The much-anticipated opening night of theatre piece Ruined failed to lived up to expectations.

To say the least, it was disappointing. Ruined is the same show that late actress Busisiwe Lurayi was supposed to feature on. However, death had its own plans. The show opened last Friday night to a full house at John Kani stage inside Market Theatre, Newtown. TV and theatre stars as well as the creative industry at large were there in big numbers.

The show started with a beautiful Congolese music playing, with actors dancing. At that time I was sure that as audience we were in for a treat.

Ruined is set in a small mining town in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; it follows a life of the tenacious Mama Nadi, a businesswoman who is trying to stay afloat in a world torn apart by civil war. The war has ravaged her country, especially the young girls who have literally been torn to pieces by soldiers on both sides of the conflict.

As soon as Hlengiwe Lushaba-Madlala, who played Mama Nadi, and Anele Situlweni came on stage, something just sounded very wrong. Lushaba-Madlala was supposed to speak in Congolese accent but she completely struggled in the first few minutes. One wonders whether she was overwhelmed by the packed theatre. The two actors shouted and laughed out loud without making sense in their conversation.

After some minutes, Lushaba-Madlala eventually found the accent she had forgotten. She began making sense in a clear accent but the story was just dropping its momentum every minute despite a bit of humour being added here and there. As the show went on, people who were seated upstairs kept looking at their phones constantly, which was a big sign of boredom.  

Some were even sleeping while others kept walking out, probably going to the toilet during the performance. For 1 hour and 15 minutes the audience, including yours truly, sat there trying to make sense of what the story is about.

But there was that excitement when Shoki Mmola and Fulu Mugovhani were introduced to the story. The two tried with everything they have to excite the audience. The story picked up a bit — but towards the end of the first interval. Lushaba-Madlala might have not done justice to the Congolese accent but she saved the story.

There are many issues with the story itself. Firstly, the script was badly structured. The writer completely failed to unpack a very powerful subject of what women in Congo went through. Secondly, the director should have cut a lot of scenes which were not adding value to the story. He could have easily had a 1 hour and 30 minutes show instead of 2 hours and half theatre piece.

Thirdly, the actors began three weeks ago to rehearse for the show, they can be forgiven for an uninspiring performance on the night. As a polite gesture, yours truly did not return for the second half because there was no need.