Fans of the Pay Back the Curry and State Fracture satirical works will love the new offering by the same creative team – Mike van Graan, playwright, Daniel Mpilo Richards as the sole performer with Rob van Vuuren as director – in their latest work, Land Acts.
This follows the same formula of different skits, each with a new challenge for the multi-talented Daniel Richards to enact or sing. As can be expected from the title, this current satire is based around the broad them of land expropriation without compensation, a controversial problem currently worrying South Africans.
The diverse musical and dramatic gifts of Daniel Richards are showcased in the clever and brave script from Mike van Graan. We know we live in a free country when playwrights can get away with such provocative material and return to write more of the same.
Daniel Mpilo Richards in Land Acts.
The work starts with Richards as a tour guide inviting people to visit and invest in South Africa. The question of whether land is a safe investment is left unanswered as the lights cut to black before the next skit. A young woman tells Malema why she doesn’t want “land” but rather an urban flat. A car guard share his thoughts. My undoubted favourite of the ten skits in this production is the “black dog” one. That alone is worth the ticket price.
This is not really laugh-a-minute stuff, it is often too biting and deep for instant laughter but it will leave you thinking about it for the next few days. It is light-hearted and a great evening out if you don’t mind stretching your mind just a little in the name of entertainment.
Land Acts is currently playing (until 28 July 2018) at the Auto & General Theatre on the Square.
Bookings can be made through Computicket – www.computicket.comor tele-book on 0861 915800. Bookings can also be made by calling the theatre’s box office on 011 883 8606. Enquire about group booking discounts and dinner/show packages at one of the restaurants on the Nelson Mandela Square to complete a fine evening of provocative satirical theatre and entertainment!
What I do, see, hear, eat and drink. 