Sahr Ngaujah plays the title character of Mlima’s Tale. Both actor and the elephant he plays are powerfully built, commanding presences. Nearing half a century on Earth, he is one of those now rare big tusked bull elephants who are nearing extinction due to poachers and the ivory trade. The best part of this tale is his journey and his spirituality. Mr. Ngaujah’s (Fela!) performance is emotionally intense with tremendously masculine yet poetic physicality. He is a superb Mlima.
A story of the sad, rather endless butchering of these animals for their prized giant ivory tusks is one that most people find upsetting. Another species being slaughtered to extinction so wealthy individuals can buy carvings. Or worse, shoot animals for fun. So why then did we leave the theater feeling little emotional involvement? The play was written by two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage (Ruined, Sweat). Mlima’s Tale is certainly not a bad play. It may be just overly clinical while being informative with its moral teachings.
Three players act this tale with Mlima. They are what you would expect: corrupt officials, illegal poachers, art dealers, border guards and so on. Three actors playing so many characters in relatively short scenes does not help the generic feeling of this fable. Some of the scenery and lighting design is quite beautiful. However, the highly choreographed scene changes with quotes projected to underscore themes are distracting.
All this leads to the three of us who attended this play feeling disappointedly disconnected at the end. But we all loved Mlima: the character, the awesome sound effects (Justin Hicks) and, most especially, the actor portraying him. Yes, turning elephants into ghosts is an absolute tragedy. Hard to recommend Mlima’s Tale though given our unanimous lack of enthusiasm.