Dark days come back to life
UBU AND THE TRUTH COMMISSION by Jane Taylor, directed by William Kentridge and associate director Janni Younge, produced by the Handspring Puppet Company. Review by Gillian McAinsh.
FOR those who wondered if this re-staging of Ubu and the Truth Commission has lost any of its power now that other political events such as Marikana and Nkandla have grabbed the headlines – wonder no more. This is a magnificent artistic portrayal of the horrors of apartheid, and still grips like a torturer's vice more than 17 years after the TRC first listened to the tears of the country.
The freaky and grotesque opening sequence sets the tone for a dark overview of an era that saw names like De Kock, Nieuwoudt, Mamasela, Coetzee alongside unnamed voices of fathers, mothers, wives and loved ones who came before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to speak their piece in a quest for peace.
Dawid Minnaar plays Ubu, the grotesque buffoon whose greedy wife – played by Busi Zokufa – suspects he is having an affair. However, it is not the scent of a woman he desperately tries to wash off when he returns home, but the stench of blood and dynamite for he – as becomes clear – is part of the apartheid government's infamous death squad.
Scenes where Ubu desperately tries to cover up his crimes are interspersed with gentle, moving moments taken directly from transcripts of the TRC, made even more poignant due to being filtered via puppetry and translation.
The memories would be too painful to be confronted live and the dramatic distancing device is much needed due to the tragedy of the "avalanche" of source material.
The work also summons up an era of great protest art, with William Kentridge at the forefront of the primal scream. Watching Ubu brings back memories of Willie Bester's Who Let the Dogs Out, Jane Alexander's The Butcher Boys and other tortured representations of our country's past.
Kentridge's graphic art and animation are nuanced yet full of terrifying imagery, while the puppets – Niles the crocodile and Brutus the dog in particular – are replete with guile and menace.
Taylor's intelligent script has many moments of humour and is no less timely today than it was when it premiered in 1997. The intervening years have seen an erosion of attention spans, the rise of celebrity culture and a new South Africa where to harp on about the evils of apartheid is often unfashionable or even seen as irrelevant.
However, the audience on the opening night at the National Arts Festival seemed as enthralled as when I last saw this in Grahamstown, with the younger generation joining in the standing ovation.
It is a wonderful piece of theatre, multi-layered and thought-provoking. The programme notes on Ubu and the Truth Commission are excellent, and worth reading if you plan on seeing the show.
Highly recommended.
