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Les Blancs
National Theatre at Home
RIGHT on cue in the current climate, Les Blancs is a play which digs deep into the iniquitous white colonisation of Africa and confronts any entrenched complacency in audiences with an entirely new perspective.
It’s hard to believe that the play’s mission to challenge atrophied Western attitudes and assumptions with a visceral experience of Africa and the African soul first appeared on Broadway as long ago as 1970, following playwright Lorraine Hansberry’s tragically premature death in 1965.
The play reaches new heights in this National Theatre production under the brilliant direction of Yael Farber, aided by set, costume, sound and movement design which immerses us in a precise, though geographically unspecified, African location.
Though the action takes place within only a few square yards of African soil, it transcends the boundaries to encompass an experience of the continent that takes us deep into its history and the lives of its people.
Set in a small Christian mission hospital, it reveals how the whites who live there are convinced of the “rightness” of what they do. The doctors care for all comers, the settlers count Africa as home and love the locals, the resident priest-in-charge connects all to the one true God and the British army keeps the peace.
It’s a “good deal,” or so the imperialist mindset would have it. But black “terrorism” is rife, hostility is hardening and civil war and revolution are imminent.
The play’s magnificence lies in its simple exposition of how and why imperialist excuses and justifications can be turned on their head and replaced with different, deeper thinking — a true paradigm shift.
Danny Sapani is a powerful Tshembe who returns from the West with a developed understanding of his own homeland, while Sian Phillips brings power and dignity to Madame Neilsen, who personifies colonialism at its most delusional.
And Sheila Atim’s presence as The Woman captures the essential spirit of Africa and its otherness from all that the settlers take for granted.
Sometimes polemics take over from characterisation and sometimes we are immersed simply in debate. But the power of this production and its excellent cast is in the creation of atmosphere and empathy that gives true voice to the African perspective.
Runs on YouTube until January 9, youtube.com/watch?v=aTML9zh4sLc
