May 13, 2005
By Ndaba Dlamini
EXPLOSIVE, sultry and humourous are just a few of the words that can be used to describe the play Cards, now showing at the Market Theatre in Newtown.
Set in the sleazy Wild Cats Nite Club in the notorious flatland of Hillbrow, the play is about the volatile lives of young girls driven into prostitution by poverty. Run by Nigerian Mubara, a drug lord and pimp, the night club is a place where money, drugs and sex make the world go round.
The young girls are trapped, and forced to surrender to the unscrupulous Mubara, played by the versatile Siyabonga Twala. Exposure to extreme violence turns them into machines driven by the will to survive in a corrupt and morally decadent world.
The captivating beats of kwaito artist Zola blend with the mournful rhythms of Tracy Chapman to portray the conflicting lives of the club patrons and their hosts. Add to this gunfire and the last cries of young prostitutes dying from overdoses.
Within this decadent world, traces of human emotion break through. The prostitutes form emotional bonds that can send them back into a more caring society. They can fall in love and fall pregnant.
Cards poses a question, though: can these young girls survive the emotional and physical violence without being scorched? It explores the dilemmas and fears they face when choosing between club-life and the outside world.
Co-writer and director Mpumelelo Paul Grootboom hopes that the play will spark thought and debate beyond its controversial elements. The graphic portrayal of the life led by the prostitutes is presented in a cinematographic way that Grootboom says gives the play the "emotional punch" usually only found in films.
"My intention with this play was to present a panoramic view of a brothel on stage as though one is experiencing the lyricism . . . And - contrary to what many have said about the play, it is not realistic."
Mothusi Mokoto, a co-writer, says Cards mirrors those "captivating and tragic scenarios of our latter-day stage - life itself". "The footprints that we unconsciously make on a daily basis remain to be those against which history shall judge us. This couldn't be more true than as reflected in this play."
There are explicit sex scenes, nudity, violence and strong language, and Cards is not recommended for anyone younger than 18; parental guidance is strongly advised. It is on at the Market Theatre until 5 June.
For more information, contact the Market Theatre publicity department on 011 832 1641.
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