Winini’s ‘The Nuthouse’

GHOSTS haunt, ancestors aid, God forsakes and a dildo takes centre stage in ‘The Nuthouse’. A play written and directed by Lloyd Winini which premiered at the National Theatre of Namibia’s Backstage last Friday.

Starring a solid ensemble in a story about six criminally insane women taunting a mental asylum orderly who can clearly see their assorted demons, ‘The Nuthouse’ zooms in on the extreme effects of societal pressure, rape, abortion, murder and religious fanaticism.

Topical, intensely staged and with some appreciable inspiration from ‘One Flew over The Cuckoo’s Nest’, ‘The Nuthouse’ takes the familiar outsider-loses-it-in-a-mental-asylum trope and amps up the horror.

Presenting a series of monologues expounding on how each woman came to be in the facility while Butch (Jean-Louis Knouwds), an orderly accidentally locked in with them, runs the gamut of practical joke, derision, confession and submission, the play allowed each actress to shine though turns by Bianca Heyns, Diana Master, Lavinia Kapewasha and Vanessa Kamatoto were particularly compelling.

Also starring Jenny Kandenge, Lahja Haufiku, Hatitye Mtukwa, West Uarije and Adriano Visagie, ‘The Nuthouse’ boasts a cast that remains soundly in character no matter where the spotlight.

Expertly wrangled by Winini whose moody set pieces, lighting and commitment to the gothic earned a standing ovation, the cast were least enthralling in a couple of misguided musical interludes which though in tune seemed out of tone.

A little derivative, predictable and in need of a refresher on making the most of crescendos and dramatic arcs, ‘The Nuthouse’ though entertaining would benefit from dialing it back a notch to optimise on shock value and the big reveals.

For example, lick or wave a big, pink dildo around once, it’s shocking. Twice, less shocking. Umpteen times, it just gets monotonous, a little infantile and a little old.

Still when Winini won, he won.

Clearly a crowd-pleaser whose take on mental illness speaks to the misunderstood elements of forgotten culture and the lasting effects of trauma, betrayal and rejection specifically in women (sexual, downtrodden, used, abused and then shamed and shunned as they are), ‘The Nuthouse’, another successful NTN Theatre Zone production, saw Winini earning his applause for undeniable ambition, vision and style.

– martha@namibian.com.na; Martha Mukaiwa on Twitter and Instagram

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