Boesman and Lena
The BlackRep
September 28-30, Orthwein Theater at MICDS
RAC Blogger: Debra Kokorudz 

As I drove to the theater to see The Black Rep’s production of Boesman and Lena, I have to tell you I was preparing myself for some heavy subject matter. Everything I had heard and read seemed to indicate that this play, by South African writer Athol Fugard, may be tough to watch, from an emotional standpoint. A two-act play, with only three actors, Boesman and Lena is the story of two people, caught in the system of apartheid, and what happens between them one night by the river Swartkops.

Here.

That’s what Lena says as they arrive. And she begins to try and figure out how she got there. Again. What unfolds between Lena, played by Linda Kennedy, and Boesman, played by Ron Himes, is a look inside a relationship bound by the constraints of a prejudicial society.

What would you do if you were born into a system that classified you as less than human, and treated you as such for your entire life? Lena is so starved for community that she is willing to talk all night to a dying man, played by Erik Kilpatrick, who doesn’t speak her language. Boesman has become so desensitized by the facts of his life, the only way he can feel any emotion is to hurt the woman he loves. The only freedom they have is to move from slum to riverbank and back again. Boesman is the harsh reality, the one who pushes on, who keeps them moving. Lena is the emotion, the one who reflects and asks why. But, in the midst of it all, there is humor. Which seems like hope. How could they go on without some humor, some hope?

The performance was so well-acted that I didn’t feel like I was in a theater watching a play. I felt like a voyeur, on the other side of the river, watching the couple interact. I was transported and transfixed. Although the subject matter is emotionally charged, it was also very engrossing. Raw, heartbreaking, tender and shocking. I looked around at the audience – black, white, students, senior citizens, and I wondered how each person perceived it. Perhaps some people were quicker to embrace the humor than others, maybe some felt that they should focus only on the more serious issues present in the material. And I could talk about the broad societal implications and get all intellectual on you. But I felt the humanity in this play. Its good side, its horrifyingly bad side, its resilience. It shocked me and it moved me. It made me think and be thankful for my life, and my freedoms.

During intermission, there were students practicing their juggling for a competition. At first I found it odd to see such a whimsical thing when I had just been watching such a serious play. But then it seemed to turn into a fitting metaphor. Boesman and Lena are the jugglers in the intermission. Between each place, they hoist all of their belongings into the air. To move again.  Juggling in the intermission between one stop and the next.