Theatre Journal Pub Date : 2021-01-06 , DOI: 10.1353/tj.2020.0095 Carla Neuss
- South Africa and the Future of Post-Apartheid Theatre:An Interview with Mark Dornford-May, Artistic Director of Isango Ensemble
- Carla Neuss (bio)
Born in Chester, England, director Mark Dornford-May worked in London theatre for twenty years prior to founding Isango Ensemble, a Cape Town–based lyric theatre company in 2000. Helming the Spier Arts Festival in Stellenbosch, South Africa, Dornford-May built his company by holding auditions in townships to discover new South African talent, a move that was not without controversy in the recent wake of apartheid. This unique audition process yielded a new multiracial company whose inaugural season in 2000 was comprised of South African adaptations of Bizet's Carmen and the medieval Chester Mystery Cycle (titled Yiimimangaliso—The Mysteries). While the productions initially received mixed reviews in South Africa, they were met with international acclaim upon touring, with Charles Spencer of the Daily Telegraph proclaiming Yiimimangaliso to be "one of the most moving, beautiful, human and courageous shows you will ever see."1 The productions transferred to the West End and have since received multiple reprisals, ultimately both being adapted into films that were awarded in several film festivals. Since then, the company has produced over ten adaptations of canonically Western works, characterized by their unique syncretic approach to combining Western canon and South African aesthetics. Recent productions include Mozart's Impempe yom lingo—The Magic Flute, Shakespeare's uVenus e Adonis—Venus and Adonis and A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Puccini's Abanxaxh—La Boheme, all which have toured to stunning success throughout Europe, the UK, the United States, Australia, and Japan. [End Page E-11]
CN:In tracing Isango's journey over the last twenty years and considering its early success—particularly in the UK—what do you attribute the enthusiasm of Western audiences to?
MDM:I think it's always been the complete commitment of the performers. That's still Isango's signature to a certain extent—the performers always really show up in performance. I've often thought Isango is sometimes more like a sports team than a theatre company. We train and we practice. But actually, once the game happens, everyone goes up to a different level and responds to the fact of the audience. So often you hear—or I do—actors in the UK saying, "Oh, yeah. But the rehearsal period was the best part of the process." I doubt you would ever hear anyone in Isango say that. For them, the performances are crucial because until that moment there's no real active art. You need that relationship.
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Vumile Nomanyama as God in Yiimimangaliso: The Mysteries.
(Photo: Courtesy of topphoto.co.uk.)
CN:How did the positive international response contrast the initial response from South African audiences? Several white spectators famously walked out of the first production of Yiimimangaliso—The Mysteries (2001) when a black actor, Vumile Nomanyama, appeared onstage playing God.
MDM:Yes. Right at the beginning of Yiimimangaliso—The Mysteries, as soon as Vumile walked on and said "I am God," we lost fifteen, twenty [white] people who stood up and noisily left the auditorium. People left in droves. And one of the white audience [End Page E-12] members came up to me at the end of the show and accused me, saying "Why are you trying to Africanize this wonderful arts festival?" I said, "But you're African too," which of course annoyed him even more. But I think it was that what we were doing was so unusual. They had very little to relate it to in South Africa at that time on the scale we were working on. Many of the shows were imported musicals from the West then. On top of that there was also tremendous jealousy within the arts world that I had been brought in to run this festival rather than it been given to a South African director. And that instead of going into the theatres and looking for experienced actors and offering them work in the company, I'd taken, as it were, kids from the townships. And those things were really upsetting to a lot...
中文翻译:
南非与后种族隔离剧院的未来:Isango Ensemble艺术总监Mark Dornford-May访谈
代替摘要,这里是内容的简要摘录:
- 南非与后种族隔离剧院的未来:Isango Ensemble艺术总监Mark Dornford-May访谈
- 卡拉·诺伊斯(生物)
导演马克·多恩福德·梅(Mark Dornford-May)生于英国切斯特,在伦敦剧院工作了二十年,然后于2000年成立了位于开普敦的抒情剧院公司Isango Ensemble。在南非斯泰伦博斯举办了Spier艺术节,多恩福德·梅建造了他的公司通过在乡镇进行试镜来发现新的南非人才,这一举措在最近的种族隔离浪潮中并非没有争议。这种独特的试镜过程催生了一家新的多种族公司,其2000成立季节包括南非改编的Bizet的《卡门》和中世纪的切斯特神秘循环(题为“伊米曼加里索-神秘”))。虽然这些作品最初在南非受到了不同程度的评论,但在巡回演出中却获得了国际赞誉,《每日电讯报》的查尔斯·斯宾塞(Charles Spencer)宣布伊米曼加里索(Yiimimangaliso)是“您所见过的最动人,最美丽,最人性和最勇敢的节目之一”。1个 的制作转移到西区和具有自接收的多个报复,最终都被改编成薄膜被授予在几个电影节这一点。从那时起,该公司已经制作了十多种经典的西方作品改编本,其特点是结合西方经典和南非美学的独特融合方法。最近的作品包括莫扎特的Impempe yom lingo(魔术长笛),莎士比亚的uVenus e Adonis(金星和Adonis和仲夏夜之梦)和Puccini的Abanxaxh-La Boheme,在欧洲,英国,美国,澳大利亚和日本的所有演出均取得了惊人的成功。[第Ck-11页]
CN:在追踪Isango过去20年的旅程并考虑其早期的成功(尤其是在英国)时,您将西方观众的热情归因于什么?
MDM:我认为这始终是表演者的全部承诺。在某种程度上,那仍然是Isango的标志-表演者总是真正地出现在表演中。我经常认为Isango有时更像是一支运动队,而不是剧院公司。我们训练,我们练习。但是实际上,一旦游戏开始,每个人都会升到一个不同的水平,并对观众的事实做出反应。因此,您经常听到(或者我也听到)英国的演员说:“哦,是的。但是排练是过程中最好的部分。” 我怀疑您会不会在Isango听到有人这么说。对于他们来说,表演至关重要,因为在那一刻之前还没有真正的活跃艺术。你需要那种关系。
单击查看大图
查看完整分辨率图1。
依米曼加里索的《野蛮山山》作为上帝:奥秘。
(照片:topphoto.co.uk提供。)
CN:积极的国际反应如何与南非观众的最初反应形成对比?当黑人演员Vumile Nomanyama出现在舞台上扮演上帝时,几位白人观众著名地退出了伊米曼加里索的第一部作品-The Mysteries(2001年)。
MDM:是的。就在伊伊曼格加里索(Yiimimangaliso)一开始的奥秘-奥秘(The Mysteries)上,当Vumile走上来说“我是上帝”时,我们失去了十五个二十个[白人]站起来,吵闹地离开礼堂。人们成群结队离开。还有一位白人听众[第Ck-12页]演出结束时,成员们来找我,指责我,说:“你为什么要把这个美妙的艺术节非洲化?” 我说:“但是你也是非洲人”,这当然使他更加恼火。但是我认为这是我们所做的非常不寻常的事情。当时,在我们正在研究的规模上,他们与南非的联系很少。当时的许多表演都是从西方引进的音乐剧。最重要的是,我被带进艺术界也引起了极大的嫉妒,我被带去举办这个音乐节,而不是送给南非导演。而且,我没有去剧院寻找有经验的演员并为他们提供公司的工作,而是带走了乡里的孩子。这些事情真的让很多人感到沮丧。