analysis
Darryl Accone
Johannesburg’s Civic Theatre rechristened its main stage The Nelson Mandela Theatre this week. The announcement was the equivalent of someone unexpectedly jumping out of a giant cake.
The evening had already been planned as a celebration and inauguration of The Civic’s makeover into a little corner of New York, named Times Square at The Civic. But the revellers got a bonus into the bargain with the renaming. Said Civic Theatre CEO Bernard Jay: “Of course this is a tremendous honour, but I also think it’s an endorsement. Thanks to Madiba, we have a wonderfully positive story to send out about theatre in South Africa. The city of Johannesburg can now be even prouder of its Civic Theatre.”
While it might be churlish to douse the afterglow of post-party excitement, some issues have to be raised. One and it is prefaced with the utmost respect, as it was by others who mentioned it concerns the motivation for naming the stage after Mandela. Leaving aside the immense debt the country owes the former president, what particular set of arts and culture deeds warrants this?
True, there is a precedent of sorts in what used to be called the Arts and Culture Trust of the President, of which Mandela was patron. But if there was an area that would have benefited vastly from his intervention when president, it was arts and culture. Instead arts and culture struggled along in the shadow of its senior sibling, science and technology, with a minister from the most junior partner of what was then the three-party Government of National Unity.
In more concrete Civic Theatre terms, it is well known that Jay, the man presiding over the complex’s face-lift, is an avid promoter of show business and entertainment, so perhaps the arts and culture aspect is the wrong one to take. What could be more indicative of coolness, grace and sheer fun than Mandela’s trademark shirts, flying in the face of the stuffy dress protocol adhered to by many world leaders?
In essence, however, the non-believers were questioning not only Mandela’s credentials in this instance but also the possible expedience in using his name, even with his approval. Granted, this case is not akin to the fast-food operation that stole the former president’s names and nicknames, but there is an argument to be made for South African artists to be honoured in this way.
When will we get a John Kani Theatre a tribute that can be made without any reference to the actor’s protean personae and strongholds of power off the stage? An Abdullah Ibrahim auditorium? A Moses Molelekwa concert hall? Artists are always brought to the fore when “showcasing” South Africa is needed, but are almost always unacknowledged or remembered only when it is too late.
Another issue is the reasoning behind the whole Times Square at The Civic concept. The official media release explains it like this: “Why Times Square? Because Manhattan’s hub of its theatrical empire is arguably the world’s most famous melting pot of cultures and communities worshipping Live Theatre. Times Square whether tawdry and excitingly decadent as it was in the 1970s and 1980s, or cleaned-up and “Disney-fied” as it is now has for decades served as a magnet for theatregoers.
“The streets just off New York’s Times Square offer the very best of commercial theatre. The Johannesburg Civic Theatre is South Africa’s largest commercial theatre enterprise. Times Square at The Civic will, hopefully, provide the magnet for theatregoers in Gauteng.
“And in keeping with the Times Square theme, we have proudly named our new leisure and retail facilities with our eyes defiantly on The Big Apple!”
Fair enough. But this looking abroad does remind one of the relentless South African architectural impulse to pretend we are somewhere other than in Southern Africa. From the halls of Montecasino to the shores of the Waterfront, there are corners of South Africa that are forever foreign.
Ditto Times Square, which goes for that much-prized commodity, the experiential.
The Civic’s glitzy Broadway metaphor finds itself now in curious juxtaposition with the new Nelson Mandela Theatre. Granted, the Times Square concept was a reality long before renaming the main theatre was even a dream, but oh, how well a Back of the Moon bar would go down as an anteroom to The Nelson Mandela Theatre, rather than the current concern, Spencer’s Showbiz Bar.
Attendance at the Times Square opening appeared more corporate than showbiz, which makes sense in a larger way. Times Square has, for example, Off-Broadway Bytes, a coffee and biznet bar with Internet access, e-mail and video conferencing facilities. It is essential for The Civic to be fuller at
non-theatre times if these off-peak hours can drum up business and through-traffic, the complex will become more the living organism that Jay wishes to bring into being and less the “mausoleum” he wishes to bury.
Among the other diversions of Times Square is Restaurant on Broadway, specialising in continental delicacies. It is managed by Mark Nofal and company of Sunninghill’s late Boleros restaurant, which was gutted by fire.
Business lunches from Monday to Friday aim to appeal to corporate Braamfontein, while dinner is served before shows.
Time will tell if Times Square at The Civic will pull crowds eager to spend an evening in a mini-Manhattan; certainly, “the business” should wish this Broadway in Braamfontein well. Artslink