DEFIANCE by Eddie Thaba
Writer & Director: Eddie Thaba
Assistant Director: Siziphiwe Maqubela
Cast: Siyabonga Falakhe Makhubo and Mothusi Manele
The sins of the fathers shall no longer be known as the sins of the sons. Old ideas are challenged by new voices in Eddie Thaba’s Khongolese inspired work. Charting the trajectory of a conversation between a struggle veteran who is the custodian of Khongolose’s political school and a defiant young man who has been ordered to take the course as a repercussion for an incurred suspension.
The lines between fact and fiction are straddled and blurred as audience members come to realize that he narrative unfolding before them is a fictional retelling of the events that led to the expulsion of Julius Malema from the ANC. A tug of war ensues as each force, one representing the old guard and the other representing the new lifeblood of the organization lock horns as they work through and argue over the ideas being advanced by the course. Divided into five sections, the syllabus covers aspects such as political speak (highfalutin, verbosity, tautology and all) and the type of discipline expected of cadres in the organization. These and other pointers prove to place both factions on opposing sides of the spectrum when it comes to key issues central to the management of Khonglose. The audience is transported through a sea of questionable morals, values and double standards that expose the narrow-mindedness of the old and the lack of patience of the young. One comes to appreciate both sides of the argument, but in the end it becomes clear which of the two factions has the upper hand: the defiant one.
Though at times the text seemed to overpower the actors, the audience was tickled to listen to language not used colloquially by the average Tshepo. Non-sequitors, perambulators and interlocutors aside, Defiance, which starred Siyabonga Falakhe Makhubo and Mothusi Manele and AD’d by Siziphiwe Maqubela was worth the watch proving to be an important production which makes our recent complex history easier to understand. The only drawback of the production was the directorial approach to the work which often felt stagnant with the actors rarely entering each other’s private spaces in the moments of confrontation.
A powerful textual work about the current state of party politics in the country with specific reference to the genesis of the rivalry between the Reds and the Greens. Thaba challenges his performers and audience alike with his own work of Defiance.
12-04-2018
Katlego Chale ©
a nomad speaks 