For all the complaints one hears from some Afrikaans theatre practitioners, Afrikaans theatre has probably never been healthier. Unfettered by the censorship and conservatism of the past and equally free of the pressure to rebel, Afrikaans dramatists are eagerly exploring their boundaries. In this new dispensation, they appear at least less ideologically encumbered than their English counterparts who have fallen to what Mike van Graan has called the “theatre of conformity” or the overtly commercial.
Afrikaans theatre has blind spots of its own and can be insular. But this is a charge one could hardly raise against the prolific and dynamic creative team of Vleis, Rys & Aartappels – South Africa’s leading Afrikaans theatre company.
Established in 2001 by talented writer and determined producer Saartjie Botha together with ingenious, veteran theatre director Marthinus Basson and new blood Jaco Bouwer, they now have no less than 56 productions and theatre projects under their belt.
Their oeuvre of the past two years is currently on show in a unique festival at the Baxter Sanlam Studio (see Listings for details). Attention to design, solid scripting, thorough-paced direction and virtuoso performances characterise the work. The keystone production is ’n Lang dagreis na die nag (Andre Brink’s translation of Eugene O’Neill’s Long Days’ Journey into Night) featuring Marius Weyers and Antoinette Kellermann.
It is well worth attending as many of these fully staged productions as possible, especially if you too have tired of on the one hand commercial pandering and on the other hand half-realised work with shoddy production values, amateur acting and premature script development, ubiquitously on offer in our local English language theatre.
The company’s name ‘Meat, Rice & Potatoes’ might indicate a staple diet, but this particular troupe has courageously got their act together and are presenting a rare feast for the theatre lover.
