their way, there is no doubt in our minds that they are willing to roll up their sleeves and do whatever it takes to get them to safety – even if that means taking the entire audience hostage at gunpoint.
“Violence breeds violence and we live among us with violent people,” Sekhabi, who is the artistic director of the State Theatre, writes in his director’s note. “Sometimes you seem unaffected by violence because you read about it and see it on the news. It is so far removed from you. It only gets real when it is brought to you, when you experience it, when it is close to you, when you know someone.”
While one can appreciate the director’s commitment to authenticity, as well as the programme note and other signs outside the theatre warning of its violent content, it is crucial to approach these kind of immersive theatrical experiences with great responsibility - especially considering the (very likely) possibility that at some point there will be audience members in attendance who have been victims of actual similar situations in the past.
During the mentioned hostage scene's unfolding as part of last week’s opening night – involving the cast walking among the audience and threateningly shouting instructions at us while waving guns around – I noticed a woman across the aisle from me crying and visibly upset in a way that suggested a kind of trauma much deeper than simply feeling uncomfortable within that moment.
When one of the performers therefore nonetheless stopped and towered over her for several sentences of dialogue longer, it left me disappointed. Surely if someone is cowering, hiding her face behind her programme and sobbing uncontrollably you don’t then continue to press a gun, albeit a prop, against her forehead and aggressively bark orders in her face?
Apart from this traumatic scene, as well as one in which the characters necklace a racist farmer – much to the delight of an enthusiastic audience, the production certainly also has its fair share of merits and engaging subject matter.
Its casting in particular is a success, with all four its performers effectively delivering characters that are able to evoke both terror as well as empathy from us.
Action-packed, suspenseful and often compelling, Silent Voice is best recommended for fans of fast-paced heist thrillers with a strong stomach for graphic violence looking to be submerged in the experience.
l Tickets: R80 to R100, 0861 915 8000, www.computicket.com