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Valley Song
Reviewed by Dana Martin
International City Theatre
Through September 11th
RECOMMENDED
International City Theatre’s latest production of South African playwright Athol Fugard’s Valley Song is a welcomed beacon of light. First produced in 1995, Valley Song is Fugard’s first work post-apartheid. He searches for hope through the messiness and confusion of a rapidly shifting world and finds it in a younger generation ready to step into a new and unknown future.
South Africa, present day. Abraam Jonkers (Michael A. Shepperd), aka Buks, or Oupa to his granddaughter Veronica (Belle Guillory), is a 76-year- old colored tenant farmer and former army corporal. He tends a small plot of land in a tiny South African village and has raised Veronica from infancy. Buks worries that his granddaughter will soon run away to the city, leaving him behind much as her mother once did. When a white author with dreamy idealism shows interest in purchasing their land, Buks’ worst fear is realized. He suffers from the trauma of living under apartheid for so many years, and he’s weighed down and crippled from years of toil and struggle. He’s also wearied and suspicious of this newly modern, post-apartheid world. Veronica, on the other hand, is a precocious 17-year-old who isn’t burdened by her grandfather’s struggles and represents the hope and optimism of a new generation. She wants romance and adventure! She’s restless and unsatisfied in her small village and longs for big city life. She has a passion for singing and dreams of a successful career in the big city, and plans to move to Johannesburg, far away from home.
Michael A. Shepperd moves with ease and specificity between The Author (Fugard, thinly veiled) and Buks, the overprotective, aging grandad. Shepperd’s attention to the voice and physical structure of each character is nuanced and specific, and his masterful shape- shifting between personas makes each character’s points of view clearly defined: Their circumstances and worldview are worlds apart, even when standing side-by-side. Belle Guillory finds the naivety, innocence and optimism of 17-year-old Veronica. Guillory is sweet and lovely and, like Veronica, finds her voice as the story progresses; she eases into the performance and her power. The connection between Shepperd and Guillory is palpable and electric.
caryn desai directs a lovely, fully realized production. Scenic designer Yuri Okahana- Benson finds the backyard of a modest, well-loved shack house as well as the expanse of a cloud-filled sky. Costume design by Kimberly DeShazo is simple but effective. Veronica’s dress is in tatters but she’s still vibrant and youthful. Crystal R. Shomph’s lighting design is subtle and extremely effectual, offering support for the fluid shifts of character and environment. Property design by Patty and Gordon Briles is spot on and Dave Mickey’s sound design nicely supports the momentum of the story.
Fugard describes Valley Song as “a play about transition” and explores the vulnerability surrounding the desire for a secure and promising future, along with the pain and confusion that often accompanies change. Veronica is headstrong and naïve about the world, but her dreams are too big for the life that Buks envisions for her. Buks struggles to find his bearings as Veronica becomes her own independent person before his eyes. His old ways are ingrained, and while the residual effects of apartheid are still painfully present, he invites fresh hope for the future for the sake of his granddaughter as he faces his own worst fear and lets her go.
International City Theatre; 330 East Seaside Way, Long Beach; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.; through Sept. 11. https: InternationalCityTheatre.org. Running time: 100 minutes with no intermission.
