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A Season in the Congo – review A Season in the Congo – review
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The turbulence following Congolese independence partly inspired John Arden to write the unjustly forgotten Armstrong's Last Goodnight in 1964. Two years later, the Martinique poet and dramatist Aimé Césaire tackled the same events in this astonishing play now having its British premiere in Ralph Manheim's translation and Joe Wright's rousing production. It should attract all lovers of political theatre; and, given that it contains a tremendous performance by Chiwetel Ejiofor, anyone who simply relishes fine acting.The turbulence following Congolese independence partly inspired John Arden to write the unjustly forgotten Armstrong's Last Goodnight in 1964. Two years later, the Martinique poet and dramatist Aimé Césaire tackled the same events in this astonishing play now having its British premiere in Ralph Manheim's translation and Joe Wright's rousing production. It should attract all lovers of political theatre; and, given that it contains a tremendous performance by Chiwetel Ejiofor, anyone who simply relishes fine acting.
Césaire's purpose in this big, ambitious play was to trace the decolonisation process and to create a tragic hero in Patrice Lumumba. We first see Lumumba in 1955, when he's a beer-seller and political activist in Belgian Congo. By June 1960, he has become the first prime minister of the newly independent state. Lumumba instantly attacks Belgium's colonial record and installs his old ally, Joseph Mobutu, as army chief. But he also faces secession by the mineral-rich province of Katanga, intervention by Belgian troops and the collapse of his dream of a united Congo. By 1961, Lumumba is dead, leading eventually to Mobutu's 32-year-long dictatorship.Césaire's purpose in this big, ambitious play was to trace the decolonisation process and to create a tragic hero in Patrice Lumumba. We first see Lumumba in 1955, when he's a beer-seller and political activist in Belgian Congo. By June 1960, he has become the first prime minister of the newly independent state. Lumumba instantly attacks Belgium's colonial record and installs his old ally, Joseph Mobutu, as army chief. But he also faces secession by the mineral-rich province of Katanga, intervention by Belgian troops and the collapse of his dream of a united Congo. By 1961, Lumumba is dead, leading eventually to Mobutu's 32-year-long dictatorship.
Those are the broad outlines of a play that shows post-colonial ideals poisoned by tribal conflicts, predatory international bankers and the competing interests of the Soviet Union and US. But what gives the play its power is its surprisingly nuanced portrait of Lumumba, who is magnificently embodied by Ejiofor. Along with Kenneth Branagh's Macbeth, it's the second major performance I've seen in the past 10 days. Ejiofor gives us all of Lumumba's dream of transforming a country he describes as "garbage rotting in the sun" into a place of democratic freedom. But Ejiofor also captures the leader's vanity and political naivety: in a scene directly cribbed from Julius Caesar, we see him ignoring his wife's prophecies of physical danger and, in yet another Shakespearean parallel, promoting Mobutu to military supremacy with the whimsicality of Richard II dispensing personal favours. Between them, Césaire and Ejiofor provide a complex portrait of a flawed hero.Those are the broad outlines of a play that shows post-colonial ideals poisoned by tribal conflicts, predatory international bankers and the competing interests of the Soviet Union and US. But what gives the play its power is its surprisingly nuanced portrait of Lumumba, who is magnificently embodied by Ejiofor. Along with Kenneth Branagh's Macbeth, it's the second major performance I've seen in the past 10 days. Ejiofor gives us all of Lumumba's dream of transforming a country he describes as "garbage rotting in the sun" into a place of democratic freedom. But Ejiofor also captures the leader's vanity and political naivety: in a scene directly cribbed from Julius Caesar, we see him ignoring his wife's prophecies of physical danger and, in yet another Shakespearean parallel, promoting Mobutu to military supremacy with the whimsicality of Richard II dispensing personal favours. Between them, Césaire and Ejiofor provide a complex portrait of a flawed hero.
Some things Césaire leaves unclear: the alleged involvement, for instance, of the CIA in Lumumba's assassination. But Wright's production and Lizzie Clachan's design prove political drama can also be intoxicating theatre. We get masks, puppetry, dance and music – some of it supplied by Kabongo Tshisensa, who acts as a shaman-like chorus. In a large cast, there are stand-out performances from Joseph Mydell, as Congo's smooth-talking president, and Daniel Kaluuya as the Macbeth-like Mobutu. And, when the military seize power from a democratically elected government, Césaire's attack on colonialism's tainted legacy suddenly acquires a chilling contemporary resonance.Some things Césaire leaves unclear: the alleged involvement, for instance, of the CIA in Lumumba's assassination. But Wright's production and Lizzie Clachan's design prove political drama can also be intoxicating theatre. We get masks, puppetry, dance and music – some of it supplied by Kabongo Tshisensa, who acts as a shaman-like chorus. In a large cast, there are stand-out performances from Joseph Mydell, as Congo's smooth-talking president, and Daniel Kaluuya as the Macbeth-like Mobutu. And, when the military seize power from a democratically elected government, Césaire's attack on colonialism's tainted legacy suddenly acquires a chilling contemporary resonance.
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