|
Gumboots!
At The Oxford Playhouse until Saturday
6th November
"Twelve sexy, stomping, singing, shouting, laughing
geniuses". That's how the Australian press described the Gumboots
cast. Not wishing to hide behind British reserve (which is one thing
this show doesn't have), I should like to add 'sweaty' to the list.
Glistening, bare-chested dancers' bodies not five minutes into the
action were testament to the energy, the power, that moved from hand
to boot to stage then theatre. The heat of the moment was also, though,
a reminder of the roots of the bottle-topped gumboot dance routines-a
reminder of the conditions of the mines where it all began. During
'Shosholoza'-a song every South African would know-the dancers/singers
raised a minehead as backdrop to an economical but effective stage
and sang of the need for work, migrant labour, and death.
However, over the 90 minutes (no interval) the all-male cast
sang also of companionship, girls, hope, and love. With close, rich
harmonies so typical of Southern African singersand an enviable rapport
with their audience, the cast's vivacity was infectious. Young and
old alike in the audience found themselves involved, responsive. We
were transported seamlessly from scene to scene-these painted not
with elaborate stage props but in the casts' facial expressions, wide
eye movements and flicks of the hips.
There is certainly a fusion of western and African cultures
in this show. Despite sorghum beer, Nelson Mandela, and the occasional
Sotho, Zulu or Xhosa stream of consciousness, guitars, moonwalks-and
the tiniest suggestion of camp-make this no anthropologist's field
trip. But perhaps this-along with the sheer enthusiastic physicality
of the cast-is what has made this show so successful on a world stage.
Zenzi Mbuli, director of Gumboots and of international renown knows
what makes audiences tick.
If you don't go to any other show this year, go to this one.
If you can secure a ticket. The theatre was practically full last
night and I can see audience numbers only growing for the rest of
this week. Take your set of white teeth and show them if you're sitting
in the fifth row. Before your next brisk tramp across Port Meadow
in those green wellies make sure you've experienced the exuberant,
hot, African equivalent.
Gumboots is showing at the Playhouse nightly this week with
two performances on Saturday 6 November.
SCMS
|