“The Island” Reviewed by Frank Meccia

COURT THEATRE PRESENTS:
THE ISLAND
By: ATHOL FUGARD, JOHN KANI AND WINSTON NTSHONA
DIRECTED BY: GABRIELLE RANDLE-BENT

[rating=5]The Court Theatre won the 2022 Regional Theatre Tony Award for 2022. As the professional theatre of the University of Chicago, it has dedicated itself to producing theatre that makes a lasting contribution to classic American theatre by being innovative and producing intellectual engagement to promote discussions and community service. And last night, they showed how grand they can be. THE ISLAND is 100 minutes with no intermission, that shows the racial oppression and evils of apartheid in South Africa. It focuses on an unjust prison system, designed to break the human mind and body. But it also shows that even within this brutal prison system there is hope, resistance and brotherly love.
According to the playwriters they stated they based the play on the prison Robben Island, a prison off the coast of Cape Town South Africa, home to Nelson Mandela for 18 years. Nelson Mandela stated once in an interview that when you arrived, he was told, “This is the Island, this is where you will die”. As a political prison, it was designed for those who committed civil disobedience. Crimes against the state.

The first 15 minutes of the play is in silence, as you see two men, shoveling sand towards one another performing mindless tasks in the hot sun, you feel how the system is trying to break the spirit. Winston is played by Ronald L. Conner and John is played by Kai A. Ealy these two actors are so in synched that you feel the bond between them. You can tell they have been in the same cell for several years. John is in prison for 10 years for belonging to a banned organization, while Winston is in for life for burning his passbook. At night they rehearse for a prison concert, and they picked Sophocles Antigone, one of Greek mythology’s famous tragedies. Winston is unhappy that he will have to play the female role, and John will play Creon, the King. This is the test of their brotherhood, and love for each other. But the real test comes when John learns he is being paroled early, the thought that they will be separated in just 3 months really puts a strain on their friendship. The 3rd unseen person in this play is Hodoshe, this is the name they gave the prison guard, you know when he is around because you hear the whistle and the lights flash on stage, he represents the symbol of the state and its racist rule of apartheid.

Everything is top notch in this performance, what I really liked was the simple yet powerful set. Yeaji Kim definitely should be nominated for a Jeff for this set, and Jason Lynch for lighting did a remarkable job. You can feel the heat of the sun, and the darkness of the cell. And, I have to mention Raquel Adorno for a great job with the costumes, they worked so well, and were so versatile it showed how the prisoners used everything in that prison to help when they performed their show for the prison. The real power behind this great production was the new Associate Artistic Director Gabrielle Randle-Bent, who took a great approach to this play. She brings out the humanity between these two great actors. You can feel the empathy that she wanted the audience to feel. She brings the Authors John and Winston to new heights. Athol Fugard wrote the words to the play, But John and Winston are telling the story of their life

” The Island ” is playing till Dec 4th. Tickets start at $23.50 for students, up to $75.00.

The Court Theatre is an intimate theatre, only about 160 seats, and every seat brings you close to the stage. In other words, there are no bad seats.

The Court Theatre is located at 5535 S. Ellis Avenue of the campus of the University of Chicago and there is free parking in the garage adjacent to the theater.

Performances are:

Wednesday   7:30 p.m.

Thursday  7:30 p.m.

Fridays   7:30 p.m.

Saturday    2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Sundays  2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

There are no performances on Nov 23 or 24th

To order tickets call 773-753-4472 or visit www.courttheatre.org

To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “The Island”