Independent Theatre Inc. The Goodwood Institute. 27 May 2014
The show will go on. And it did.
William Mude may have had the smallest part but he was hero of Independent Theatre, taking on the role just a week before opening night after another actor had simply dropped out of the rehearsal process and vanished.
Mude played with the script in hand - sometimes his lines lost in a rush of African accent but always his winning personality simply shining through.
For lack of African actors, this Athol Fugard play, 'Master Harold... and the boys' has never before been performed in Adelaide.
It is set in the South Africa of the 1950s wherein racial enlightenment was a very wobbly creature. With a strongly autobiographical bent, it tells of a white teenage boy's relationship with two black servants who have worked for his family since he was little.
The action takes place in one lunchtime in the tearoom which is staffed by the servants while the mother and owner is away dealing with the needs of her crippled husband. The boy, Hally, comes to the tearoom for lunch and to do his homework, attended particularly by Sam who has been his mainstay through a rocky and dysfunctional family history.
It's a beautifully crafted, albeit densely wordy play.
The mood is set by the servants' banter about their passion for dancing competitions as they languidly do chores in the tearoom. When Hally aka Harold arrives, the black-white status is immediately apparent, even though there are stories told and knowledge shared. Phone calls from mother intrude upon the mood and the true complexities of relationships begins to emerge.
Benji Riggs plays the teen Hally with a well-honed South African accent and a moveable feast of moods which are to carry the play on a psychological roller coaster to its denouement. Riggs gives the character both vulnerability and arrogance. When it comes to the point, he also conveys a power of believable nastiness. A lost line or two on the historic opening night could not undermine what was a sterling performance from a very able young actor.
As Hally's friend and foil, Sam, Shedric Yarkpai is well-nuanced and somewhat elegant. His character embodies the strengths and suppressions of the black South African in service and Yarkpai's performance walks a veritable tightrope between subservience and familiarity.
The set, designed by Rob Croser and David Roach, is a detailed recreation of the diner-style 50s tea room from Fugard's youth, complete with glowing juke box. Indeed, as Hally helps himself to cakes, sodas and sweeties, it is invitingly realistic and would seem to be a very welcoming set for Independent's first production in the beautifully-renovated Goodwood Institute building.
Then again, its polished warmth can be interpreted as adding a stroke of irony to the heart-wrenching drama which unfolds upon it.
Croser's direction keeps the point of the play always in sight, underscoring the heart and heartlessness of the playwright's intent.
It is a poignantly potent play and even an actor with script in hand does not distract from its emotional intensity.
Samela Harris
When: 27 to 31 May
Where: Goodwood Institute
Bookings: bass.net.au
