Peter Brook

Excellent theatre can be so simple...

The first installment of my fruition of this year's "Festival de Otoño" couldn't have been better. The French version of Athol Fugard's "Sizwe Banzi is Dead", directed by 81-years old Peter Brook is 70 minutes of pure theatre. The actors, Habib Dembélé (lead role) and Pitcho Womba Konga, have all that's needed to engage the audience and sustain the magical theatrical vibe throughout. With a range of voice-impersonation and the richness of body-language a stand-up comedian would kill for, they make it all credible with the most austere scenic means one can imagine.. Very few props and a staging which might have not cost more than five entry tickets (5 x 20 = 100 €).. Powerful and simple text, first-class acting, and well-chosen bits of soundtrack - and the trick is done.

When I googled about this play I found an interesting article in the Economist which you might care to read. http://www.economist.com/books/displaystory.cfm?story_id=7033636

The troubles with obtaining ID cards with the right stamps on it, which is the subject-matter of the play, are not just a feature of Apartheid's South Africa... How many of us applauding enthusiastically at the end, feeling our white liberal good conscience for not having taken any part on that shameful regime, have made the association with the "sin papeles" of this day and age?...

A good play is worth ten thousand words...