White coat crazy
A double-crossing lunatic gets Romeo wrapped up tightly!
Weekdays e.tv (*194) 19:30
Viewers’ Rotten Romeo Radar was set off on Tuesday 13 February when Romeo (Hungani Ndlovu) went looking for work at NFH – that’s far too straight-laced a workplace for his sneaky skills. And when Quinton (Brighton Ngoma) reluctantly gives him a temp job after Romeo “fixes” an IT problem, it places Romeo in the heart of enemy territory. So Romeo is all ears when Quinton receives a disturbing phonecall on Thursday 15 February. But NFH is not The Newtonian where, it seems, anything goes, and Romeo is promptly fired when he’s caught out. Seething, he turns his attention to the mysterious phonecall that has unsettled both Quinton and his mom Layla (Natasha Sutherland). But sometimes the enemy of your enemy is not your friend at all…
CONNED & CAUGHT
Romeo’s ordeal starts when he tracks down the person who made the call, only to find himself on the wrong side of the door in a mental institution on Tuesday 20 February. And it’s his nightmare scenario. “His reference is Silence Of The Lambs [the 1991 thriller with Anthony Hopkins as cannibal psychiatrist Dr Hannibal Lecter], so this is terrible,” says Hungani. “It’s where you’re put in a straitjacket and you’re treated like a zombie and you’re given medication. It’s for people who are crazy and he doesn’t think that he’s crazy. He doesn’t belong there. It’s for people who have problems and are not in control of their lives.”
LOSING CONTROL
Control is a raw spot for Romeo after he landed in hospital in October 2017. He had collapsed because he was overwhelmed by nervous tension and not – as he believed at first – because crimelord Neo (Jerry Mofokeng wa Makhetha) had poisoned him. He was appalled by the diagnosis. “He perceives himself as this person who’s always in control of situations, so he is disappointed in himself and a bit surprised. It would have been a lot better if Neo actually poisoned him because he would have had the ability to get back at someone instead of a situation where it’s, well, who do you actually take revenge on if not yourself?” says Hungani.
WHITE JACKET
Romeo kicks himself when realises that he’s been conned, but his fury is mixed with fear. “It irks him that he very easily trusted this person. And he is afraid of how things could turn out. Things can go really south if the doctors and nurses don’t believe him.” He is sadly correct – by Wednesday 21 February, the situation escalates to the point where Romeo is forcibly held down and wrestled into a straitjacket. Hungani reveals, “The more Romeo fights, the more he is restrained. That is the moment he realises, ‘I am clearly not leaving this place the way I thought’.”
ME, MYSELF & I
Medicated and helpless, Romeo is stuck with the worst possible companion in this stressful time: himself. “The medication is affecting him and the place is affecting him and he is alone most of the time. He really has been a terrible person. It’s time for him to reflect and say, ‘Okay, actually, maybe I deserve this punishment’,” admits Hungani. But when Romeo finds himself at the receiving end of a devastating taunt on Friday 23 February from the person who got him locked up, the possibility of being trapped forever with the crazy people becomes all too real. It’s time for a daring plan!
IN MY EXPERIENCE…
Being in a straitjacket was tougher than Hungani had anticipated. “The stuff that I got from my research was not a true reflection of what I experienced,” he explains. “The wardrobe department did a really good job. They designed this straitjacket that was insane! I felt so ‘off’. I really didn’t feel comfortable in it. I felt like I was in the electric chair. It was a frightening experience and it affected me emotionally. After work, I had to get myself back to ‘me’ and it took longer than usual, mainly because I really didn’t comprehend the straitjacket part of the situation as well as I could have,” admits the actor.