'The Ugly Noo Noo' and the New South Africa

Have just seen Andrew Buckland’s brilliant one-man play, 'The Ugly Noo Noo'. First performed at the Market Theatre in 1988, it has worn extremely well. In fact, it has gained an unexpected contemporary resonance – it was clearly a seminal influence on Blomkamp’s District Nine.
At its most obvious level the play is a hilarious take on the fear and loathing inspired by the infamous ‘Parktown prawn’ – in reality a quite harmless, oversized cricket which invades gardens and houses and has some alarming habits (it can jump waist-high, and defecates in response to threat). It is also an (accidental) alien invader, brought to Joburg in loads of sand from some coastal area. It has adapted to its new urban environment and is remarkably resilient, resisting most attempts to exterminate it.
Back in the dark days of the 1980s, faced with multiple threats, real or imagined (the ‘rooi gevaar’, the ‘swart gevaar’, the ANC underground, MK) the play was a vehicle for political satire and sly subversion. Buckland’s performance inevitably generates sympathy for the despised ‘prawns’ – and provides a mock-serious expose of the ‘species-ism’ of which we humans are guilty. As the prawns are humanised through Buckland’s performance, the humans are defamiliarised. As we are obtain a prawn’s eye view of the human species, we realize what strange creatures we really are!
In the contemporary South African context The Ugly Noo Noo gains further, unexpected significance. One cannot help but be reminded of the recent xenophobic violence, when foreign ‘aliens’ were hacked to death, burnt alive, or driven into refuge camps (an event which also clearly informs Neill Blomkamp’s film).
The play’s exploration of our irrational fears and loathings is as relevant now as it was in 1988. Come back Andrew Buckland!

The humble hyphen

‘To hyphenate or not to hyphenate?’ – in the greater scheme of things this may seem a trivial question, but it is a recurring source of uncertainty and anxiety for editors and writers. Fowler heroically attempted to systematize its use, but it seems best to concede that this is impossible. It is often simply a matter of usage, and the best advice (when in doubt) is to consult a dictionary. Here are some examples of variations in usage: ‘water-gauge’ but ‘water heater’; water-meadow’ but ‘water main’; ‘watercolour’ (UK) but ‘water-colour’ (US).
Nevertheless, something may usefully be said.
1. It is used in compound adjectives, in particular to avoid ambiguity. There is a big difference between ‘six-inch nails’ and ‘six inch nails’; and (as Lynne Truss wittily points out) there is an even bigger difference between ‘extra-marital sex’ and ‘extra marital sex’!
2. It is used to link words, especially when used adjectivally. Compare ‘an out-of-work taxi driver’ with ‘a taxi driver who is out of work’.
3. Certain prefixes need hyphens: ‘Are you pro-abortion or pro-life?’; ‘The anti-apartheid movement was a powerful force for change.’
4. It is sometimes used to avoid ‘letter collision’, as in ‘de-ice’. However there is (in my view) no reason to hyphenate ‘coordinate’ or ‘cooperate’
5. The use of ‘floating hyphens’ is inelegant, but not incorrect. e.g. ‘Are you looking for full- or part-time employment?’
6. Hyphens are of course often used to divide words at the end of a line.