In Edinburgh this summer, Paul Grootboom and Presley Chweneyagae's account of life in South Africa's post-apartheid townships played to acclaim.
For its subsequent tour, director Grootboom incorporated previously excised material. Yet, few dramas would be improved by another 35 minutes on an already hefty running time of two hours, and this isn't one of them.
There can be no denying the almost unwatchable power of certain scenes. Murder, rape, incest, alcoholism and home abortion unfold graphically before us, inescapably recalling South Africa's recent Oscar-winner Tsotsi, in which Chweneyagae starred.
A pervasive bagginess dogs the production, though, diluting its impassioned cry from a place where life is cheap and a gun the solution to everything.
There are repetitive scenes with a group of drunks, and two comically inept policemen and their female stooge appear to have slipped in off the set of Carry On Soweto.
All of which is a huge shame for Koketso Mojela, who portrays runaway schoolgirl Matlakala with such engaging intensity that our hearts pound in sympathetic fear. This blighted township is no home for a bright young woman with a smile that could light up a continent.
Until 11 November. Box office: 020 8534 0310, www.stratfordeast.com.
Township Stories
Theatre Royal Stratford East
Gerry Raffles Square, Stratford, E15 1BN
