Stanley Makuwe's Auckland Theatre Company playwriting debut Black Lover is a landmark event — both for audiences to witness the storytelling skills of a local black playwright and also, as a first for our flagship
Auckland Arts Festival theatre review: Black Lover
Under Roy Ward's distilling direction, the narrative is driven by a slow and steady drip of information that emphasises the laudable traits of Todd; only secondary to that do we see the slow rise of Steady's anger to boiling point.
When the climax does come, it seems a little too late. Nevertheless, it is necessary to shift the story from what could easily have become an ongoing narrative about white-saviour politics to an insight into the black man's rebellion.
Set and costume designer Rachael Walker's chosen colour palette with its hues of deep reds, golds, beiges and browns are thoughtful and well-chosen, beautifully complimenting Rachel Marlow's lighting and Sean Lynch's sound design. It's impossible to fault the production values - but it does seem to have been a missed opportunity for local Zimbabwean or other black creatives to have been brought into assistant or secondment roles.
Black Lover is a powerful story told by a talented playwright. It opens a window into our historical relationship with Zimbabwe - and hopefully it's a window that can continue to be opened wider, right here in Aotearoa.
What: Black Lover
Where and when: Loft at Q Theatre, until Saturday, April 4.
Reviewer: Dione Joseph