Early Wednesday afternoon I went to watch Bubbly Bosoms a show that disappointed me beyond words. This was an all women cast and production so the sista went to offer her support!
But truth be told, I left there remorseful because I felt the play was unrehearsed. In my eyes, it seemed like these ladies had told themselves that their experience was sufficient to pull off a show without necessarily rehearsing! There was this particular scene where only one person literally remembered to open the door to the taxi when entering. Also, for this particular scene, the driver forgot half of the time that she was sitting behind the wheel. The cherry on top was when the driver just upped and walked straight through the windscreen to join in on the singing (bypassing the steering wheel, of course, and moving towards the left and not the right where her door should be). At this point I wasn’t laughing! I felt like upping and going, but I couldn’t; and this had nothing to do with the fact that I might be well mannered. I couldn’t because I was shocked that a potentially insightful portrayal of struggles of different women joined together by their stokvel membership was being destroyed by an assumption that we were either a very stupid audience or we believed that whoever said that the devil lied in details lied! I really and truly was disappointed because this was a show with a number of acting veterans who should have understood that value for money simply lied in the details!
Later in the evening, I was due to attend yet another show which I had bought the tickets based on the names of the cast and … lets just say I was filled with cynicism. But the cynicism itself wasn’t enough to stop me from going. So I got suited up for a cold Grahamstown weather and went to watch The Suit.
The show didn’t exactly start on time and the theater was packed beyond safety considerations. I sat there before the start wondering how I would escape should anything happen — and this thought stayed with me for a few minutes beyond the start of the show, in part, because of one or two people that were allowed in after the start. As the storyline began to shape up, these fearful thoughts about my personal safety gradually melted away until all that was left was joy and delight.
The Suit is a four person cast show with one of the cast members playing multiple roles in manner that brings realisation to this fact only as an afterthought! There is humour but behind it you get several powerful messages. For example, you get to realise how sometimes the use of alcohol to mask pain may also lead to a distortion to ones character to a point where forgiveness becomes an impossibility. You had this one character whose drunk version brought the beast in him but you could sympathise with him to a degree because you understood that the combination of alcohol and masking a pain of betrayal is lethal!
I truly loved every second of The Suit because the delivery and the meticulous attention to details was excellent. I felt my intelligence was valued and so was my money. The bitterness of earlier in the day was totally removed because these acting veterans appreciated that experience means you don’t stop at working to give your audience quality and value for money show. Thank you to all who worked on this show; it was absolutely brilliant.