I See You is a disturbingly plausible new thriller by Mongiwekhaya, a young South African playwright. Authoritatively directed by Noma Dumezweni, it is the first co-production between the Royal Court and Johannesburg’s Market theatre. A man walks on stage, naked from the waist up. Meet Buthelezi – policeman, ex-freedom fighter, recently rejected by his wife. He is magnificently played, with thuggish anguish, by Desmond Dube. He gets out the Vaseline, rubs it on face and chest. It is so silent, you hear the slap of grease on skin and distant traffic in Sloane Square. Behind a crimson window on high, DJ Mavovo (a compelling Amaka Okafor) shatters the silence: frenzied music breaks out. Her manic boast is that “radio is therapy”. A mixed group assembles, black and white, in need of healing.
But it is not until a white Afrikaner girl and a black South African boy (educated in America) meet that we see that Mongiwekhaya is not governed by stereotypes. Neither fits into post-apartheid South Africa, neither uses their real name. Yvette (Jordan Baker), in hot pants and gold tights, calls herself Skinn; Ben’s Xhosa name, Somandla, almost got lost in translation in the US. He is finely played by Bayo Gbadamosi, and Baker’s Yvette is excellent too.
The two are about to smoke a joint but are overtaken by Buthelezi who arrests Ben, and what follows is an ordeal. Ben protests: “Apartheid… hasn’t left. Afrikaners… took off the uniform… you guys put it on.” I loved the inclusion of Zulu, Xhosa and Afrikaans in the play. Mongiwekhaya reminds us that language is political, wordplay not always playful.
At the Royal Court Upstairs, London, until 26 March
