The Visitors. Photo: Manuel Osterholt.
A close-knit cast of twenty-one performers, of various ages and backgrounds, a mix of professionals and amateurs, gives body and voice to ninety breathless minutes of dance and song. Through its use of the horror genre as a narrative, it deals with the challenge of overcoming adolescence, including elements of everyday life and bureaucracy. The Visitors is the continuation of Macras and her company Dorky Park's collaboration with the South African Windybrow Arts Centre — they had already collaborated on Hillbrowfication (2018). It was a show highlighting the utopia and dystopia of ghetto gentrification, dedicated to Hillbrow, a suburb of Johannesburg, which became synonymous with corruption, violence, and poverty, but where various neighbourhood organisations work to create places of safety for young people.
The Visitors also focuses on social analysis and a criticism of capitalism in pop formats, using images of both violence and horror, plus self-emancipation through dance, accompanied by powerful sonic rhythms.
Horrors of the past
The main medium used by Macras is the horror, ‘slasher’ sub-genre (to slash - to wound deeply with a sharp weapon), which has its own narrative code and aesthetic style. Usually, the main antagonist is a murderer, often masked, who hunts down a group using sharp, knife-like weapons. Another characteristic is the predominant role assumed by teenagers who are threatened and killed in large numbers, while adult figures are completely absent, as if the teenagers have to fight the monsters alone.
Besides being a narrative device, the ‘slasher’ here is a pretext to probe post-apartheid issues in South Africa: the absence of adults, i.e. parents, for instance, is a consequence of the destruction of family structures by the state during apartheid. But that's not all: The Visitors confronts the evergreen and everyday problem of corruption, inviting us to reflect on the possibilities (and impossibilities) of being able to move freely in the world. Who decides which bodies are allowed to move and which are condemned to stay where they are (e.g. by denying them visas)?
The stage elements by Noluthando Lobese are eye-catching: the opening scene is a projected image of a bookcase reminiscent of those we might find in our grandparents’ house, where the past is so evident that you can almost still breathe it. The second scenic image that I found compelling was the cylindrical structure in the centre of the stage, representing a brutalist building that serves as a stage exit for many performers. I must mention the inflatable zombies, the night time forest created as if in 3D, and the mirror effects, reminiscent of an amusement park haunted house.
The ‘visitors’, which are probably the ghosts of the past, as the adage goes, ‘will come back to haunt them’, playing tricks right from the start. Almost ironically, one of the proposed 'jokes' concerns the French post-structuralist philosopher, and founder of rhizomatic thinking, Gilles Deleuze. A South African dancer recounts how when, after various vicissitudes, he 'finally' manages to come to study contemporary dance in a European context and, instead of studying the history and technique of dance, the main subject is Deleuze, and his dogma-ghost. Perhaps this is a critique of the institutionalism of contemporary dance as almost conceptual dogma? I'm not sure, but certainly this gag resulted in resounding laughter in the room.
The movement language is interlaced with different influences, from street dance to African dance, from contemporary to ballet parody. The characters are clearly marked out, both in terms of costume and movement, a defining trait of Macras (e.g. Bella Bexter's dance in Poor Things by Yorgos Lanthimos, edited by Macras). The performers become, from scene to scene, students, zombies, murderers, wearing grotesque masks and then platinum blond wigs and ghosts. There is no shortage of bloody rabbits, creepy, disenchanted children, and a parade with super glam dresses and St. Pauli t-shirts, followed by brides all in white. There is no shortage of musical and dance references either, like Adele’s cover which features the theme of bureaucracy at the border or, towards the end, the Michael Jackson zombie references.
Horror as sentimental education
Macras and her team create a work where dance, music, and songs (by Spoek Mathambo and Nhlanhla Mahlangu) are mixed to arrive directly at a common goal, to create an intergenerational and compact group. Although these have always been her characteristics, in this piece the balance is first rate, a perfectly thought-out and executed recipe.
By getting younger performers to recite complex texts, often with themes that surpass their tender age and limited experiences, Macras plays through non-linear narratives and humorous associations, and also through the intelligent dramaturgy curated by Tamara Saphir. By dealing with the problematic narratives of slasher and zombie films, the young performers reach the point where they struggle to break free from the grip of old monsters (perhaps by dancing along with them?) and to become aware of problematic patriarchal issues, whilst ultimately doing so. Can a sentimental education be created through horror films? What if horror is an element of growth and not just fear?
Written from the performance of 29 June 2024, Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, Berlin.
The Visitors
Choreography, direction: Constanza Macras
Dramaturgy: Tamara Saphir
Costume design: Roman Handt
Music: Spoek Mathambo
Original Choral Songs: Nhlanhla Mahlangu
Original songs: Mr. Bribes and Goldilocks Brandon Mangengelele and Jackson Mogotlane
Stage: Noluthando Lobese
Costume and stage assistance: Marcus Barros Cardoso
Artistic and technical assistance for stage design: Simon Lesemann
Technical management and lighting design: Sergio Pessanha
Sound design: Stephan Wöhrmann
Assistant director: Mica Heilmann
Tour management: Nompilo Vinolia Hadebe
Company and production management: Jimena Soria
Production: Vicky Kouvaraki
Production assistance: Diego Villalobos
Production in South Africa: Gerard Bester, Zintle Radebe, Linda Michael Mkhwanaz, and Tsepho Matlala
International distribution: Plan B – Creative Agency for Performing Arts
By and with: Alexandra Bodí, Amahle Mene, Brandon Mangangelele, Bongani Mangena, Emil Bordás, Jackson Mogotlane, Jhon Mbuso Sithole, Miki Shoji, Mncedesi Mlungisi Lloyd Pududu, Mongezi Siphiwo Mahlobo, Michelle Owami Ndlovu, Nontobeko Portia Ngubane, Privilege Siyabonga Ndhlovu, Sandiso (Zulu) Mbatha, Shantel Ayanda Mnguni, Thulani Lord Mgidi, Tshepang Lebelo, Temosho Evginea Dolo, Thando Ndlovu, Ukho Somadlaka, Vusi Magoro.
Premiere: 9 August 2023 Ruhrtriennale, Duisburg
Josef Bartos
Thank you for your thoughts. One got stuck in my mind – that passion makes us different from AI. Just yesterday I read…I am a dance critic. I am a member of an endangered species