# A PERSPECTIVE THAT WORKS
DAENS Directed by Stijn Coninx
DAENS, set at the turn of the century in the small Belgian town of Aalst, is full of intrigue — not the melodramatic clash of ambitious egos as in your average soapie, but political manipulation in high places, with the Vatican and rich factory owners conspiring to keep women and children exploited as underpaid, disenfranchised factory workers.
A priest, Father Daens (Jan Decleir), who helps his brother run a small printing press, finds himself torn between the church and his conscience when the Vatican suggests he not upset the political boat — and factory owners — by preaching equality and human rights. Its stirring stuff, about a conflict between socialism and Catholicism, full of mass scenes of strikes and the horrors of injustice.
Films that successfully adopt a working-class point of view are rare, but Daens manages to keep this perspective without sentimentalising the workers — at least, not too much: there are some bucolic scenes that tend towards idealisation.
The film was pared down from a mini-series — there are subplots that dont go anywhere — to a tale of political struggle; a love scene between a worker and her socialist boyfriend takes place while they discuss just how great Daens is. Interestingly, this doesnt jar — the acting is realistic enough to cover flaws, and the intrigues, revealing how power and dogma go hand in hand, are absorbing.
Shown in this country at this time, its themes are ironically more relevant than those of the few local movies weve seen so far.
Fabius Burger
# RIP-ROARING NOSTALGIA
BUDDY Civic Theatre, Johannesburg
OH yes — just when you thought it was safe to go back to the theatre, Buddy is back. This rip- roaring bit of rocknroll nostalgia has gone up and down the country since its opening here last year, and now returns to mop up anyone in Joburg who hasnt seen it yet.
Craig Urbani is still sharing the role of Buddy Holly, child genius of rocknroll, with Terence Reis. Urbani has all the ardour of the teen who became a musical titan, and, of course, he can sing too (which is more than one could say of Buddy Holly).
Instead of Allan Swerdlow in a variety of roles, we have Jonathan Taylor, fresh from umpteen Joburg Follies revivals. Taylor is an entertaining comic, and a bouncy foil for Buddy and his crew-cut bands of hopefuls, the Crickets.
The structuring of the show is most artful: we follow young Buddy from obscurity in Lubbock, Texas, to the big time in New York and Acapulco. The scenes in various recording studios are most compelling, as we witness Buddy and his boys transmute country twangs into rocknroll.
Theres a high energy level maintained throughout, one or two slipped Yankee accents, and in general much infectious merriment. Buddys climactic last concert, on the night of his death, gets audience members right off their chairs — and Im pretty sure the crowd would have kept Urbani et al there all night.
The real Buddy, of course, got lucky, dying when he did at age 21: he was spared the paunchy decline of most of his rivals, and thus eminently qualified for this kind of romantic recreation. In fact, his brand of rocknroll was really pretty tame. A musical about Little Richard: ah, now that would be something.
Guy Willoughby
# TRYING TOO HARD
THE VISIT Nico Arena, Cape Town
SOMEWHERE in the corridors of cultural power and influence, theyve realised that Eurocentric is a label you dont want slapped on your play — at least, not if you want your very own performing arts council to win the blessings of the Ben n Winnie alliance.
Friedrich Durrenmatts The Visit is a product of mid-century Europe, dealing with the themes of collective responsibility and guilt which preoccupied that continent in the wake of the Holocaust. Its relevance in the aftermath of apartheid goes without saying — nobody needs to make apologies for that. But the production gives the impression that those who adapted and directed it lacked confidence that the relevance would be apparent. The play tries too hard to establish its South African credentials by means of a reference to the Reconstruction and Development Programme, a collection of characters who look as if they belong in a Herman Charles Bosman short story, and a couple of incongruous Kaapse Klopse.
Thats a pity — theres nothing wrong with creating a South African setting, but this production concentrates on the details at the expense of presenting a coherent interpretation of Durrenmatts play. Mary Dreyer tries too hard to be a femme fatale; a collection of minor characters try too hard to be country bumpkins. Neither does the production overcome the incongruity of central European angst coming from the mouth of a platteland shopkeeper — moving as Marthinus Bassons performance in this role is.
That said, there is a lot that is good about this production. The staging of the play is seductive: mime blends effectively with naturalistic action, and something as apparently harmless as a collection of yellow shoes is made to appear quite sinister. Comedy is also skilfully handled in what is essentially a tragedy in the purest sense of the word. Its failing is that the plays inherent power is bogged down by the attempts to make it powerful.
Justin Pearce
# SCOTCH, SMOKE AND SATIN
PIAF, BREL AND JUST A LITTLE ME Theatre on the Square, Rosebank
JACQUES BREL, not to mention Edith Piaf, is certainly alive and well in the hearts of die-hard nostalgists, if the response to this cabaret is anything to go by. Performed at the newly-opened Theatre on the Square in Rosebank, it offers a balm to troubled ears, evoking tender images of an era gone by. But if you think that yet another Piaf- Brel revival is tantamount to flogging an overworked horse, then you probably havent heard it performed by Helena Hettema.
Hettema has a voice that oozes smoke, scotch and satin, all in one. It is multi-textured and resonant, a voice that aches yet soothes. And in this show, first performed at the Grahamstown Festival, it is at its husky best.
Under the title Piaf, Brel and Just a Little Me, Hettema belts out standard favourites like Carousel; If You Go Away; Non, Je ne Regrette Rien and La Vie en Rose, interspersing them with her own compositions in English and Afrikaans. Its a refreshing if occasionally uneven mix, with the little me bit threatening at times to dwarf the musical tributes in terms of ferocity. While Hettema is blessed with a vocal prowess that needs no electronic enhancement, she is at her most emotive when her style is understated, as in Paper Men (Hettemas own composition) and Brels Song for Old Lovers.
Complementing her richly textured voice on piano and harmonies is popular Joburg musician and composer Waldo Malan. Together they perform a tribute to a much loved musical genre of which even the Little Sparrow would be proud.
Hazel Friedman
# VISUALS UPSTAGE VOICES
ORPHEUS IN THE UNDERWORLD Wits Theatre, Johannesburg
THE accomplished production team of Conrad Haikes and Sarah Roberts has again come up trumps with this delightful production of Offenbachs comic operetta. Haikes direction is deft, his eye for dramatic detail as alert as ever, his social comment always apt. His student casts sense of enjoyment is palpable. And he is helped enormously by Roberts exquisite sets, truly evocative of the country, Olympus and Hades.
So humorous is the direction and so stunning the visual aspect of the production that one almost pardons the poor orchestral playing by a lopsided Wits orchestra conducted by Walter Mony. Internal balances are awkward, and the players never seem to cope with Offenbachs exuberant writing. This souffle flopped badly.
Vocally, one pitied voice coach Emma Renzi. The student voices on display were almost all in awkward stages of development, or affected by colds. Although on this showing not a single voice made a mark for the future, Renzis expert hand presented them at their best. Of the guests, only Dana de Waal (Aristaeus) came close to capturing the composers idiom.
The production is worth seeing, even if only to marvel at its visual aspect.
Coenraad Visser