Thebe Mabanga theatre
The name Fong Kong was made popular by a kwaito hit. It refers to the counterfeit merchandise sold by immigrants on the city’s pavements. It is also the name of an upbeat, interesting production that looks at the daily struggles of African illegal immigrants in South Africa. The piece, which was featured at the National Arts Festival Student Drama Festival, was directed by Richard Manamela and facilitated by Dan Robbertse. It is a workshopped production of the Market Theatre Laboratory and although it looks at a sensitive issue, it is witty, irreverent, palatable and thoroughly entertaining. Fong Kong does not rigorously engage xenophobia; for that you need Caesar Molebatsi’s Two Way. But it also does not regurgitate editorials and familiar arguments; for that you need Felicia Mabuza-Suttle.
What the piece does is brilliantly depict everyday sufferings of our neighbours in our country. From the home affairs office to their hawking stalls and the Lindelani Repatriation Centre in Krugersdorp, where they await deportation, only to jump off, return and begin the cycle afresh. The cast brilliantly captures the nuances and profundity, the accents and mannerisms of the people commonly referred to as makwerekwere. They also touch on South Africans’ subconscious distinction of themselves from the rest of the continent. The 15 performers have assorted cameos and they pull it off by mastering the basics with brilliance. There are two highlights in the piece. The first is Ntombi Maqalika, who leads the main song, Charo Chinonono, a poignant folk song sung in Malawi’s Chechewa language. The second is the cast’s usage of the physical theatre technique popularised by Mncendisi Shabangu in pieces like Kanyamazane Galvinomit Akusiti and extensively used in the Lab’s work. At one stage, these highlights combine to yield comedy with a sombre backdrop. The next generation of the Lab’s graduates must look at two interesting features of immigrant life. The first is our receptiveness towards foreigners from outside Africa. The second is how the legal African immigrants – academics, businessmen and others – cope as people of the South. The cast has just missed one important aspect of African immigrants’ behaviour, especially Nigerians: when using minibus taxis, they get off at the same place – “after robot”, any robot. Fong Kong runs from September 13 to 23 at the Market Theatre’s Laager Theatre. Performances start at 8.15pm and are an hour long. Tel: (011) 836E0516