This film is the deep primeval howl of a teenaged person who gets herself embroiled in a vortex of bubbles of semi-digested milk, of high school responsibilities, of expenses beyond her vision and of moving into a flat with a boy she is not grown up enough yet to know.
It’s about the wiliness of a five-year-old and the mess of political and geographical possibilities in the interstices of the Cape Flats and what can happen in the blink of an eye to a child who recognises an ostensibly friendly grown-up’s hand, without analysing it or colouring it in fear.
It is soprano Lise Davidsen in the double-sided role of Fidelio and Leonore, that holds the moment with such acuity, you cannot take your eyes off her. Her presence raises this opera to a paean of hope in the face of injustice, and absolute excellence in the face of mediocrity.
‘Nye’ is about parliamentary fights and the helplessness of being on call at a parent’s deathbed. It offers one of the deepest understandings of a death scene you may experience on a live stage, and interpretations of iconic figures such as Bevan, Churchill and Chamberlain to knock your socks off.
The Motive and the Cue is as much about the hierarchy and debauched embarrassing nature of theatremakers, who feed off one another’s intimacies as it is about the greatness they can produce when under the spotlight and in the spell of the work itself. Beautifully staged, it is a treat.
This is opera at its best … prepare yourself for a total treat, for the ears, eyes and soul. It will replenish you, even if you are not familiar with the work, or the medium of opera.
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