Theatre / 90 mins / £16 (£15), £14 (£13) / 14+
Showing @ Assembly Hall, until 27 Aug, 14.00
There’s more than touch of the incendiary post-colonial theorist, Franz Fanon, in Yael Farber‘s brilliant adaptation Strindberg’s classic. Here, the original Natualist drama of class and gender politics is transposed to present-day South Africa during Liberation Day celebrations. One of the most astonishing things about this play is how well the original has been modified. The dialogue is lyrical whilst real, and along with the extant class/gender conflict, there are the added catalysts of race and land. While individually giving exhilarating performances, the chemistry between Bongile Mantsai and Hilda Cronje is torrid, creating a perspiration drenched eroticism. Yet perhaps the most enduring image is that of John clutching both shovel and scythe at the play’s denouement as if to ask one simple question: is this the only way? Sexy, dangerous and riveting.