Bravo, Cardino
Review by Carla Lever
After Cardino is Jane Taylor’s literary response to Shakespeare’s famous supposedly lost play, Cardino. It’s also the love story, mystery tale, horror story and comedic tragedy of a seventeenth century woman who was hanged, but comes back to life in spectacular fashion on the autopsy gurney.
It’s also, as you will have gathered, rather complex. But, then, seeing as you’re so quick on the uptake like that, you should go and see it. That’s because all you need to know is that it’s beautiful. Not just because the puppet, Dorotea, is magnificently handled, the mood in UCTs anatomy theatre is historically rich and Themba Stewart’s lighting is wonderfully evocative (which, of course, is all true). No, it’s also deeply intellectually satisfying, visually intriguing and, at many points, a riotous good time.
Marty Kintu manipulates Dorotea
There are probably a shade too many layers to this piece. Some dialogue doesn’t always work for me in its translation to from page to stage. But it’s damn clever and a refreshing change to see a very cerebral new work on local stages. Highlights include:
- Marty Kintu’s sensitive manipulation (it’s not easy to have a woman stepping on your toes all the time and still look graceful).
- Jemma Kahn’s acting. I was a fan. Go and see why.
- Jeroen Kranenburg’s marvellous Don Quixote battle with shadow windmills.
But don’t just take my opinion for it. In what will become a regular feature of my reviews, I’d like to turn to my date for their rating of the performance. Today’s date is Marjorie. She’s also happens to be my mother. Let’s not get into that.
RATE THE DATE – Marjorie Lever.
“I enjoyed it thoroughly and was really entertained. I liked the lead actress and found her voice and movements were good. The puppeteer was excellent, his sensitive manipulation of the puppet was natural and effective. I appreciated also the simplicity and beauty of some of the visual techniques. If I had a slight criticism it would be that there was too much going on, the subplots and comparisons got very intricate, but nontheless I’m pleased to have seen this production.”
After Cardino plays again on Sun 4 September at 14:00 and Mon 5 September at 21:00. Tickets are R50 and bookings can be made through Computicket. The production is suitable for those aged 14 and up.
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