The premise for the Off-Broadway
play, Breakfast with Mugabe, is newspaper accounts of the Zimbabwe President,
depressed and haunted by a ngozi (malevolent spirit) of a fallen comrade,
seeking help from a white psychiatrist.
Playwright Fraser Grace has utilized these unconfirmed reports to form
the basis for the show, an intense drama set just before the Spring 2002
Presidential elections, that seeks to illuminate the political, cultural, and
historical struggle of black Zimbabweans with the minority white landowners of
the country.
To most Americans Robert Mugabe is
viewed as a controlling and ruthless leader who has had an iron-clad grip on
his nation for decades. But what
of his back story? What are the
chronicled events that have shaped his perspective and vision as well as that
of his country? Breakfast with
Mugabe explores these questions through the head of state’s interaction with
the psychiatrist. Invited to the
presidential palace to treat the elder leader he must also contend with the
demands and pleas of his young wife, a plotting and calculating woman as well
as be wary of the inscrutable intelligence officer, always nearby and
listening.
The sessions of the two central
protagonists, while occasionally too talkative, nonetheless are powerful,
impassioned, and sometimes frightening.
Their exchanges are more like predator and prey circling one another, warily
awaiting for the other to strike.
But throughout their give and take the question arises--who is the predator
and who is the prey? By the end of
the 100 minute, intermissionless production the assured, but politically naïve
doctor’s life is in shambles as Mugabe, reenergized and full of swagger
reasserts his influence and authority across the land.
Fraser Grace has forged an
impressive story that, more then not, successfully presents a sizeable swath of
issues that crystallize the major racial, economic, and political conflicts in
the African nation. He slowly
builds the emotion and forcefulness of the show to a powerful and painful conclusion.
Since many theater-goers may not be
familiar with the African words and historical references cited in the
production the program includes a glossary, chronological timeline, and a very
brief listing of major players from Mugabe’s past.
The actors are all outstanding,
with the main kudos going to Ezra Barnes as the independently minded,
principled psychiatrist, Andrew Peric; and Michael Rogers as the intimidating
and stoic Robert Mugabe. They add
a realistic edge to their performances that both engage and fascinate. Rosalyn Coleman as Grace, the very
young second wife of the Zimbabwe President, initially comes off as a shallow
and self-serving afterthought until you realize there is a shrewd cunning to
her make-up. Coleman endows the
first lady with enough shading and contradictions to bamboozle even the most
observant political spectator. Che
Ayende, as the solitary sentry, Gabriel, is depicted, at first, as simple
window dressing until you eventually realize there is more to his silent disposition
then is displayed on stage.
Ayende, endows his character with a sympathetic, all-knowing, and
menacing presence especially towards the end of the production when you are
graphically confronted with the consequences of dallying with the intelligence
arm of an authoritarian ruler.
Director David Shookhoff has shaped
a taut, well-executed production.
On the small stage the emotion and tension generated by the actors and
plot can be unnerving. As
mentioned previously, the play’s momentum can be weighed down by a sometimes overly
wordy script, but Shookhoff still manages to slowly ratchet up the ferment
gestating within the show.
Breakfast with Mugabe, a
thought-provoking, powerful drama at The Lion Theatre through March 2nd.
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