Carissa Dixon
La Shawn Banks (center) and Chiké Johnson (right) play political prisoners condemned to hard labor on South Africa's infamous Robben Island.
In American Players Theatre’s exceptional production of The Island, the two main characters, John and Winston, are more than cellmates. They are more than fellow political prisoners condemned to grueling hard labor on South Africa’s infamous Robben Island. They serve as each other’s caregiver and protector. More closely bound than by the shackles that connect their wrists as guards force them to run around the prison yard to the point of exhaustion, they are each other’s salvation.
This relationship, brilliantly brought to life by actors LaShawn Banks and Chiké Johnson, is at the center of the apartheid-era drama, inspired by a true story and written by Athol Fugard, John Kani and Winston Ktshona. John and Winston’s devotion to each other allows this tale of revolt against state-sponsored oppression to transcend the genre of political theater to become masterful and emotionally gripping. Under the superb direction of Derrick Sanders, Banks and Johnson make the most of every moment, shifting seamlessly from comic to despairing, defiant to hopeless, and back.
The taut 90-minute drama begins with several wordless scenes of the prisoners performing pointless, repetitive, physically punishing tasks under the watchful eyes of two white guards. To further break their spirits and their bodies, John and Winston are handcuffed together and made to run until one of them can hardly stand. Desperate, injured, and panting, they collapse into their cell. In the midst of familiar rituals — washing with a precious rag, bickering, telling each other stories rest their minds from the abominable prison conditions —John presses Winston to join him in presenting the classic Greek tragedy Antigone at a prison talent night. But just as they agree to start rehearsing, John receives the news that his sentence has been drastically reduced —he will be free in three months while the Winston serves a life sentence — changing their interactions and challenging their bond.
Set against the stark backdrop of barbed wire topped gates (scenic design by Yu Shibagaki) and the relentless pounding of the surf (sound design by Victoria Deiorio) their mere survival seems heroic. But as the men perform their makeshift version of Sophocles’ drama Antigone — about a woman who defies the laws of the state to follow the laws of god and faces her death sentence with certainty that her act of civil disobedience was just and necessary — it is clear that this is the real act of bravery and heroism, particularly for John, who suddenly has so much to lose.
As the lights fade on the final scene, the men are once again forced to run in circles. The audience is left to ponder how many more acts of defiance it will take before equality finally wins out.
