Writer-director Ashwin Singh will have two of his plays staged at the Playhouse soon.
The double bill includes High Stakes, Singh’s brand new one-woman play starring award-winning actress and classical Indian dancer, Sivani Chinappan-Moodley.
The play will run with Reoca Light, starring award-winning actor Rory Booth, which staged to packed houses in Durban and London.
The productions will run as a double bill as part of the Playhouse Company's New Stages Festival in three weeks time.
Singh said High Stakes was a more detailed exploration of the character Gita Singh who first appeared in his 2013 play, Beyond the Big Bangs.
Gita is a businesswoman, a community worker, a widow, a grandmother...and a gambler who is now in trouble because she owes money to a loan shark ...and he is coming to collect.
“After Beyond the Big Bangs ran in Durban and Joburg, there were many academics, theatre practitioners and audience members who suggested that I write a one-woman show focused on Gita Singh. They found her to be a dynamic and memorable character and her contradictions presented an interesting challenge for them.
“They were also aware of many grannies like her who spent a disproportionately high number of hours in casinos and they felt that I should more fully explore the reasons for this. I was busy with other projects at the time but I was finally able to sit down and write the play last year.
“Then the Playhouse Company chose the work (along with Reoca Light) for this year’s New Stages Festival. I think that the character of Gita and the world she inhabits is still very relevant today and will resonate with a lot of people across the cultural spectrum,” said Singh.
He said High Stakes explores the issue of casino capitalism: “The casino complex is viewed by many people as the ultimate playground – it has a variety of features, from the casino itself to cafes and restaurants to night clubs to comedy venues. However, it is also a den of empty escapes and addiction. The play also explores the social challenges and alienation faced by many older people – they battle to connect with their increasingly distant families, and there are also very few dynamic entertainment options for people older than sixty in our world.
“The work also questions whether we are genuinely building a truly intercultural society or if we are simply succumbing to the shallow temptations of Western culture. I believe that these issues are very relevant in contemporary society and that they should be regularly explored in a variety of artforms, with theatre being an invaluable vehicle to do so because it is a substantial examination of humankind’s vice and folly.
“The genre of High Stakes is comedy, more specifically satire. There are moments of pathos, as there should be in any substantial comedy, but there are numerous laugh-out-loud moments,” said Singh.
He said Chinappan-Moodley is a consummate professional who is equally adept at comedy and drama.
“She has a vast emotional range as well as the experience and necessary curiosity to master playing a variety of complex characters. She has previously performed in my productions To House and PopCom, so I have closely encountered her multiplicity of skills. What really sealed it for me was the combination of her vocal range and physical attributes which meant that she could easily make the character transitions in a naturalistic way.”
Singh said Booth had performed in several of his works, including Spice 'n Stuff, PopCom and Into the Grey. He said Reoca Light was Booth’s most memorable performance for which he received standing ovations in Durban and London.
“I have worked with Rory over the past 14 years. We first worked together in Ronny Govender’s production, Thunsil in 2009. Since then, Rory has performed in several of my plays. Reoca Light last staged in London in 2019. It was invited to be part of the Tara Arts International Season in August that year. So far it has staged in South Africa and the UK, and is scheduled to stage in India next year.
“It is also a published play, so it is taught at a variety of universities in South Africa, India, Canada and Europe. Students at some of these universities have also enacted the play. The play has also been translated into Gujarati and published in that language in India. Currently, an actor is being sought in India to perform the play in Gujarati,” said Singh.
Reoca Light tells the story of an Indian family who put everything on the line to survive and realise a dream in South Africa.
“The play was last staged in Durban in 2019 at the Playhouse Loft. The production is so loved because Rory’s performance is magnificent. He is a tremendous talent. The production also contains a good balance of humour and pathos, and an innovative measure of physical theatre as well.
“The thematic explorations are also very relevant – the place of the small trader in the global economy; father-son conflicts and connections; finding love late in life; the impact of violent crime on small businesses and the realisation of dreams after arduous struggle. Also, people have fallen in love with the key characters, the narrator, Sunil; his shopkeeper father, Mohan; the eccentric Uncle Johnny and the inspiring Themba Dlamini,” said Singh.
The double-bill stages over three shows on 19 and 20 May. Tickets through Webtickets.
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