Paya stages Release

Mpho Tlale | Thursday December 5, 2013 17:50

 

 He showed theatre lovers that there is hope yet for theatre. As per the rules of theatre, aspects such as the script, stage setting, music and language come into consideration when a play is staged.

Through his performance, Paya managed to capture those elements in his acting that lasted about 30 minutes.  With a well-knitted script fused with voiceover to complement some stage action, Paya’s Release explored many themes, some of which include deception, love, money and lust.  Switching from one character to the next, on the open stage setting he kept the audience engaged with his high charged wittiness.

The message of the play was dispersed through the use of humour, which kept the audience engaged.  Although Paya mainly used English as his medium, a little bit of Setswana was added here and there.

Release is a play that mirrors Batswana’s lifestyles.   It shows how they view an eight-to-five job as bondage and cannot wait to release when the weekend comes.

Instead of getting their desired results of releasing and breaking free, they are in turn turned into party slaves which puts them at risk of being broke.  The effects of the weekend then lead to accidents while driving drunk or acting irresponsibly and contracting sexually transmitted diseases.

Paya will be doing two other shows Relentless on Wednesday evening, followed by Rage on Thursday. Relentless tells the story of HIV/AIDS and how the battle has not been won yet.

In Rage Paya tells a story of how people always keep their emotions bottled which in turn leads to rage.

Paya is a graduate of Masters in Dramatic Arts from the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa. 

He has appeared in television productions that include Morwalela as well as Orange, BTC, Botswana Post and Bomaid Travel Insurance adverts.

His theatre works include Woza Albert, Sophiatown, 100% Zulu Boy and The Hill amongst others. Towards the end of last year Paya staged a one-man show called The Mother Of All Eating that tackled the issue of corruption.