Durban theatre takes a serious turn this week, with two hard-hitting pieces that look at conflict.
? Dawn of the Cockroach is a harrowing glimpse into the horrors of one of the world’s cruellest genocides. April 6 1994 in Rwanda marked the beginning of one of the swiftest and most well-organised genocides in human history. Hutu extremists, led by the Rwandan army and radical militias, mobilised the majority Hutu population against the Tutsi minority and political moderates. In less than four months a holocaust of unprecedented swiftness left up to one million Tutsis and moderate Hutus dead. Written and directed by Thomas Mpoeleng and performed by students of the Durban University of Technology’s department of drama studies, Dawn of the Cockroach is a tribute to the genocide victims.
Courtyard Theatre, Durban University of Technology, Mansfield Road. October 14 and 15 at 7pm. Entrance is R15. Tel: 031 373 2194.
? The third production in the Playhouse Company’s inspired 2011 New Stages season is Mein Soldat (My Soldier), the daring experimental work written by Janna Ramos-Violante, directed by Josette Eales and starring the writer and Clinton Small. Mein Soldat is a reminder of the power of silence in the theatre space. Although it is a bilingual piece performed in Austrian and English, it makes no difference which language are used. That is because words are irrelevant in a work with a meaning that transcends it. In ingenious and riveting fashion, it becomes a powerful allegory of displacement, grief and the common need of people to make connections and bear witness to another’s basic needs.
Set during World War II, the play documents the moving and complex relationship between two strangers forced together by circumstance. The play is described by award-winning theatre director Clare Mortimer as “a piece rich in humanity, suspense and humour, beautifully set and astonishingly portrayed”.
The Playhouse Loft, October 21 and 22. Tickets are R65 from Computicket. Tel: 031 369 9540 / 9596.