A World Apart

"To hold as 'twere the mirror up to nature," is written in heavily ornamented lettering above the stage in the Boston University Theatre. The Huntington Theatre Company seems to have taken this phrase to heart.

Boesman and Lena

Athol Fugard

Directed By Tazewell Thompson

At the Boston University Theatre

November 29 through December 24

In Boseman and lena, directed by Broadway actor Tazewell Thompson, the theater presents a harsh but realistic look at one night in the lives of two wandering South Africans who have been evicted from their home by the authorities. Written in 1967, the play originates from acclaimed playwright Athol Fugard's own experiences with the homeless and oppressed in South Africa.

Thompson, has previously directed all-Black productions at the Arena Stage in Washington D.C., where he was recently appointed Artistic Associate. Boesman and Lena marks Thompson's first work with the Huntington Theatre Company.

Members of the cast and crew have unflinchingly remained true to the bleak realities of Fugard's vision, even down to the use of words in African dialect. Boesman and Lena are portrayed at a moment of severe crisis and, admirably, the performance does not shrink away from the appropriate intensity. The audience is rightly exhausted by the play's conclusion and deeply touched as well.

As Lena, Karen Evans-Kandel makes her debut with the Huntington Theatre Company. An accomplished actress who has appeared on Broadway, television and film, Evans-Kandel's experience is put to the test as she expertly manages to capture Lena's feelings of utter desperation without falling into the trap of over-emotionalizing and thus undermining the credibility of her character.

A booming voice coupled with a commanding stage presence enables Lou Ferguson to give Boesman, Lena's abusive mate, the realistic air of a man who has become numb to the pain and hardship of his life as well as to Lena's need for compassion and companionship.

The performance is set on a dismal, grey landscape--a path on the mudflats of the Swartops river. Boesman and Lena have nothing but what they carry on their backs, and what they carry is "white man's rubbish"--pieces of metal to make a shack for the night, a rusty barrel, a few dirty blankets and two wooden crates.

The incessant arguments between Boesman and Lena begin almost immediately. Alone and homeless, as in the past, they turn on one another in anger and despair. Some of the verbal attacks are faintly amusing but can inspire no more than a nervous laugh from the audience.

Lena tries frantically to trace the past journey in her mind. She hopes that by remembering precisely where they have previously lived and from which locations they have been evicted, that she can better understand why she is now homeless in the mudflats.

As Lena counts the bruises inflicted on her that morning by her unfeeling mate for something she did not do, she pleads with Boesman to talk to her and to explain where they have been and where they have going.

"This is a lonely place, just us two," Lena cries. "Talk to me!"

"Talk to yourself," Boesman replies. "Your words are nonsense."

Desperate for a companion, Lena calls out to an old bum (Thomas Anderson) that she spots in the distance, the only other character in the performance. She calls him over to the fire, against Boesman's wishes. Even though the old man speaks only gibberish and doesn't understand what Lena is saying, she pretends that they understand one another.

In choosing to sleep next to the derelict under the open sky rather than in Boesman's makeshift shack, Lena gives up a bottle of liquor for permission to do so. Nevertheless, a drunk Boesman kicks and hits the old man as he sits slumped over and near death.

The old man dies before morning, leaving Lena alone with Boesman once again. At first, she refuses to continue traveling with her mate, who is afraid that he will be accused of murdering the derelict. She pleads with him to "learn to dance" and thus "leave his bruises on the earth" rather than on her body.

Angered, Boesman violently rips apart the shack he has built, just as the white men tore apart the couple's shanty on the day before. Then he is quiet, all energy spent. After a tense moment, Lena reaches out her hand to Boesman, takes her share of their belongings on her back and walks with him off stage.

The audience is left with little hope that Boseman's and Lena's lives, or, for that matter, that the lives of the oppressed South Africans they represent, will ever improve. It can take comfort only from having been witness to an intelligent, powerful testimony--and for having shared a little of the sorrow.