A Man of Good Hope | Isango Ensemble at Chicago Shakespeare Theater
4 out of 4 stars
(Originally published on Chicago Stage Standard)
Among the metal rusting iron walls, xylophones, trashcans used as metal drums and stripped door frames encapsulate the bare bones of Africa. The music guiding the audience through a story of hope and endurance of one young Somali refugee. Chicago Shakespeare Theater welcomes the Olivier Award-winning Isango Ensemble to Chicago to present its acclaimed production of A Man of Good Hope, based on the book by Jonny Steinberg and adapted and directed by Mark Dornford-May. Internationally recognized for their powerhouse vocals and signature marimba, Isango Ensemble draws its performers from the townships surrounding Cape Town and speaks to a broad multicultural audience.
A Man of Good Hope tells the true coming-of-age story of Asad Abdullahi, a young Somali refugee who fled his country’s civil war, only to find himself in a new violent reality in South Africa. Chronicling Asad’s life as it crisscrosses some of the world’s most charged contemporary issues—human trafficking, migration, poverty, and xenophobia—this modern African odyssey, leavened by humor, is rich with fresh insights into resilience and survival.
Among the extremely talented cast of 20, Siphosethu Hintsho, Thandolwethu Mzembe, and Ayanda Tikolo all portray versions of Asad at different life stages, which helps the play’s structure clearly split itself into movements. The growing pains and transitional periods in this one person’s life and their perspectives are told through the different actors. Hintsho plays young Asad and his exuberance is infectious, while Mzembe balances the playful and growing maturity of a young man. Tikolo’s voice is absolutely stunning in tone and depth, which grounds this older Asad far past youthful ignorance.
For a production so steeped in African culture across the western plain, the speech and dialogue is important to honor and dialect coach Lesley Nott Manim wonderfully directs the large cast in achieving these distinctions. From Somalia to Kenya to Tanzania to more, Manim’s work has the ensemble honing in on the slight different inflections each country’s language holds.
The barefoot ensemble slowly meet onstage prior to their cues for a pre-show presences, the communal gathering transitions to starting positions behind instruments and a low hum grows into a full cacophony of sound. The choral arrangements are deeply moving, while the group impressively constructs bird noises and ambient sounds collectively as well. The auditory experience is heightened by this company’s talent!
The creative team includes Music Director Mandisi Dyantyis and Choreographer Lungelo Ngamlana. The operatic narrations mixed with choral native languages provides the audience to not only the sound blending, but the ensemble seamlessly alternating across the stage. The blocking and choreography in this work is very enjoyable and fresh. Your senses will never tire.
The detailed choreography and attention to prop work is executed masterfully. Props were utilized as their basic entity or pulled together to create something more. I found most profound were the wooden machine guns in Somalia compared to the more realistic versions used later in the work’s South Africa. This could be a nod towards a child’s naive perspective versus a man’s clarity to threat, as well as the concept in the childishness of warfare on top of the two countries economic status.
Additionally, the beautiful use of door frames as country’s boarders is so telling to the hollowed barricades our societies create. The American dream seems more like a pipe dream with the irony of 2019 perspective, but I urge audiences to be mindful. Mindful in Asad’s story, mindful in its retrospect, and very mindful not to compare gun safety in America to war-torn Third World countries. The themes in this production are harrowing. The constant persecution our main character Asad faces is persistent with violence, mutilation and manipulation. This work is tremendously educational in many ways that has the ability relate to every global citizen. It reaches deep inside you and you are ravaged to the injustice this character faces constantly throughout the work. The refugee topic is a global issue that is a constant in our messed up modern world community. Becoming bitter and nasty against our fellow human based on the thin veiled borders we ourselves create. The hardships of miles, money and those lost along the way truly highlights the realities this young man faced for years. Earthy and organic! Perfectly poignant in the best visual storytelling! This piece is uplifting and enduring. Do not miss your opportunity to witness some spectacular and important theater!
A Man of Good Hope will be presented for a limited engagement inChicago Shakespeare Theater’s CourtyardTheater as part of the WorldStage at Chicago Shakespeare series, October 4–13, 2019. For more information, visit chicagoshakes.com/goodhope.
