By Maegan Clearwood
News Editor
A tree, some buckets of sand, a ramshackle cot and a Nativity set were all that greeted audiences when they walked into Tawes Theater for Tara Bancroft’s thesis production of “Tshepang: The Third Testament.”
Once sophomore actors Obella Obbo and Andrea Clarke made their appearances onstage, however, the space was anything but empty; it overflowed with suspense and dramatic tension, and 60 minutes after taking their seats, audience members exited the theater shaken and awed.
Bancroft came across the script during her study abroad experience in South Africa last year. The play, by Lara Foot Newton, is simple at surface-level. Obbo’s character, Simon, begins the narrative monologue (which ultimately encompasses all but a single word of the script) conversationally, joking with the audience about the unendurable heat. It isn’t until the audience takes notice of Clarke’s character, Ruth, however, that the story develops.
As Simon chats with his captivated audience, Ruth’s silent, pained reactions color the stage. He starts lightheartedly, spinning amusing anecdotes about characters from the village. His storytelling darkens, however, as he alludes to “what happened,” the secret behind Ruth’s silence that keeps his audience on edge.
Simon gradually reveals that his friend has not spoken since her infant daughter, Sei Sei, renamed Tshepang meaning savior, was raped by her father.
Clarke’s beautifully organic and raw silent performance embodied the unsettling nature of the play’s heavy subject matter. Whether furiously grinding sand or cradling a loaf of bread, her personification of a mother in mourning was captivating. It was Clarke’s energy that fueled the play more than anything, even the unsettling story itself.
Obbo’s performance was a refreshing offset to Clarke’s muted suffering. His monologue carried the audience through every day life in South Africa while revealing the underlying tension and pain of Ruth’s story. He leads the audience through a difficult arch of emotions, ending in his own fury toward society’s shallowness and Ruth’s internal struggles. Obbo crafted an incredible character; his initial casualness was a stark, disturbing contrast to what he finally relays to his listeners.
The actors carried the production, but the design aspects were equally effective. The set, although simple and sparse, embodied the characters’ isolation from the community.
The set complemented the actors’ performances, giving them the entire stage to move and interact.
The lighting proved elemental in transforming the snug theater into a stiflingly hot, empty atmosphere. The very first line of the play is about the cruel sun. It wasn’t hard for the audience to imagine itself baking under these harsh rays.
As the play progressed, lights would periodically highlight Ruth’s reactions to Simon’s story. One of the most striking images in the play, for example, was the first moment in which Ruth is given silent control of the stage. The lights locked in on her for an unnervingly long, quiet period as she knelt on the furiously ground grinding salt.
It was intimate moments like these that truly drove the play. The brutal thematic content and what could have been a monotonously long monologue made for a risky senior thesis choice. Bancroft, however, crafted a beautiful production.
The set, lighting, and costume design was effective, yet didn’t overshadow the production’s most indispensable, defining elements: the actors themselves.
Clarke’s and Obbo’s performances were captivatingly visceral. More than any other aspect of the play, their connection with the audience strengthened and grounded the production.
Next Week:
Reasons to be Pretty by Neil LaBute
A Senior Thesis directed by Chris Smith
Oct. 27, 28, and 29 at 8 p.m. in Tawes Theatre.
For tickets reservations call 410-778-7835 or e-mail drama_tickets@washcoll.edu.