Woza, Cape Town - Theatrical Entertainment

Ever felt despondent? – This article will ignite your very soul! The feeling is grey, thoughts are dulled, you cannot fight through the malaise and yet the candle in the midst flickers brightly. You have to get out and feel the brilliance of song and dance.

Theatre comes in all sorts of forms - Dance, rhetoric, comedy, satire and so much more. It was then with a degree of intrepidation that Claire & I accepted an invitation from a friend of ours to attend Woza Cape Town. A degree of concern that the entire cast are children aged from four years to late teens. How could they possibly bring polish, prowess and professionalism to the stage? In addition the location of the theatre is District Six, the very centre of forced removal anguish during our apartheid era.

Parking outside the theatre we were reassured that our car was in “ Good hands my Lannie (boss) “, we entered what looked very much like an old church. Sounds of jazz filled the small theatre and the sound of convivial banter drew us to their bar area. Ah ha! Now the spirits can rise, both Brian Notcutt and Andrew Russell are here tonight. The founders and drivers behind Woza Cape Town are two somewhat gifted souls who through Brian’s gift for the arts and Andrews’s gift for seeing more than most of us bring a new dimension for all to witness.

Brian is indefatigable. His enthusiasm, talent and passion is tangible, he exudes such moving energy. Tonight’s performance is about to begin, we take our chairs within a few meters of the stage, lights dramatise our proximity, the music begins to rise in tempo then the cast emerges from the wings. The stage is alive with energy!

Woza Cape Town is a story acted out by youngsters of divergent cultures. A black, coloured and white male each tell and act their life story. From the privileged white boy without love or care within his family to the angry black child with oodles of support from his broader family but little hope of achieving material greatness, the coloured actor oscillates between, lost in song, dance and the ambivalent status quo of ambiguity.

We are transported into their respective world that we know only too well. Both Claire & I benefited well during the apartheid era, whites were privileged in most scopes of society and commerce. As the cast wove their fabric of song and dance with such vigour, enthusiasm and precision, I could not help but realise just how poignant this show was becoming. These youngsters were reflecting our chequered past in vivid reality. No face saving mask of reason, just open dialogue shared not so much with anger and isolation but with the belief that we CAN co exist together and CAN respect each others culture, background and position within our cosmopolitan society.

As each song rang out, the cast grew in confidence. The dance routines were dazzling, the costumes inspiring. There was without doubt many in the audience this evening who had half their mind in the past and realising the futility of the apartheid era, the other half was alive with the sound of children singing and dancing the reality of the way forward for all of us.

Claire & I left the theatre in reflective silence, deep in thought of what we had both just experienced. If ever you doubt the future of our beloved country, if ever you feel despondent about our tomorrows, take a few hours to absorb Woza Cape Town, to revel in the combination of a Brian’s & Andrew’s vision coupled with the brilliant talent of our youth to come up with the answers to our adult questions.