YSB OFFICIAL REVIEW
Stepping into the Kalk Bay Theatre is a little like stepping back in time. Situated in a beautifully restored NG Church on Main road in Kalk Bay, the performance area made me feel like I was about to watch a play in the basement of some vast Shakespearean pub: in all the right ways.
London Road is a charming New South African tale about two abandoned women from completely different worlds making their own way in the same block of flats. Rosa, an old Jewish woman impeccably played by Robyn Scott, is living out her twilight years alone; her children have immigrated to Australia and all of her friends are “either dead or mashugana”, Yiddish for crazy. Ntombi Makhutshi’s delightful Nigerian character Stella is in the country illegally and makes her money much the same way; a rural girl dragged to the bottom of city living by her now deported husband.
Two women, completely untrusting, alien and alone are brought together simply by sharing the same space and this unlikely duo delivers an incredibly poignant message: whether you’re from Israel or North East Africa, loneliness is universal. And, in truth, we have more in common with our next door neighbor than we do with our family thousands of miles away.
Nicholas Spagnoletti’s script manages to capture a relationship in motion, bound in a dark sense of humour. Robyn Scott’s Rosa will have you in hysterics.
An encouraging and heartwarming tale, subtly directed by Lara bye, superbly acted by Robyn Scott and Ntombi Makhutshi, London Road is more than worth the drive out to Kalk Bay. Add to that Craig Leo’s inventive design, Braam du Toit’s mesmerizing score and the beauty of a theatre as grand as Simon Cooper’s in Kalk Bay, London Road is quite simply not to be missed.
Wednesday to Saturday 20h30, Thursday 11 March to 10 April, 52 Main Road Kalk Bay.
Bookings: 0732205430
– Sean Murray