Represent Review: The Invader
Catch The Invader this week at Wits Theatre – our Representah Linda gives us her view on the seemingly controversial play:
I sit down in the Wits Amphitheatre, ready to watch the play “The Invader”. A very loud rock song is pulsing through the speakers, filling the auditorium. I can’t figure out what the song is because I don’t know any rock music released post-1992, when I finished school and began to exercise my long-awaited right to choose what music to listen to. But I digress….
The song is LOUD… but through it I can hear voices raised, people are fighting, a man and a woman. The argument seems to be coming from backstage, and seems quite incongruous with the song, so I’m wishing the stage manager would realise they’ve left the music on, and turn it off, because the play is about to start. It carries on though, and I start thinking… maybe there’s a serious argument backstage and the music is being played to drown it out while we wait. All kinds of scenarios are playing themselves out in my imagination about who is arguing – maybe the director cheated on his actress girlfriend, and she is now refusing to go on stage; or somebody is throwing an artistic tantrum about the props…(yeah I’m a gossip junkie, sometimes).
The drama unfolds in my mind until I realise the backstage argument is part of the script. A young girl comes running out on stage, a pantsula type of dude right on her tail yelling and screaming all kinds of obscenities at her. She is running from him, trying to duck his hands slapping her, trying to outrun his feet kicking her, she’s frantically throwing whatever obstacle she can find into his path to slow him. But he catches up to her and assaults her. The scene is rough. He beats her, calls her a whore, and rapes her. All the while the rock tune continues playing, LOUD. While I want it to stop playing so I can hear better what he’s saying to her, I’m actually grateful it is playing, so I don’t have to hear it; and the song also distracts me from listening to her anguished screams. Much respect to the young actress, she will go far.
This is the powerful opening scene of “The Invader”. The rest of the play is about the theme of rape and sexual violence – from the story of rape victims turned sexual aggressors, to women raped at a young age, who think they’ve dealt with the issue until it comes back to haunt them in adult life, to male victims of rape. The play also carries strong messages of hope for survivors of rape.
The acting is really good, especially considering that these are students. Be prepared for some shock though – even a dyed-in-the-wool non-prude like myself found herself saying “yoh!” at some of the scenes, and gaping slack-jawed at booties shaking all over the stage in other scenes.
Look, I won’t give away the whole story. I believe the play is worth watching. Go with an open mind, and listen to the message – even the preachy bits. It was particularly touching for me to find out that the play’s writer/director was himself a victim of sexual abuse when he was a child. While that saddened me, I also find it very encouraging that people are using art to exorcise their demons, and giving voice to the hurts and nightmarish “unspeakables” that often go unspoken for entire lifetimes.
The Invader
Wits Amphitheatre, 18 – 23 June @ 19h00
The Invader, written and directed by Tinashe Jonas, the Zimbabwean playwright, analyses the South African police and justice system and how it fails women. Three female friends, all rape victims, agree to be survivors rather than victims, through poetry, music and dance. Ticket prices: Full price R70, students R30.
Linda – Representah
