BLUE, BLACK AND WHITE

We have all been hearing about Donald Molosi’s one-man show on Sir Seretse Khama; how it played on Broadway; how it won an award; and we wondered whether it would ever be seen in Gaborone. And we wondered, too, how Batswana would take to a dramatisation of the life of the beloved first president.

Thanks to Sixpence Management and Donald himself BLUE, BLACK AND WHITE has now been seen in Gaborone and Batswana seem very pleased with it. A six-show run of the play opened at Maitisong on Sunday 29^th July to a full house that included former President Masire and members of the Khama family.

Donald had tailored the show especially for its Botswana appearance. It had been doubled in length, incorporated the Mophato Dance Theatre into the show and included a lot of Setswana. The material used was all historical: letters between Seretse and Tshekedi Khama, speeches and the memories of people like former President Masire. That might sound a bit dull and confining, but, deftly chosen and cut and dramatically presented it had a ring of authenticity and directness.

The inclusion of the Mophato Dance Theatre added a dimension that the audiences in the USA would not have had. He used the dancers in crowd scenes, kgotla scenes and also as props: a podium and microphone; an aeroplane; the national coat of arms. But, as well as these, Mophato did two dances; one was a love duet depicting the young lovers, Seretse Khama and Ruth Williams, and the other was a celebratory scene with vibrant, up-beat dances. The celebratory dance was lively and cleverly choreographed with different groupings and fluid group dynamics. There were frequent references to traditional dance steps which got a great response from the audiences. The love duet was less successful, I felt, as the style was too modern and the intimacy too unsubtle to suit the more conservative style of a Botswana Royal.

The speeches and addresses Donald had chosen spoke of Seretse’s marriage to Ruth Williams, his relation to Tshekedi Khama, the preparations for independence, the launch of the BDP and the formation of the first government. The colours of the national flag – the blue, black and white - acted as a thread through all this. You could say that the show was too adoring of an admired first president.

That is true, but it also had that element of the praise poem about it in which the virtues of the person are recounted and the faults and foibles overlooked till a later time. Donald had not tried to analyse the character of Seretse Khama: rather he had tried to dramatise a momentous time in Botswana’s history as symbolised by the life of the First President. Perhaps, the next step is to try to make sense of the complexities in Seretse’s life.

Astonishingly, the show ran for 6 performances and drew good crowds to all of them. The closing show was quite a triumphant moment for Donald and his backers. President Ian Khama and his brothers were there. The large audience that night was particularly responsive and enthusiastic. President Khama met Donald and the cast after the show and posed for many pictures with the cast members.

 It ended on a great high and had been a signal achievement for Donald.

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THE MERCHANT OF VENICE

One forgets that once Shakespeare was topical.

He spoke the language of his times; he sang their songs; he danced their dances; he shared their jokes; he enjoyed their scandals; he wept at their troubles. He was an entertainer and he knew how to play to his audience.

He was not treated as a ‘master’. People didn’t talk of him with massive respect. You either preferred his plays to those of the many other people producing plays or you didn’t. No pressure.

Now Shakespeare comes weighed down with awe, respect - even worship. What was once trendy and modern is now dusty and respectable in the eyes of the majority of people today.

Pity, because his plays really are marvellous and hugely rewarding to both player and listener.

So its not surprising that lots of people have had a go at updating Shakespeare’s plays to bring them into the era of short attention spans and special effects. Add to that list Alastair Hagger and Steve Jobson. Both are teachers at Maru a Pula and they pooled their skills at language and art to present to us a most striking Merchant of Venice. It had cellphone conversations, TV news-casters, Setswana, puppets from life size to Punch and Judy size. It had shadow puppets and video projection. There was also modern music and dancing.

You might wonder whether there was any space left for Shakespeare’s words.

Not much! Words lost out rather. What with the Short Attention Span Syndrome (SASS) and the many bits of business, the words had to be cut a lot. I doubt if there were 50% of Shakespeare’s lines here. The most important bits - those on which the story turned - were kept. But this did mean that the story became rather linear losing the twists and turns of the subplots and the richness that they add.

But, Alastair Hagger’s concept was most forceful and Steve Jobson’s designs quite brilliant. There was the BTV-type news-casting from the Rialto in Venice with its by-line in Setswana; there was the parade of men who had come to try their luck at marrying Portia as string puppets; there was the video clip of the second suitor played as a woman trying her luck in a bathroom! There was the merchant, Antonio, carrying a large and vicious looking puppet-dog; there were the beautiful wire masks that many of the characters wore; there were the shadow-puppets of contenders in the trial scene: not to forget the joker Launcelot Gobo tearing up and dowen the supermarket aisles doing errands for his boss.
 

Yes, there was much to look at and marvel at and to help keep our attention from lapsing.

But, of course, the fact is that, once all this business was done, there were Shakespeare’s words that told the story. Did all this innovation and startling imagery help the story and make it palatable to today’s youth? Probably, to some extent, yes!

It was a most bold piece of theatre and a highly individualistic re-interpretation of an old play for today’s IT-savvy youth.

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