Review: Man up a Tree By Dion van Niekerk How disappointing. And it breaks my heart to have to say that about an Ellis Pearson show, because Pearson has been one of the cornerstones of the Festival since I can remember. His work has always been professional, engaging, fun and thought provoking. But Man up a Tree is lacking on all those fronts. Even though it was street theatre and therefore free, I still felt robbed. There was a time when Pearson would stretch his imagination to breaking point trying to find just the right story or theatrical image to convey his concerns with the South African condition. His was never the role of preacher, but rather of story-teller, and it was the excited ...