The Train-Wrecked Driver

Ritchie Coster (Roelf Visagie) has the audience on the edge of their seats for much of the production.  As the train driver, Coster is given the hefty responsibility of remembering 90 minutes of lines.  Not only does he have every line memorized, he performs his part with such emotion and passion.  He is portrayed as an average white man, who experiences a rather sudden and disturbing twist to his life.  After the audience gets past his thick, difficult to understand accent, he becomes such a pleasant surprise to watch.  Coster’s performance is one jam packed with intensity that he often outshines his counterpart, Leon Addison Brown.

Leon Addison Brown plays the character of Simon Hanabe, an African American gravedigger, who presides over a yard full of unidentifiable persons.  While Brown complements Coster well for the majority of the show, there are times where his performance is less than stellar.  When the train driver is dealing with mental instability, Brown seems to act almost indifferent to his emotionally disturbed counterpart.  He repeatedly tries to discourage the train driver from searching for the no named woman, and at times, he shows a lack of interest in Roelf’s crisis.  As a whole though, the two balance each other effectively with their levels of emotion required of their opposing characters.

(Photo Credits to Richard Termine)

At first glance, the set of the show seems rather disappointing.  The economical setup, however, perfectly fits the plot of The Train Driver.  In one corner, an old, run down jeep is stationed, which characters are seen walking on at various points.  The middle of the stage consists of a large assortment of graves covered in piles of rusted tools and trash.  While seemingly unimportant, this graveyard helps reflect the mental insanity that the protagonist experiences.  The masterpiece of the entire set is Simon’s beat up shed, where he sleeps and invites Roelf to spend the night.  For a production such as this, extravagance is unnecessary; simplicity is key.  Fugard’s set hits the nail on the head for the graveyard of Shukuma, an indigenous camp in South Africa.

Rather than predictably opening with the accident, Fugard decides to take a more unethical approach to his production.  He throws the audience a curve ball when he decides to leave the train accident out of the night completely.  Instead, Fugard would rather the audience focus on this ongoing social issue at hand: Apartheid.  Fugard’s play taking place presently allows the audience to understand the immense impact this has on people of today’s society.  While not specifically referenced, Apartheid remains open for exploration with these stereotypical characters in a South African setting.

This two-person show contains vast amounts of dialogue that can be dragged out at times; however, the excellent reciprocity of Coster and Brown keep the show lively and entertaining.  Roelf Visagie is a middle-class, white male looking to make a living for him and his wife.  After tragedy strikes, Roelf will have his entire world flipped upside down.  It seems as though this woman, who he never met, may have drastically altered the remainder of his life.  Will Roelf be able to let this go, or will he be eaten alive by his self-created guilt?  Through unexpected twists and turns, he makes various conclusions about the tragedy that struck his life; however, the question remains: Did this all happen too late?