Siener In Die Suburbs, P.G du Plessis’s landmark Afrikaans play from the early 1970s, which he wrote largely on airplanes and in hotel rooms, brought him his major critical acclaim, despite the work outraging the conservative guardians of the Volk’s image, for its devastatingly realistic portrayal of debased, lower class Afrikaners in all their degradation – domestic violence, family feuds, unwanted pregnancies, drugs, gambling.
It was with great curiosity that one approached the production today; I cannot recall any performance since I was a school kid. Once one has set aside those expectations of shock from the 1970s, and mentally made the shift to today, the play has surprisingly not dated in the slightest. There is nothing in it that makes it specific to that decade. It could be about any number of people and families right now.
Some of the characters are under-utilized; here and there it gets bogged down (though very briefly) in repetitive squabbling between individuals (which although realistic is artistically inadequately handled), but it remains a solid, well-scripted piece.
The student cast cope extremely well, and director Sandra Temmingh has created a tight, coherent ensemble. It is an evening well spent in the theatre. Do support.
Bookings: 021 480 7129 OR lesche.devis@uct.ac.za
