THE SUIT: Creative genius turns a love triangle tragedy to a slight musical comedy

Can Themba’s short story “The Suit” is a classic tragedy. It’s a story of love, devotion, marriage and commitment, infidelity, betrayal, and the consequences that come with failure to forgive while also not walking away. But watching the play “The Suit” one will not have the feeling of grief and sadness but cheerfulness, laughter and soulfulness throughout the performance because of the unique and clever delivery of the production.  

The Suit follows the story of Philemon, a man who punishes his unfaithful wife Matilda, aka Tilly, by making her carry her lover’s suit as a constant reminder of her betrayal. Set in the backdrop of the old Sophiatown on the brink of the forced removals at the height of apartheid, Can Themba walked away from telling stories of black resistance and the struggles of daily lives but narrowed down to the daily happenings inside one household which looked very exemplary from the outside. Philemon appeared to be a happily-married man who was smitten with his beautiful young wife, took care of her and spoiled her at every little chance. 

With this background in mind, J.Bobs Tshabalala does a magnificent job as the play’s director to prolong the story into a 2-hour production by giving other characters more roles to play and introducing a bit of musical into the production at the Theatre on the Square in the heart of Sandton.

The play opens with the old man ntate Maphikela going through his morning routine before work. Though his wife is not an actual character in the play, veteran actor Job Kubatsi does a splendid job to bring her to life as he goes on a hilarious monologue berating her like a child about her forgetfulness in fulfilling her duties as a diligent wife to serve him as her husband. She needs to prepare his lunchbox, iron his clothes, polish his shoes, prepare his warm bathing water, and the list is endless. And Kubatsi ensures that he delivers a satirical and strong enough performance for this ntate Maphikela character to carry the play throughout 

Flawlessly, Tshabalala ensures that it is ntate Maphikela who links the audience with the main characters, Philemon and his wife Tilly, by having the couple reincarnate the same scene as ntate Maphikela, beginning their day by waking up and having the husband preparing to go to work. Instead of Philemon shouting orders at his wife, he gently leaves her in bed and not only does his chores himself but also prepares her breakfast in bed. The differences between the two households are stark, but a reminder of how complex life can be inside two households that look exactly alike.

Through his creative genius, Tshabalala manages to bring to life the character of Tilly's lover, played by Lebohang Motaung, who has mastered the art of playing villains in the small screen. Tshabalala takes the audience into the courtship between Tilly and her long-lost lover, who left her to pursue a music career abroad, and when he returned wanted to pick up things where they left off with Tilly. They go into this classic Sophiatown romantic musical in between the show and the audience can't help but feel the passion between the two lovebirds. Music and dance is something that is not mentioned in the actual short story but Tshabalala makes it work as he fills in the missing blanks.

And of course, Sello Maake kaNcube draws in his whole experience to narrate the story and also play the protagonist. One gets to feel that a whole lot of emotions have to go through an actor's mind to play such a psychologically damaged character such as Philemon, and one that comes with personal costs. Maake KaNcube possesses enough range to bring about lots of emotions as the story unfolds: suppressed rage, pretentious excitement, loud drunkenness, and the sorrowfulness of tragic regret. By the end of the show, the audience has been taken on a joyful musical journey but an emotional trip where one questions themselves, as Philemon also asked: What makes a woman like this experiment with adultery?  

The Suit is indeed a powerful metaphor for the impact of oppression on personal relationships, while it explores love and betrayal, unforgiveness, revenge and destructive intolerance.

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