SS Mendi: Dancing the Death Drill Critic – Incredibly Sung Tragic Story | Step

Z amile Gantana takes a box, sits down in the middle of the stage, and gives a direct but lyrical explanation of what happened to the SS Mendi. In 1917, a total of 823 South African men boarded the ship to aid the British war effort; a month later, more than 600 of them drowned after a collision. "It's our lament for the souls of the dead, to bring them peace," says Gantana. From this opening scene, the South African theater company Isango Ensemble transfigures the idea of ​​lamentation, turning grief into something poignant, funny and angry sometimes.

The scenario follows dozens of men on the ship a straightforward priest, a teenager said his presence brings misfortune, a Métis recruit and a white officer. Adapted by Gbolahan Obisesan alongside the ensemble of 14 people, the play shows the racist indignities that men faced before their tragic death.

The direction of Mark Dornford-May, combined with the choreography of Lungelo Ngamlana and the musical direction of Mandisi Dyantyis, is extraordinary. Using little instruments and small props, the world around the Mendi, from train journeys to bird sounds, is achieved using movement, music and vocal work.

There are many bright moments, black humor often to the heart. Artists break the fourth wall to joke about fog machines or explain the culture of tribal circumcision. The air of the Blue Peter theme is played on a marimba. As the characters read contracts in their mother tongue, the cacophony of difference settles in God Save the King. We are reminded that Africa is a vast continent with a variety of cultures and tribes, forced together under the banner of the Empire

The ship itself is anthropomorphized into a beaming Nolubabalo Mdayi, singing happily around her waist before watching the crew as a happy mother, seeming unhappy when they fight. When the SS Mendi finally sinks, she collapses. She laments and struggles, before a man who is known to survive the sinking comes to help him let go. It's a visceral moment, and Mdayi, like the rest of the set, gives an incredible performance.

It's a wonderful piece: an hour and a half of music, songs and top-notch tales. "Can you sit in the theater where is the white man?" Ask a character very early. The souls of the SS Mendi may not have been able to sit next to the audience, but with this piece, their story speaks when they can not.