Review: ALBIE SACHS: FATHERS, SONS AND SOFT VENGEANCE is an absolute treat to watch

What an absolute treat! ALBIE SACHS: FATHERS, SONS AND SOFT VENGEANCE is a genuinely heartfelt piece of theatre from The Baxter, Troupe Theatre Company and Daphne Kuhn. Detailing the public and private life of renowned activist, this play from writer Gail Louw has such warmth and humour and humanity in it - I simply wasn't expecting so much. And to have the honour of having Albie himself, and his son Oliver, in the audience... It was a truly special evening at the Baxter.

What I really loved about this play is just how personal it was. Albie Sachs is a name to conjure with, especially in South Africa. He means so much to so many people in our country, and around the world. He has both achieved and endured so much. His life story has the makings of a giant epic tale. However, this play isn't sweeping or grand or larger than life. It's honest, truthful and incredibly vulnerable. There's a tender and joyous humanity that has been brought to the stage through all the elements - starting with Albie and Oliver Sachs being so open with their stories, Louw's clever writing, Fiona Ramsay's thoughtful direction and Graham Hopkins' endearing performance.

The story essentially covers Sachs' recovery from the bomb blast in Mozambique in 1988 that took his right arm, through to current day. It's told in vignettes though, flipping back and forth in time, with the ocassional moment reaching back to Sachs' childhood and his relationship with his father. The play wrestles with the emotional and physical toll of recovering from such severe injuries, and mirrors those struggles to the toll of having a child so late in life - and the impact of being such an "old" father to a young boy. It's a lot of subject matter to handle in just 80 minutes, but it's done with care and love. And plenty of wonderful humour to counter some of the harder moments.

Something that was handled brilliantly was how they portrayed the lost arm. A simple black, full length glove at the beginning made actor Hopkins' arm disappear after a while. Then came the fake short arm. You watch him put it on, see the puppet mechanism to make it move and then... you forget that it's an actor with an arm behind his back, operating a fake arm. The arm was designed by James Dee, and it is perfect. It's almost a character on its own.

Another incredibly special part of this production is that the voice over work where the character Albie talks to his son Oliver, is the voice of the real Oliver Sachs. Knowing that it's the actual person who went through all of these things in his life, dealing with having a famous but much older father, raised the humanity and vulnerability of the production to a whole new level. I would've thought it would be daunting for the performer, but Hopkins is so lovely in the piece.

I think this is what makes ALBIE SACHS: FATHERS, SONS AND SOFT VENGEANCE such a treat. It's not a story about activism, about our turbulent past in South Africa. It's a story about a man and his relationship to his father, his son, and the life that he has led. It's a story about a human being, not an icon, and that is special.

I highly recommend you catch this production! It's on at the Baxter Studio until 30 October, and tickets are available from Webtickets.

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