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ME LIKES: Death of a Colonialist

Imagine your mother tells you she has cancer and a few months to live. You are on the other side of the world and there is nothing you can do about it. You worry about your father and wonder how he is going to cope. The illness and death of a mother hangs in the air but the focus is on the father - typical of the patriarchal society we live in!


PHOTO: Ruphin Coudyzer, Thanks to Market Theatre 


Expect all that and more in Death of a Colonialist at the Market Theatre (on until16 October 2011).
Jamie Bartlett of ETV’s Rhythm City (David Genero) does an amazing job of keeping me glued to his crazy antics as Harold Smith, the not so normal father and husband.

Set in Grahamstown, Harold is a passionate history teacher who gets too excited when teaching the history of amaXhosa. He lives with his very supporting wife and has two children living in Australia and Canada (ran away from S.A because of crime).

I felt out of sorts watching this butch white man loosing grip of his family and slowly his job. There was a lot of heartbreak on stage – this was actually a gloomy play. South African issues such as the change of leaders, crime and race are sub-themes in the production.

Humorous at times, expect a history lesson and some insight on white fear and as well as the white man who still believes in South Africa regardless of his placing in it.

PHOTO: Ruphin Coudyzer, Thanks to Market Theatre 

But what hit home for me was the dark cloud that hung is the air of a dying mother and wife. The realisation that she was the one holding things together and the question of how they would all cope without her – that was an amazingly powerful message.
The role of a woman, most of the time undermined, is essential and great.

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  1. Shotta7 October 2011 at 10:55

    Will mos def make time to go watch. Big ups for the review.

    ReplyDelete

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