Kads play experiments with Black Comedy
A scene from the latest Kads production. PHOTO BY Douglas D. Seebamala
Acting a female character on stage when you are male and vise-versa has its thrills. Indeed, it may not come off perfect, but Kampala Amateur Dramatic Society (Kads) sure knows how to pull it off.
In last week’s production, Watchdog, Kads yet again experimented with Black Comedy, ably playing up the switch with a light-hearted presentation of death heavily laden with wit, you had to be attentive to get some of the punchlines.
Synopsis
A widowed mother steeped in grief is left to near insolence of her two teenage daughters, who run the household. The first scene opens with an insistent boy from across the street asking endless questions about death as his school project. Opening wounds of a dead father and husband spews an imbalance that spins the characters out of control as they decipher the meaning of death and get in touch with their true feelings about their departed.
Marten Treffers as mother, Steven Brown and Kenan Pollack as daughters switched to female characters, complimented by two females, who also took up male role of Wolf the boy from across, Inger Kammerca and Brenda Naledi. That loss of control was ably utilized even on stage as actors pretended to be unsure which character they were playing as they switched characters throughout the production. This gave the piece a comic and humorous effect.
Treffers, who directed the play translated Netherland’s Peer Wittenbols’ 2011 text from Dutch to English, but maintained its authenticity. A small cast eased the work maintaining its witty and poetic presence. The stage too maintained one scene depicting a bedroom and living room. The cast found a neutral costume in the all-white outfits, this enabled them juggle roles without costume changes except for a scarf and cloak .
Taking away from the norm of theatre auditoriums gave the play a whole new creative aura. It was staged in different locations in Kampala including Yasigi Beer Garden, Kololo, Dancing Cup, Bugolobi, In Movement, Kasanga and finally crowned at Red Chilli Hideaway, Butabika.
