2014 South African Theatre Retrospectives: The Plays - Part 1

As 2014 speeds along to its final curtain, it is once again time to reflect on some of the theatrical highlights on South Africa's stages over the past 12 months. This year, BroadwayWorld will take a look at 30 of the most compelling theatre productions that have appeared on stage around the country this year in five "six of the best" columns. Three of the columns will take a look at plays, alternating with articles that focus on musical theatre and dance. First up, we have six of the best plays seen in theatres around the country this year, all of which - in the words of writer-director Pippin Parker - 'reveal the truth in an original and specific way'. Parker reiterates that the artist's job is to 'reveal, not state', an approach that each of the following six plays has in common.

One of the major theatrical coups of 2014 was the collaboration between Pieter Toerien and Rand Merchant Bank that allowed Joey, Topthorn and the rest of the WAR HORSE puppets to travel home to South Africa. Beautifully articulated animal puppetry is at the heart of this production, and all of the puppets used in the production were created by Adrian Kohler with Basil Jones of the Handspring Puppet Company. Set just before and during World War I, WAR HORSE is the story of a teenage boy, Albert Narracot, and his bond with a horse, Joey. Although they are separated at the very start of the war, Albert and Joey's special bond sees them through the barbaric horrors they experience as each of them negotiate the battlefields and trenches of war-torn France. Featuring a touring company in the National Theatre Production of Nick Stafford's adaptation of the novel by Michael Morpurgo, WAR HORSE opened at the Teatro at Montecasino in Johannesburg in October before commencing performances at the Artscape Opera House in Cape Town from December.

A HUMAN BEING DIED THAT NIGHT premiered in South Africa in February following an "underground" workshop run at The Hampstead Downstairs in London last year. Based on the book of the same name by Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela and adapted for the stage by African-born playwright Nicholas Wright's A HUMAN BEING DIED THAT NIGHT, the play was one in which all aspects of its production come together seamlessly in a rare, perfect theatrical experience. Jonathan Munby's direction breathed life into this provocative two-hander, which documents a series of interviews between Gobodo-Madikizela (Noma Dumezweni) and Eugene de Kock (Matthew Marsh), who played a key role in the kidnapping, torture and murder of activists who opposed the South African government during apartheid. After a run at the Fugard Theatre in Cape Town, A HUMAN BEING DIED THAT NIGHT transferred to the Market Theatre in Johannesburg.

Although SILENT VOICE has been running around the country and internationally since 2008, Aubrey Sekhabi's controversial and immersive play only made its way to Cape Town and Durban for runs at the Baxter Theatre and the Playhouse in 2014. A flat-out assault on the senses, this gripping and shocking production is one that shatters conservative middle-class perceptions of that which is perceived to be a compelling theatre experience. With a narrative that focuses on four everyman "Charlies", all on the run when robbery turns to murder, SILENT VOICE examines some of the factors that lie at the foundation of urban violence in South Africa. Challenging its audiences not to be silent victims or passive witnesses, the play is an essential work of contemporary South African theatre. Key elements in the production's success in performance were Willhelm Disbergen's innovative design and the tight ensemble performance work of Zenzo Nqobe, Tshallo Chokwe or Presley Chweneyagae, Boitumelo Shisana and Don Mosenye.

Howard Barker's SLOWLY, under the direction of Geoffrey Hyland, was another play that offered an alternative theatrical experience for audiences at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown and the Artscape Arena in Cape Town. Barker eschews traditional modes of making meaning in his writing, leaving audiences to work their own way out of what he terms a "Theatre of Catastrophe". In his staging of the piece, Hyland made every moment count, with a glorious Jennifer Steyn leading a company that featured Chi Mhende, Gahlia Phillips and Faniswa Yisa. The premise of SLOWLY pivots around the fate of four princesses in the midst of a barbaric invasion. As unnamed forces advance upon them, they debate whether or not to follow a ritual of collective suicide as their traditions demand, opening up a dialogue around the nature and meaning of life - and living. A chilling piece of theatre, every aspect of SLOWLY has ramifications for its characters as well as those who observe them, a shared experience that examines humanity's fall from grace and potentially takes audiences one step closer to finding their way back.

Another audacious piece of theatre that debuted on South African stages this year was Louis Viljoen's THE PERVERT LAURA. Completely open about its transgressive intentions, THE PERVERT LAURA explores the murkier areas of commonly accepted psychological norms and moral values through its titular character. Laura - who was brought to life in an exceptional performance by Emily Child - is in the middle of a key week in her life, dealing with disciplinary action at work for her behaviour in the office as well as the return of her father from prison. Each day sees her moving closer and closer towards the edge of an emotional precipice, with Viljoen carefully orchestrating the twists and turns that Laura's life takes with masterful agility. THE PERVERT LAURA played The Little Theatre in Cape Town for almost three weeks in December; hopefully it will have a long life beyond its premiere production.

Afrikaans audiences were also given food for thought in Jaco Bouwer's new production, SAMSA-MASJIEN. Written by Willem Anker, the piece reconceptualises Franz Kafka's THE METAMORPHOSIS, telling the story of a retired teacher, Gregor (Gerben Kamper), who slides into what medicine would term dementia. But how much of Gregor's transformation can be written off as hallucinogenic without denying its apparent reality? Kamper was joined onstage by Antoinette Kellermann, Ilana Cilliers and Ludwig Binge in a piece that swung between the intellectual and the visceral, the sophisticated and the sophomoric and the hypnotic and the repulsive. SAMSA-MASJIEN, which was performed at the Klein Karoo National Arts Festival in Oudtshoorn and which returns to the Baxter Theatre in Cape Town early in 2015, is a piece of theatre that communicates through extremes, a feeling augmented in performance by Bouwer's own design of the production and the soundscape composed by Pierre-Henry Wicomb for the piece.

Were any of these six plays among your favourites on the South African theatre scene over the past year? Join the conversation by leaving your comments about the plays you enjoyed this year using the comments feature beneath this article, and be sure to follow the rest of our "six of the best" columns as we put some of South Africa's most prestigious theatre productions under the spotlight as 2014 draws to a close.

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