WHY WE LEFT presented by Passionfish Productions, written and directed by Megan Godsell (fringe, drama, Glennie Hall today at 12.30pm, tomorrow at 8.30pm, Friday at 10am, Saturday at 12.30pm):
READING the write-up in the Fringe booking kit, one would expect this to be an insightful piece looking at the reasons why South Africans choose to emigrate.
But it’s not. It’s a weird, self-indulgent combination of drama, physical theatre and poetry that doesn’t really achieve anything or answer any questions.
Nicholas Welch and Belinda Belseck are the two central actors, acting out their scenes in the centre of the stage in a small apartment in an unnamed northern hemisphere country which they have just moved to.
Although they seem to be very much in love, their interaction is weird. They predominantly speak to each other in poetry rather than normal conversation and it’s all flowery language with big words that don’t really convey any meaning or emotion.
There is nothing interesting or attractive about either character that the audience can connect with or latch on to.
Meanwhile in the darkened areas either side of their apartment, two shadowy figures dance and move, gradually decorating the empty stage with a collection of plants native to South Africa.
Whenever she gets depressed about her situation, the wife wanders into this area, looking at all the things which remind her of home.
But the more this happens, the more you realise it is all in her imagination and she is slowly going mad.
There is very little to keep the audience’s attention in this bilingual (English and Afrikaans) production and one wonders if the title “Why we Left” could refer to what is going through the audience’s minds as they ponder whether it’s even worth staying to the end of this mediocre work.
Tags: dance, emigration, flowers, mental illness, poetry, South Africans overseas, Theatre review
