Domestic abuse in the spotlight on Baxter stage
HIGHLIGHTING domestic violence on stage is a challenging task.
Does one confront the audience full on to make an explosive comment, do it subtly, or use mixed metaphors to raise awareness about this tragically common scourge?
Dramatist Carlo Daniels decided he was going to make it his business to raise greater awareness of the issue because there’s simply not enough justice being meted out to offenders.
His arresting play, Onweer, currently on stage at the Baxter, won him an award earlier this year.
Daniels wrote and directs, and also performs alongside Abigail Mei. The drama was selected out of more than 40 productions at the eighth Baxter Zabalaza Theatre Festival, in March, where he also clinched the Best Actor award.
“Because of the singular lack of justice around the subject, I decided to zoom in on this issue,” he says.
“But going into the research was scary. There is a denial about this issue as it’s so heavy and real, and it’s because of this that we need to highlight it.
“What I’d really like, through this drama, is to reach the communities where it happens, but that is often a difficult thing.
“But I hope that, through this, a fire is lit and that in the future the play can go out to festivals and reach out further.”
With high levels of violence against women in the country, Daniels feels the timing of Onweer’s staging could not be better. He refers to the play as a physical theatre work.
It centres on a young woman, Tammy Solomons (Mei), who lives on the Cape Flats.
Abused as a child, for which her father (played by Daniels) is sentenced to prison for 10 years, she’s overwhelmed by his release. This is mainly because of her mother’s death during his imprisonment, and she’s left on her own with him. His return causes much anxiety and leaves many unanswered questions for the family and the community.
“Did being incarcerated for a decade make him a better man? Was the sentence enough to rehabilitate him?” asks Daniels.
He says he conducted considerable research into paedophilia and other issues surrounding child and domestic abuse.
Daniels says that in the drama, it’s physical and psychological damage meted out to the woman.
“It’s a high-intensity play but it’s told in a very abstract way with a very minimalist set,” he says. “I really want to put through a message in this play as there seems to be such a vow of silence. There are people I know who are terrorised by gangster boyfriends.
For victims, it’s not always easy to speak. Especially if it is in the family – there is such a strong sense of dependency. And ja, it’s a very sensitive issue and also extremely hidden.”
Daniels says Onweer was a chance for him to create his own language. “It was a way for me to communicate my vision as a director. Abigail and I developed the piece, first for a competition as a 20-minute play, then as a fullyfledged production for Zabalaza.”
Zabalaza’s curator, Mdu Kweyama, says Onweer was chosen for its creativity and realness.
“While plays with themes of domestic violence are common in local theatre, the high quality of the performance and writing in this particular production contributed to it being selected. We felt that it stood out as a play with content that was relevant and vital.”
Daniels, who grew up in Mitchells Plain, started performing on street corners. He’s performed at Madame Zingara and had his first big break in David Kramer’s 2011 musical hit production, Some Like It Vrot, and has starred in several other Kramer productions such as Kat and the Kings, Blood Brothers, Orpheus in Africa, District Six Kanala and Fred Abrahamse’s Robin Hood Canal Walk.
Earlier this year, he performed alongside David Kramer in Platteland at the 2018 Klein Karoo National Arts Festival. Both artists are completing their two-year, fulltime training and job creation programme at Magnet Theatre.
Co-star Mei, from Malmesbury, holds a BTec diploma in performing arts from Northlink College.
She is a student at Magnet Theatre and has performed in various productions at Northlink College such as Sarafina! (2015) and Fin Op Sy Eiland (2015). She also performed in the World Skills opening and closing ceremonies at the CTICC in 2014.
Daniels says for him it’s a dream come true to get the opportunity to put on the show at the Baxter.
“We have rehearsed this production on open fields, on the deck of the Cape Town station, at the back of theatres and the porches of buildings, so we are elated,” he says.
Previous winners of Best of Zabalaza are Thobani Nzuza’s Boy Ntulikazi, which was performed to much acclaim last year, Lauren Hannie’s TIP-ex (2016), Paul Noko’s Fruit (2015) and The Champion by Khayalethu Anthony (2014).
The festival is made possible by the Western Cape Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport, the City of Cape Town, HCI Foundation, Distell, Webtickets and Pick n Pay.
Onweer is at the Baxter Golden Arrow Studio until May 19. Tickets are R80 with an age restriction of 14.
Booking online at www. webtickets.co.za, or at selected Pick n Pay stores. For discounted school or group block bookings, fundraisers or charities, contact Sharon Ward on 021 680 3962 or e-mail sharon.ward@ uct.ac.za or Carmen Kearns on 021 680 3993, or e-mail her at carmen. kearns@uct.ac.za
There are people I know who are terrorised by gangster boyfriends