Starring:
Presley Chweneyagae
Andisiwe Mkuyana
We all love a good love story. It has a way of seeping into our beings, rooting itself in our imagination and setting alight our own love life. However in real life; love tales are wondrous and enchanting yarns with more sinister and fraught expressions. Beautiful Things written by Selaelo Meredi and directed by Moses D. Rasekele looks at these disturbing love affairs; the love that burns so brightly and worries all who are touched by it.
Starring, South African actor, Presley Chweneyagae, the play explores how the past and its sinister manner seeps into the makings of love within a black narrative.
An adult man, Muzi, and a younger woman, Noni, fall in love. They both come with a tragic pas, both have been tragically widowed and both have issues of guilt and commitment to work through.
The Presley and Andisiwe carry the play with a level of truth as they both negotiate the openness that the emotions of these characters present. Muzi, played by Presley, represents the old generation that cherishes African culture and tradition. Noni, played by Andisiwe, is a beautiful young woman who grew up in the age of cultural transformation and industrial revolution.
When you think you know what is happening in the play, the characters shift, from love, to anger, to hurt. A tour-de-force of memory, guilt and possible happiness. You walk out of the play with a feeling of resilience that love can be captivating even through social and political upheavals.
Beautiful Things is on at the Maitisong Festival in the Moving Space at Maru-a-Pula School on Thursday 5.30pm, Friday 8.30pm and Saturday 2.00pm (13th – 16th April 2016). Tickets P150.
