THEATRE: David Le Page
BESSIE HEAD’S novel Maru is a stark dissection of racial prejudice, all the more compelling for looking at the relationship of black Batswana and the Bushmen. It is not a perfect novel, but there is enough insight, and unexpected writing, to make it memorable. Walter Chakela’s adaptation for the stage, now at the Windybrow, has done little to communicate any of these qualities, preserving only the entire stream of the novel’s narrative, and leaving one unaffected.
Maru is the name of the heir to the chieftainship of Dilepe village, where most of the events occur. He is played by Moagi George Modise as a robust and regal man, rather than as the possibly awkward invalid of the novel. This tends to reduce the interest of the character, to make the power of his dreams over women more incongruous, but it does give greater authority to his dramatic decision to marry one of the “Masarwa”, the Batswana word for the Khoisan people, which has packed in it all the derogatory connotations of “kaffir”.
The role of the other central character, Margaret Cadmore, a teacher of Bushman descent, is taken by ex-Miss Zimbabwe Amanda Stally, whose acting doesn’t go much beyond fidgeting awkwardly with her fingers and smiling sweetly. One of the awkward points of Head’s novel is that the characterisation of this member of the persecuted race is weak; Chakela has done nothing to strengthen it.
Though the theme of Maru may be racism, the story is that of a love triangle, with Margaret the focal point. The third party in this emotional geometry is Moleka, who is portrayed as a pleasant-enough rake by Thulani Nyembe, but he does not have enough power of personality to make the contest between himself and Maru convincing.
Dikeledi, lover of Moleka, colleague of Margaret, is played by Nomsa Manaka without much conviction, nor much sense of the unspoken competition between herself and Margaret.
The set design of a few drab walls and doors is dismayingly ugly and claustrophobic, suggesting little of the space and light which fills Maru’s imagination and Margaret’s painting. If it is meant to represent the meanness of Batswana thought, it is never transcended, though the rather rushed conclusion of the play tells us that bigotry is in the end transformed.
Chakela’s Maru is an ambitious project, not least because of the problems of the book. Unfortunately he has not done enough to take advantage of its strong points, nor enough to make up for the weak.
The cast play for easy laughs rather than serious impact. This is particularly regretful considering the continuing difficulties of the Khoisan in determining their own destinies. In Maru, they are not quite lost, but will soon be forgotten.
Maru is at the Windybrow in Hillbrow until May 26