By Ndaba Dlamini
A MUSICAL comedy exploring the lives of a group of township vagrants who take up residence in the shadow of a wall of graffiti to wait for God, "Who Really Freed Nelson", opens at the Barney Simon Theatre in Newtown on 2 September.
Set in the late'80s on a dusty vacant lot on the outskirts of Soweto, the musical is about a man who returns to the township where, 20 years earlier as a boy, he had written on a wall, "When God comes again, He's going to land here!"
To his consternation, he finds a community of homeless people had permanently settled under the graffiti and the place is abuzz with life complete with a "bar" named "Happyville". A jovial ambience permeates the community and this is revealed in the charitable spirit of old Bra B, "the proprietor" of the bar who is loath to dish out free beer from an old, threadbare cool box.
A stool has been reserved at the bar, beside which is a suggestion box into which "regulars" habitually pop little notes detailing their hopes and wishes. As Bra B always says, "if you really, really want a miracle… put it in writing!" The hope is that when God eventually arrives, He will sit on the stool, open the box and read the notes.
When this happens, God will dish out miracles to the homeless and make all their wishes come true. Top of the list, inevitably, is "free beer" and not far behind is "free Nelson".
Originally, the play was entitled "Scribble" and has been performed over 300 times at the Civic Theatre in Johannesburg, the Klein Teater in Pretoria, The Soundstage in Midrand and the Baxter Theatre in Cape Town. The musical was also nominated six times as the best musical to come out of South Africa in many a year.
So why the change of title?
The playwright Jervis Pennington, remembers being grilled by George Faison, the artistic director and producer at The Faison Firehouse Theatre in Harlem, New York. "Faison used to ask me: 'When, exactly, is this story taking place, and where, exactly, is this story taking place?' And I never had an exact answer," Pennington says.
When Pennington returned to South Africa, he approached the Market Theatre about giving Scribble a "township take". Through the Market, he was able to meet Monde Mayephu who collaborated with Pennington in adapting the script to reflect the Market Theatre's celebrations of 10 years of democracy.
The musical comedy stars the hilarious and charismatic Desmond Dube as Daniel Zacharia Mthimkhulu and Lindani Nkosi as Bhekumuzi "Bra B" Buyizwe who make up the cast of seven musicians and actors.
"Who Really Freed Nelson" is on at the Barney Simon Theatre until 17 October. For more information, contact the Market Theatre publicity department on 011 832 1641.
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