Lights go up on the latest offering by AFDA Gqeberha students, whose three solo performances over the weekend, were combined in the showcase of Two Fags and a Dancer.
The controversial use of the homophobic slur represented the common themes of the first two performances, I’m Them by Anovuyo Nqeto, from Tsolo, and Wilting by Ché Keet, from Cape Town, with the third being dancer, Lazama Hlela, from Gqeberha in Crossfire.
Directed by Byron Davis, the three works flow with a level of expert mentorship.
The stage is set in a hot pink purgatory. The detritus of performance scattered around a fallen Drag Queen Shaun (Anovuyo Nqeto) who lies sprawled on the floor with one high heel raised.
Wearing a full face of drag makeup, a denim skirt and tights she wakes up to a booming voice calling showtime.
Groggy and disorientated in her changing room she moves about the space, picking up her hip stuffing, reapplying powder and struggling to recover last night’s perfection.
It was disappointing that the introduction to her seated form was marred by a large metal door-shaped frame, representing a mirror in the centre of downstage.
A stylistic choice that works as part of the preset, but it blocked the audience from seeing the delicate balance of makeup on her face until moved to the side, but too late.
It is rare and brave to see a queer man of colour with a curvaceous form dressed in drag wearing heels, makeup, a voluminous wig of curls and — as they say on Ru Paul’s Drag Race — SLAY!
The highlight, which was sadly cut too short, was when the beaming Queen Shaun stepped onto her own stage, lip-syncing to an isiXhosa eKhasi hit, her eyes wide and feet flourishing, she pulled audience members onto the stage and danced in a celebration that said; “We are here and we are queer.”
The second showcase, Wilting by Ché Keet, is the other side of the story, a young man from Komani too afraid to come out the closet.
Aiden, played by Keet, works as a cog in the corporate machine during lockdown, flipping between monotonous emails which pay the bills and the freedom of his imagination, teasing him with the dream of acceptance.
Cute moments from beloved romcoms are recreated with a fluffy pillow as the love interest, but sadly reality is not as soft.
The final showing from dancer Lazama Hlela in Crossfire was incredible.
Dressed in a school uniform Hlela moved with precision and executed a level of talent which will make him a name to look out for in the future.
A blend of soft flowing gesture, mime, contemporary and hip hop and eKhasi comedy, the teen longs for an education and life broken by bullets.
He sits inside a black box, scribbling lines, carrying heavy books, which even though mimed made my own arms ache from the imagined heaviness.
The costume, being a blazer and pants, meant that Hlela’s hands and feet were the point of focus, while his hands exploded with energy, some of that could be pointed in the direction of his feet, extend through the whole body.
Each performer brought their own voice to their showings, and I’m sure next year, will be back with more.
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