The advantage of being at a festival is that everyone is here: directors, actors and writers.
After a play, the director is usually around to take questions. If you don’t meet him soon after the play, you can bump into him at a restaurant or coffee shop in a relaxed moment.
After watching Modus Vivendi, a production directed by Monaheng Vice Motshabi, I accosted him and the actor, Mncedisi Shabangu, to quibble about the plot.
The plot revolves around a certain detail (which, for obvious reasons, I cant reveal); I felt that that particular element of the play is not fully explored. And the fact that the play hinges on this unexplored detail takes away something from the production.
Shabangu listened attentively, nodding his head in the way I imagine a writer would in a conversation with a fan (and a reader) who is quibbling about how his novel ends. He said he would think about it.
Modus Vivendi is a dark and sombre drama about a successful businessman Muthi Maqoma played by Shabangu. He is in a loveless and childless union with Scotta (Nqobile Sipamla).
Scotta, neglected and living in virtual celibacy, nostalgically looks back to her last affair with Jonny Motsamai (Kabelo Thai), stud, drug dealer and fixer, always a step ahead of a tireless detective.
The production’s dusky textures are not undone by its makeshift stage and rather problematic plot.
Smoky underworld
Shabangu moves deftly between his various roles as businessman and lover, prince of darkness and traditionalist; Thai is credible as a denizen of the underworld and Sipamla’s performance as disappointed lover and wife is commendable. I should also mention Maranello (Sibongile Genu), prostitute and connecting cog of the subaltern, lawless world and the “real” world.
In the smoky and dingy atmosphere that Modus Vivendi conjures, one sees a complex link between “legitimate” business and the underworld, suppressed desire and failed (or failing) marriages, blood and tears.
For more from the National Arts Festival, see our special report.
