MM Theater Blog

Studio Theatre's production of Athol Fugard's My Children! My Africa! starts out at full volume, and continually builds in intensity. It has been extended several weeks due to its popularity. Yet I am of the minority of those who I did not like this play.

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The play centers around 3 people in apartheid South Africa in the 1980s -- a teacher, his prize student, and a visiting student from the white school district. As the play opens, the 2 students are debating each other -- first in a heated argument, and then in a structured debate format. The teacher informs us that the audience has the hardest job in the debate, because they have to listen. This sums up the entire play. Each of the characters has very definite points of view, which they state mostly in monologue fashion, as if participating in a debate. And we, as the audience, have the hardest job -- to listen.

Thus the play never comes together. There is no dialogue where each person states a point of view which the other considers and responds to. There is no fusion of ideas. The characters each have their individual points of view. They seem representative of their troubled surroundings, with no-one listening to or attempting to understand any other point of view. And they are shouting so loud, that it would not be possible to hear any other point of view.

So in the end, the play merely amplifies the deeply troubled times, as if broadcasting them through a stereo system with the sound turned up to maximum volume. There are no new insights, no conclusions, nothing new to consider, and certainly nothing to uplift. If a playwright is going to shine a spotlight on such difficult subject matter, what is the point if not to offer some insights or ray of hope?

Director Serge Seiden took his clue from the two exclamation points in the title, and directed the entire play at a fever pitch. In addition to the shear loudness of the production, the pace is relentless -- each scene moves into the next without any pause at all, which is disorienting and confusing.

James Brown-Orleans as the teacher sweats and expectorates so much, we pity anyone in the first 3 rows of the theater. He screams so loud, he looks about to burst. Yaegel T. Welch as one of the students also shouts most of his lines. Veronica del Cerro as the visiting student is not quite as loud, though still shows her fair share of exuberance. It should be noted that she seems to have the most authentic accent of the three. This over the top style of acting seems popular with the audience, who rose for a standing ovation the night I was there. Yet, I do not agree that intensity level alone is a measure of good acting. It seems to insult the audience -- like people who shout at someone who is hearing disabled. Clearly the characters are passionate about their points of view. But sometimes a point can be made even more strongly through modulation -- thereby drawing the audience in. Sometimes less really is more.

The loose plot revolves around a literary competition that the 2 students are preparing for together with the help of the teacher, until a boycott tears everything apart. Yet, it is a mere contrivance. We never really care about the competition, or feel any connection between any of the characters, or the alleged friendship that supposedly has developed between the students. Therefore it is difficult to care about what happens to these characters.

If you plan to see this play, take some ear plugs.

MM Rating - * *