Cadre

One of the first statements made in Cadre endures as its most resonant: “there is no easy road to freedom.”

Omphile Molusi’s ambitious play, spanning almost 50 years, takes a fierce, unflinching look at the lasting scars of South Africa’s bloody history. This history is experienced through the eyes of Gregory, the “cadre” of the title and a survivor more bruised than most. The word most often on his lips is “choice”, bitterly recalling his own decisions under the pressure of conflict and asking what choice anyone has in such situations.

It might be framed with the end of apartheid and the freedom that Gregory so passionately fought for, but the mournful tenor of Molusi’s play suggests that the struggle is far from over. Freedom of expression does not necessarily offer the language to tell one’s story and liberty is empty when love has been snatched away.

The whole piece is tainted with the indelible imprint of grief and powered by a set of committed performances from its cast, including a gut-wrenching turn from the playwright as Gregory. However, the play too often feels the need to tell, at times employing unnecessary expositions of a brutality that is already all too evident.

The production works best when trusting in the power of simplicity, as with Scott Davis’s sparse yet brilliant sheet-draped design – the linen doubling as a visual motif of both division and domesticity. When the barriers that divide are finally ripped down, the walls of home and family must also fall apart.