Potent play about creative vengeance, ninja style
ABUSE, together with the retribution it invites, is a reliable source of drama, provided it eschews sentimentality or self-indulgence. This potent play from the pen of Sara Shaarawi ticks all the boxes for theatre that is moving and thought-provoking, its subject-matter treated with a tight control over emotion that does not diminish its power to touch the audience.
It offers a rare perspective on the issue of sexual harassment in African Islamic society – rare because of the culture of silence cocooning this form of abuse, and refreshing because it gives a new dimension to a phenomenon all too familiar to South Africans.
Set in Cairo, it takes the form of a monologue shared between two actors who between them project the single character of the lead, so that one functions as the alter ego of the other. Flanders does most of the talking – chatty and forthcoming as she confides in her listeners (the audience).
Loubser, clad in black from head to toe, articulates the thoughts that go through the head of her “other half ”.
With nothing but a couple of chairs that are moved around throughout the play, no costume changes, basic lighting, and a plain dark backdrop, both performers have to draw on their reserves of stamina and talent to breathe life into their persona(e).
In addition to their sterling efforts in this regard, full marks must also go to their director, Megan Furniss, who keeps the minimally staged work vivid and engaging for its entire duration, with no interval.
Initially Flanders’s diction lacks clarity because she speaks her lines too fast, but this flaw is soon remedied as she settles into the role and adjusts to her audience. Thereafter, her portrayal is impressive for its intelligence and conviction.
Loubser is an authoritative presence, slightly sinister as she provides a foil for Flanders’s vulnerability. The latter surfaces in multiple situations, starting from the day her character reaches puberty at age 12 (she states her present age as 21). Now a student of architecture at a university in Cairo, she has nearly a decade of remembered abuse and sexual harassment to share with her audience.
Every detail of her clothing – since as a modern Egyptian she does not wear the traditional, concealing garb of Muslim women – is recalled in the context of the harassment in various situations, from riding in a taxi to partying in London to entering a crowd, and culminating in the unspeakable horror of the “three circles” in Tahir Square during the Arab Spring… which inspires creative vengeance, ninja style.