Mandela at the Young VicThe rousing opening title song sets the tone with strong African rhythms and harmonies segueing into the 1960s struggle against injustice and inequality including the silent protest outside the Sharpeville police station which resulted in the notorious shooting massacre after the peaceful protestors refused to disperse. The inhumane and disproportionate behaviour of the authorities triggered Mandela's decision to sanction more direct and disruptive action against the system known as Apartheid.
The cast, (who for the majority of the evening outshine the material they are given to work with), deliver chaptered sections with dance, song, reflective moments and intense speechifying as we rush from sedate family life, through organised political protest and onto Mandela's 27 years incarceration, many of which were spent on the notoriously regarded Robben Island.
The production's technically uninspiring performance space and often poorly delivered lighting states, pitch the cast astride a bland, amateurish set which is essentially an African russet orange backdrop (or variations thereof), where they deliver the material. Perhaps counterintuitively, the drab surroundings focus the audience's attention on the performances which in the main are solidly delivered by an enthusiastic and talented ensemble of players. Michael Luwoye (known primarily for Hamilton on Broadway) delivers the title role stoically and in the great man's soft measured tone, whilst Danielle Fiamanya transitions Winnie from gentle, caring mother and supportive wife, to a vengeful and feisty antagonist after suffering decades of mental and physical abuse meted-out by the state whilst attempting to keep her husband’s struggle alive with very little personal support.
All-in-all, an untaxing evening of perfectly pleasant entertainment with a few bursts of joyous African rhythms and dancing. But somehow this reviewer still felt slightly cheated having expected an incredible production as befitted such an extraordinary individual.
