Mathibe: ‘It’s all about making a difference’

“James Ngcobo had a list of ideas of plays he wanted me to look at. Fortunately Cincinatti topped both our lists,” says young director (TUT trained) Clive Mathibe (pictured) who feels blessed to be part of the launch duo with Can Themba’s Crepuscule for the refurbished Laager at The Market Theatre.

“Cincinatti wasn’t one of Barney’s popular plays, and that appealed to me. I liked the idea that Barney was the only and last director to work on the piece,” he says, aware of the historic nature of that remark.

This classic play harks back to a time and place when laws were unfair, when injustice ruled and overpowered and people were intolerant of other’s beliefs, religions and cultures. But for Mathibe it is also about a post-apartheid South Africa and how we assess our current situation.

“We’re still seeing economic disempowerment and white dominance in the business world,” he remarks.

And with a cast that’s young and vibrant, this is going to rock the Laager in a very different way to Crepuscule’s more gentle telling. The “Cincinatti” of the title is a nightclub where everyone could come to play – all the races.

It feels a long time ago, but many will know that the more things change, the more they stay the same. That’s what Mathibe wants to explore with his cast including Ameera Patel as Sheila, Brendon Auret as Hedley, Chuma Sopotela as Thembsie, Christien Le Roux as Candy, Francois Jacobs as Pieter, Odelle De Wet as Pat, Paka Zwedala as Abraham, Robyn Olivia Heaney as Vicky and Theo Landey as Arthur. As the oldest of the group, neither Auret or Landey have set foot on a Market stage, which is all part of Ngcobo’s grand scheme of rotating old and new faces.

“It’s been a daunting and heart-warming exercise so far,” says Mathibe who is freshly returned from an internship with the Canadian Stage Theatre in Toronto where he assistant-directed two Shakespeare productions for an annual repertory season in High Park. “It’s been amazing,” he says of the year thus far. “Watching seasoned directors work, how they deal with their actors, how much they feed and how they hold on to their vision,” all of that inspired and informed Mathibe whose praises are being sung by veterans like Cooke and Ngcobo. Obviously this is a young director to watch which many would have realised watching his earlier works like Girls in their Sunday Dresses and 8 Minuets.

He also learnt about space and place and entering the rehearsal space with an idea of what he wanted to do. And fighting for his beliefs. “It’s important,” he says about his voice. “I have to hold onto my vision.”

And that’s what he worked on while in Toronto. “I was asking myself why we were doing Cincinatti in 2015?” He describes the play as ahead of its time dealing in a place where all races, sexes, genders would come together to play.

“It served as a metaphor for an ideal South Africa,” he notes. “We can all co-exist, is what they were trying to say.”

But now in 2015, for Mathibe, it is about interrogating the rainbow nation. “What about white privilege,” he asks. He isn’t happy about heads being stuck in the clouds about this country of ours. “We know where we come from,” he says as if underlining the crisis of identity we have to avoid.

But if the state of the nation isn’t ideal, he is smiling about what he calls his dream cast and when you look at the names or the faces, all you can do is nod. They’re young and sassy and ready to storm that stage.

“We identified people who were passionate about their country and wanted to tell a particular story,” he says.

“It’s all about making a difference. That’s who Barney Simon was.”

And this is his salute to a great man who put all he believed in on stage at a time that theatre often led the charge.