A broken heart, a murder, and a trial. These incidents are at the heart of Heartbreak Mafia, and a cast of 9 accompanied by a bassist, electric guitarist, percussionist and pianist explore them in 2 acts that brilliantly bring together music and comedy. Under the directive hand of multi award nominee AneUnhu Gwatidzo, the Santu Guild and RI Community production is one filled with a certain intrigue.
Act I unravels in an artisanal bar. Here the hopeless romantic Braxton Peters (Bobby Morgan) faces a love dilemma, as does Coen Johnson (Elvis Chikwa), and the bar's staff and patrons are there to offer their views, with hilarious effect. This is before Akiliz Mupondamoyo (Paintafresco), a known heartbreaker, steps in to add a further twist to the tale as he tries to woo every woman in the room.
As the act comes to it's conclusion, a heartbroken Braxton, literally, ignites a fire, causing everyone to rush outside, and what follows next in the second act is the trial of Braxton for murder.
The narrator (AneUnhu Gwatidzo) is the guiding voice that regularly adds context to the story, while the comedy and music arrives right at the points of inflection to add an expressiveness that doubles as a tool for pacing. Interpolated in the perfomance are songs such as Destiny's Child's "Dangerously In Love," Ne-Yo's "So Sick," Sean Kingston's "Beautiful Girls," and ExQ's "Mazirudo," with a few AneUnhu Gwatidzo originals in the mix. The songwriting is as equally good as the storytelling.
Whenever one character threatens to steal the show, another arrives just in time to also make a claim for the spotlight. One moment it's Braxton pulling on our empathy, the next its Coen's naivety reminding us of our own times of innocence, Arno's (Act Muronzi) clever quips with brilliant comedic timing making us laugh, then the boisterous Akiliz interrupting all other thoughts, before Judge Renee Stokes (Min'enhle Mguni) commands our attention, literally demanding that we all rise.
There is a brilliant use of space that sees the Reps Theatre Upstairs expanded beyond its actual size and the setting for each act is fit for purpose. It is now years after the play's original run but for a first time watcher it still feels fresh. The storytelling favours each cog in the ensemble, the humour is relatable, the music well considered, and Santu Guild may just have to keep this running until they no longer can.
Heartbreak Mafia's modern take on a musical is an effervescent experience every theatre lover needs.