Toil and trouble with Uys's MacBeki

3 Mar 2009

Sometimes political situations in this wonderful country of ours really do play out like dramatic Shakespearean plays with twists and turns, betrayals and love affairs and in the end it all turns out to be a bit of a joke. Pieter-Dirk Uys has done just this with MacBeki as his written work comes to life on stage making the current South African political divisions hilariously funny using Shakepeare's famous tragedy, "MacBeth" as the scene and setting, the plot however is thicker than Shakespeare could ever have imagined.

Directed by Christopher Weare, the cast of ten are brilliant. A special mention must however go to Lerato Motshwarakgole who plays the role of "Lady Manta" and "Winnie". The alcoholic slash conniving Lady Manta decked with hip-flask calling on the spirits to take the milk from her breast and turn it into garlic sauce is played excellently by this fine young actress in the making. Her fabulous beetroot recipe comes into play at every turn making it terribly hard to remove its stains from her hands.

Highlights from the play for me, apart from Lady Manta, are the simple parts - the walking down the passages, the use of Celion Dion (yes Celion Dion), the role of the porter/struggling actor/white guy in a BEE world. Knowledge of the Shakespearean classic is certainly not neceassary to get the satirical gist of MacBeki but it will make the play even more tantalising. You must however have some grasp on the recent developments on the South African political terrain and if you don't what planet do you live on?!

If you're in the mood for an evening of laughter and entertainment, grab yourself a glass of dry white or water - whatever tickles your taste buds and head down to the Little Theatre at Michaelis - UCT's fine art school between 25 February and 21 March. Bookings can be made by calling 084 395 8381. The show starts at 8pm sharp. All that's left to say is congratulations to Mr Uys, it's a true South African beauty and well done to the theatre practitioners in training on a great performance all round.

After it's run in Cape Town the comedy will move to the Market Theatre in Johannesburg between 27 March and 3 May 2009.
Performance Times: Tuesday to Saturday, 8pm. Sunday, 3pm.
Previews: 27, 28, 29 & 31 March, Tuesday performances and all previews: R50 only
To make block bookings please contact Audience Development on +27 (0)11 832 1641

Prepare yourself for some double, double toil and trouble upon the heath of Luthuli Castle!

Also look out for Elections and Erections staring Pieter-Dirk Uys and Evita Bezuidenhout from 3 March - 2 May. You can book your tickets at Computicket.

Sindy Peters

About Sindy Peters

Sindy Peters (@sindy_hullaba_lou) is a group editor at Bizcommunity.com on the Construction & Engineering, Energy & Mining, and Property portals. She can be reached at moc.ytinummoczib@ydnis.