Review: That Boy Has No Shoes, Camden People’s Theatre

Camden Fringe 2024

Review: That Boy Has No Shoes, Camden People’s Theatre

Summary

Rating

80

Excellent

A poignant production that uses silent movement alongside historic testimony to dramatic effect, That Boy Has No Shoes delivers an instructive performance on the history of apartheid in South Africa, through the voices of symbolic artefacts representing human loss.

On an otherwise dark stage, four plinths are strategically lit, each showcasing an object: an axe, a passbook, an eviction notice and a camera. Creator and performer Lara van Huyssteen silently moves in the background constructing another box whilst recorded speech is played to the audience. The narration tells stories of racial aggression and segregation, violence and suppression.  Occasionally van Huyssteen moves the microphone to direct the story to an item which is referenced by the spoken word. In giving each their own voice, the inherent personalisation directs the recital and becomes more authoritative. Each artifact represents something critical but personal and reminds us of human loss.  They are either the very things that contributed to death, were left behind afterwards or allowed such acts to be recorded. Her reverential quiet emphasises symbolism and relevance. The result is very powerful.

Van Huyssteen has designed this performance in reflection of her own first understanding of the economic divide in a democratic South Africa as a young child in 2004. Mixing the narrative with folksong as well as testimony from the Soweto student uprising of 1976 that killed 566 schoolchildren, and the earlier Battle of Andringa Street, the effect is personal and instructive, moving and horrific.  It highlights riots, forced removals and the protests that have shaped current South African cultural and economic landscapes. 

Her perspective reflects that of a generation born over a decade after Mandela’s release from prison and subsequent presidency. Her horror at understanding the violence of her country’s history is particularly interesting to reflect on for members of the audience who are older and grew up in the global reality of apartheid. The talent in this piece is that each viewer is forced to confront their own memory, or lack of understanding, of this period of history and question the validity of their perspective. As such it is both communal and individual, informative and challenging.

Van Huyssteen then quietly prunes beautiful, lush red roses to lay them gently on each plinth in act of remembrance. Another emotional noiseless action, the audience follows her every move. 

Towards the end she speaks: her own distinct voice prompting a change of energy and delivering a didactic reminder of the truth of apartheid, for a generation that doesn’t know. She removes a number of coke bottle tops from her bag and places them on the floor in front of her. With each representing a child killed during the riots, it becomes apparent she is carefully placing them in the shape of a map of South Africa. Another symbolic gesture that draws the audience’s attention to her conflicting emotions of love and horror for her country as well as a symbol of hope for future generations.

This is a poignant production that uses silent movement alongside historic testimony to dramatic effect. Carefully choreographed, every movement, item and spoken word contributes to an immersive and emotional evening.

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Written by: Lara van Huyssteen

That Boy Has No Shoes plays at Camden People’s Theatre for Camden Fringe until 3 August. Further information and tickets available here.