Familiar story of life
A FROTHY delight that has a serious side, Significant Other tackles the age-old issues of love, life and everything else.
Seen largely from the prism of Jordan Berman (Joshua Meltz), he’s the eternally self-searching and self-questioning Jewish gay boy who’s on an earnest mission to find Mr Right. The problem is that with all his angst, will he chase Mr Right away, and is Mr Right also Mr I am Also Gay?
With Jordan’s closest friends being his three straight girlfriends who are all dating eligible young men, Jordan feels the odd one out. Plus, his bobba (grandmother) gives him tsores (problems) as she’s always on about his love life and that at the age of 29, wants to know when he’s going to tie the knot with a significant other of the female persuasion.
Josh Harman, who also penned Bad Jews, offers a bitter-sweet portrayal of life in modern-day New York that is largely immersive, particularly in director Greg Karvellas’s hands.
For young audiences, there’s an immediate identification with the all-pervasive 21st century ways of communication that are constantly alluded to on stage – from text messaging to Facebook posts to e-mails.
Meltz shines in his role as he obsesses, ponders and pontificates about dating a man from the office, and makes nice with his girlfriends but exhibits frequent frustrations and regret at being the “last man standing”.
There are some richly textured scenes of his inner debate as he’s about to hit the “send” button to e-mail his last date of his feelings for him, and Meltz seems to make it so effortless you get the feeling he’s been there himself, which is hardly surprising in this millennial play.
Dominique Maher as the overthe-top Kiki is terrific, and equally commendable are Lucy Tops – who plays Laura, his former room-mate – and Vanessa, played by Lesoko Seabe. Roberto Kyle (as Gideon, Evan, and Rodger) and Ryan de Villiers (Will, Conrad, and Tony) manage with aplomb to morph into the roles that are each required of them, which must initially have been a challenge.
Veteran actress Michèle Maxwell offers a great performance as the granny, vascillating between bouts of elderly confusion and the world-weary, wise confidante with whom Jordan shares fond family memories.
With its universal subject matter and its onstage pizazz, a superb soundtrack and clever set that is simple, yet effective with its different levels, it makes for a mostly entertaining performance. There are a great many laughs and a great deal not only for youngsters but for older folk to identify with, because, after all, a relationship is a relationship is a relationship, and it’s often easier to look in from the outside.
But a little less of the heartheavy stuff may have made it succeed in telling us even more about the art of living life.
‘Significant Other’ is on at The Fugard Theatre until July 7, Tuesdays to Saturdays at 8pm, with a matinée on Saturdays at 3pm. Tickets, from R140 to R250 each, can be booked through the Fugard Theatre box office at 021 461 4554 or at www.thefugard.com