Episode 2 Torchbearers

For the London 2012 Festival, local playwright Larry Allen has written

Torchbearers, an epic love story inspired by the classic film Zulu.

Fire! Reload!

Set against the backdrop of apartheid,

it's the story of a white Welsh actor

and a black South African girl whose forbidden love is torn apart.

No! No!

It then follows their legacy through two generations,

right up to the London 2012 Olympics.

Larry was asked to write the play by a Rhondda charity called

Valleys Kids to give young people from deprived areas

a life-changing experience.

But the Valleys Kids are just one part of his huge cast.

The rest are still 6,000 miles away in South Africa.

It's a risk, as some people said, bordering on madness.

Last time, we saw the kids from the Valleys go on a journey

of a lifetime to Cape Town.

Back home, this would be, like, totally alien, to anyone.

-You probably wouldn't be allowed, would you?

-No.

Now, the South Africans are coming to Wales.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Larry's never done anything on this scale before

and things aren't running smoothly.

It's how I feel.

Time is running out.

And he's still to meet the actor cast for one of his main roles.

With just two weeks to go before Torchbearers opens

on the biggest stage in Wales, Shaun Smith is preparing

for the experience of a lifetime on the opposite side of the world.

Do you want to do some reading for us today?

Sean has no professional acting experience.

Just three months earlier, he was working as a stage hand

when Larry picked him out

to play one of the leading roles in the show.

This is my first professional production as an actor.

And to make my debut at one of the biggest theatres in the UK,

it's an honour, a privilege

and I thought that this day would never come.

But as soon as Larry found one actor, he lost another.

The woman he cast for the role of Olympic athlete Lindewaye

suddenly decided to pull out.

So I'm once again looking down the barrel of three quarters of a cast.

And going away not knowing who one particular actor will be.

Larry's taken a massive gamble.

Lize Aghulas is a student who got to know the Valleys kids

when they visited South Africa.

# You've got to never give up the fight... #

Although she made a big impression on them,

she's also not a professional actor

and didn't even audition for the show.

# You've got to keep moving on... #

Larry's put his reputation on the line giving two of his leading roles

to complete unknowns.

Just gave me an opportunity that changes my life.

These South African performers are now heading to Wales.

Once they arrive, the whole cast will have just ten days together

before the curtain goes up on Torchbearers.

OK, this is, as you know,

our the last chance for rehearsal before the Africans arrived.

It's really important by the end of today

that we are all fairly sure and confident in what we're doing.

Scott Caviel is leading the chorus of Valleys Kids.

A student from Aberdare, he works as a barmen at the local bowls club.

It's going to be a life-changing experience.

If someone said to me two years ago, "In two years time, Scott,

"you're going to be performing on the Welsh Millennium stage

"in front of thousands of people and you're going to be

"surrounded by South Africans," I just would have laughed at them.

Bags of energy and it's going to take us through to a break.

No bags of energy, the break gets further and further away.

-There will be no break.

-Come on!

It's how I feel.

There are just 24 hours before the two halves of his cast come together

for the first time.

Larry's worried the Valleys Kids aren't ready.

He's getting a bit stressed now, I think.

He's obviously got so much on top of him because it's coming up.

And trying to get it all ready...

is obviously going to be stressful.

THEY SING

Enjoy, enjoy!

# From the hills rebounding! #

We've done work on certain scenes,

then the South Africans have done work on certain scenes,

but even though we're in contact with them all,

we haven't really seen what each other's done.

Now we've got to try to mix them together very, very quickly.

THEY SING

I think it's going to be quite exciting

with the Africans coming over, and fitting them into the show.

And I think it's going to be...

it's going to be stressful, but, you know, no pain, no gain.

The long wait is finally over as the South Africans arrive

and Larry's reunited with the other half of his cast.

And it's the first time he's met Lize

since she stepped into play the leading role of Lindewaye.

-It's good to see you.

-It's good to see you.

-Yeah. You are my Lindewaye.

-Yes!

-I didn't know it.

-I didn't know it. You knew...

-I sort of knew.

I didn't know at all.

It's been three months since the Valleys Kids visited Cape Town.

Now it's their turn to give the South Africans

a taste of Welsh life.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Just ten days from their first performance,

the whole cast get together for the first time.

-I'm Scott.

-Lize.

-Lovely to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.

But before the hard work starts, there's time to relax.

Even though the last four years have been riven with doubts

and anxiety, and trials, and tribulation,

when it came to it today,

when I saw them arriving at the airport

and in there today speaking to them all, it felt as if...

..it's never been in doubt.

Something inside me thought, "Well, this was always meant to happen."

Here they all are. A great important contingent of South Africa are here.

Look where they are. They're in Porth!

They're in Porth! Who'd have thought it?

The South Africans have only been on Welsh soil for a matter of hours

when they're called for rehearsals.

Finally, Larry has all his performers together

in the same place and the clock is ticking.

How good to see you all here. Welcome, everybody.

Good morning, welcome to Wales.

Now the challenge in - I hate to say it,

but I think it's less than ten days - less than ten days,

we have to fit what you've been doing

together with what we've been doing.

So this is the first occasion

when our South African partners have joined us.

And we get a chance

to see what they've been doing for the last two months

and whether it bears any resemblance

to the material I gave them to work on!

-And we'll say...

-What's going on?

It's all so the first time he's seeing his new leading lady in action.

Because it's you who said it first.

We'll think it's true.

Lize is playing an Olympic athlete called Lindewaye

and Larry has no idea if she's up to the job.

I didn't audition her. I've never seen her act. So... I'm...

Yeah, it's a risk, as some people said, bordering on madness.

What's going on?

Lize, the quality you had there at the end

when you were struggling with the lines is the right quality

because you're struggling with these thoughts.

I know we're still going to have more rehearsals.

This is the first time,

so I'm just looking forward to growing the piece

and just progressing all the way.

Larry may be taking a gamble on Lize,

but the rest of the South Africans quickly show

they can deliver something spectacular.

We came for gold, the dream catchers, a life supreme!

They put you to shame a bit, like.

When we walked in they were rehearsing a scene and we saw

about 30 seconds and we looked at each other and went,

"Yeah, compared to what we've done, that's just brilliant."

30 seconds, and you think, wow.

It was just phenomenal. It's like...

We've been apart for so long and then they come over here

and you see what they've just done. Wow.

Zulus from South Africa, let me hear you from South Africa!

Larry's play Torchbearers is set in South Africa

during the Apartheid era.

Shaun plays the role of Sophiso,

the son of a white father and a black mother

who are torn apart because of the colour of their skin.

Shaun has introduced a whole new vigour and attack to this.

'Something that's been missing.

'I always knew Shaun was going to be quite brilliant.

'It sounds egocentric because I plucked him out from nowhere.'

What's great, he's got supreme confidence,

'but he combines that with humility.'

Away in South Africa. A promise was given.

THEY CHANT

I just want to work basically. I didn't see it as a holiday.

I saw it as a work trip.

'But these people make it so fun. You forget about the work.

'It becomes so lovely.

'You're actually playing while you are singing.'

Torchbearers is more than just a play.

The motivation is to connect underprivileged kids

from South Wales and South Africa.

Larry was looking for a way to link the two countries,

and founded in the 1960s film Zulu, a film produced by and starring

Welsh acting legend Stanley Baker.

That's the place where Sir Stanley Baker was born and brought up.

This is the place, just over here,

where when he died, they scattered his ashes.

He's brought his young South African actors to the head

of the Rhondda valley, where he found his inspiration for the story.

For me, it's just a story of hope

and how the story relates with adults.

But just as well, excites the youngsters.

-That's great, yeah.

-The youngsters of South Africa

and the youngsters of Wales.

In a way, the whole history of South Africa

in the last 40 years was built on hope.

The triumph of hope over fear.

Black South Africa never had hope, and they always did.

Always had hope that things would get better.

That's our two characters as well, our Welsh character

and our South African character. They are always driven by hope,

that one day they will see each other.

It's Tuesday morning, and the cast and crew make the journey

from the Valleys to Cardiff and the Wales Millennium Centre.

The theatre seats more than 1,800 people

and in just three days time it will play host to Torchbearers.

Larry and his production team have only just got access

to the stage and there's still a lot of work to do.

The production team are on stage already. Time is running out!

The vision that I've tried to explain to people

over the last four years

has to come to life and materialise there.

We've got three days to do it.

Ready? Five, six, seven, eight, go.

Up, fly, up, fly and jump.

Looking at the space we're performing in,

that's when the nerves kicked in.

I know all the seats are empty,

but I was just like, "Woo! Wow, that's a massive stage!"

..two, three, four, five and six and seven, eight...

'Nervous?'

-Nervous, yeah.

-But good nerves?

-Excited, good nerves.

-I just really want to nail it.

-Yeah.

It'll be fine.

No, no!

While working through the play's most critical scene,

the production is hit by a crisis.

-ALL:

-We are broken apart.

Come the day, we can still see the light.

OK, it sounds as if you've just woken up from quite a nice dream.

You haven't been woken up from quite a nice dream,

you have just been startled

out of the worst nightmare you can possibly have.

Panic, horror, terror. It's, "Aarrgh!"

"I can't imagine that happening!

"How did that happen? Please, please, please wake me up!"

That's it. Do it like that.

OK? And one, go.

Kaffir! Kaffir!

During Apartheid, the word "kaffir" was used as a term of abuse

towards black people.

The word is so offensive,

its use in South Africa now constitutes a hate crime.

I want to hear that, the horror of that word when you express it.

It's not funny, none of this is funny.

I'm sorry if I'm sounding a bit shouty.

I want to get it right. We all do.

One more time, please.

Kaffir! Kaffir!

I think it's a scene that we glossed over really.

I and we and perhaps they didn't appreciate

how seminal it was, how crucial it was.

It was brought home to me by two black dancers

She said, "Stop saying it. I don't like it."

That says it all.

That's what that scene should be.

It should be hard and painful for the performers to do

and hard and painful for us to watch.

It's the worst, that word encapsulates everything

that was terrible about that system.

It's Wednesday morning

and cast and crew are back at the Millennium centre.

Larry is desperate to resolve the difficult scene

and get on with rehearsals.

They're rehearsing a dance sequence in the time I'd allocated

to rehearse that dance sequence around that very difficult moment.

I'm going to have to pull him over.

-Chris!

-Did you call?

-Yeah. How much longer. We want to do that, like...

-Two minutes.

-Two minutes you've got.

-Thank you.

One, two, three, four, five, six...

That hugely emotive word, kaffir,

which is probably the most pejorative word

that can be used and is no longer used in Africa.

It's the equivalent of nigger

or any pejorative word in our society.

That focuses on that moment.

It's hugely emotive, hugely delicate

and we've got to be really careful that we get it right.

There are only two days of rehearsals left,

but Larry takes time out to call an emergency meeting.

If the play appears to be saying

we are using this word in a glib fashion,

then the play is failing.

Larry has to get this right before the play goes ahead.

First of all, Larry,

most people who use that word, they don't know where it comes from.

In the '60s, that word was used.

For me, when I'm in the play, it also gives me those emotions.

It's the word, I don't like it.

I don't have a problem when they use that name, because they use it

for the sake of the play.

I've a different feeling in such a way that

it's just being used lightly by a group of Welsh actors on stage.

I feel that they don't understand what they are saying.

If it's somehow coming across as facile, with no understanding,

then I will eradicate and get it out straightaway.

I actually have this burning heart right now.

I feel it could help the play a lot,

just to get all those people in the one room together

and explain to them the word.

I think that would just help the whole play, actually.

We will do that.

'I am willing to put aside some rehearsal'

to have that discussion, because I think it's really important.

If they don't understand that,

they don't understand why we're doing this.

Not just why we're doing this drama, but why we're building this link

with Valleys kids and township kids in South Africa.

If they don't understand the history,

where it comes from, the history and the contemporary relevance

then there's no point in doing this.

This is really hard.

We use a word here which I'm trying to use

as sensitively and as delicately as I can.

I want everyone, particularly our young people,

to understand the deep,

emotive ripples that it causes.

Thank you, our South African friends and partners, for allowing me

to step onto your territory.

I hope I'm doing the story justice

and the people of South Africa justice.

It's Thursday, the final day of rehearsals.

Larry's made a big decision.

There will be a last-minute change to the crucial scene.

The words you will hear won't be kaffir. It'll be dompas.

It's a card that you had to have in South Africa

which told black South Africans and coloured South Africans

where they should be, where they shouldn't,

and if they didn't have the card, they'd be put in prison.

Dompas! Dompas! Dompas!

That's the wrong way round. Lift up this for me?

It's time for the final dress rehearsals and the performers

will have to dig deep to make all their hard work pay off.

A film star and a terrorist are a hundred miles apart.

-ALL:

-A dreamer, a liar. We know.

I'm just going through our tech run.

It's stopping and starting now and again,

but all going good so far.

Fingers crossed the rest goes well.

CHANTING

The Valleys Kids are a chorus, who play a vital role

in telling the story and Larry's worried they're not delivering.

OK, stop. Stop the rehearsal.

I know you guys, I know who you are. I know where you live!

LAUGHTER

I want to see that on stage. I want to see who you are.

It brings energy to the stage, it brings life to the stage.

It brings the Valleys to the stage, OK?

That's what I want to do.

CHEERING

I want them to start playing themselves, playing young people.

Take your sticks with you, OK?

At the moment, it's sterile. That's what it is.

'They're producing a sterile performance.'

Keep your shoes on, all right?

Look into the darkness!

Just three months ago, Shaun was a stage hand.

Now he's about step into the spotlight

and he's feeling the pressure.

I feel as if I'm lost in some kind of weird way.

The lines are there, the directions are there,

but something is not clicking inside. Something is not clicking,

but it's because I'm probably not

in performance mode yet.

I'm sure tomorrow night,

I'll just have to kick into second or third gear and just do it.

I'm just feeling...

Actually I'm feeling incredibly tense and anxious.

And...I don't know why,

but I'm not as optimistic as I was.

It's because you feel the whole process

being taken out of your hands

and suddenly you lose control,

whereas you've had a modicum of control for four years.

Then in the space of two days, it's gone.

It's over to you, OK?

This is now yours.

I have dreamt this, built it. Now I hand it over to you.

APPLAUSE

The opening night has arrived,

and it's just hours till the curtain rises

on Torchbearers for the very first time.

Best of luck. I've got to shoot off to show my shirt off.

LAUGHTER

Go for it tonight. Have a good one.

I'll see you later. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

'Slightly nervous.'

Excited more than anything, but good nerves.

-Good luck.

-And you.

TANNOY: 'Torchbearers company, this is your 15 minutes call.

'You have 15 minutes. Thank you.'

OK, we have 15 minutes.

Time for a last few words of encouragement.

Just go out there and grab it, OK?

-Thank you.

-Good man.

I think he's ready.

He was born ready.

It's been four years since Larry started writing this play,

and three months since he assembled his cast.

The Valleys Kids have been on a once in a lifetime journey

that's changed how they see the world.

And for the South Africans, Shaun and Lize,

the chance to realise their dreams.

They've had just ten days together to prepare

for the biggest show their lives.

Now they're about to perform in front of a packed house

at the Wales Millennium Centre.

This morning, I was strangely calm about it

and now I'm excited.

I think more than anything, I'm nervous on their behalf.

I want them to have this story and tell it.

They're the ones telling it.

I'll be living it and speaking every word and moving every move for them.

'But I can't do it for them.'

-How you doing, Shaun?

-I'm good, I'm good. I'm excited.

I'm ready to do this.

Ready to unite Wales and Africa.

Though Torchbearers is a colourful musical,

it tells the story of a dark episode in South Africa's history.

We remember, we recall...

Shaun plays Sophiso, the son of a white father and a black mother.

A relationship that was illegal during Apartheid.

Dream catchers!

This is the crucial scene when Sophiso's parents are torn apart.

Dompas! Dompas!

No!

Larry's last-minute decision to change it pays off.

Sophiso's father is sent home to Wales, without knowing he has a son.

While back in South Africa, Sophiso has a daughter called Lindewaye

who becomes an athlete.

In Olympics, girls run against girls.

No, it will be girls against women.

HE LAUGHS

That makes you afraid, huh?

I'm Zulu, I'm never afraid.

Two generations later, South Africa has changed for good.

Lindewaye comes to London to run in the Olympics,

and the family is finally reunited.

APPLAUSE

You were adorable.

-Thank you, thank you.

-You like that? Enjoy that?

Yeah, it was great. Thank you for the experience

It's been my one in a million.

It was amazing. It was all worth it, every single bit.

Every tantrum, every tear, it was all worth it.

Ah, my man!

It was so brilliant, you were so brilliant.

Completely overwhelming. Completely overwhelming.

I've never seen a piece of theatre, a group of people

taking it by the scruff of the neck and shaking it up and down

and saying, "Look at this! Look at us!

"Look who we are!"

Lovely, lovely, lovely to be part of such an amazing project

and such an amazing work.

Big up to the Torchbearers.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd