A gloomy, but insightful portrait
WHITE ELEPHANT. Written by David Cornwell. Directed by Philip Rademeyer. With Bo Petersen and Danieyella Rodin. At Alexander Bar until December 8 Tracey Saunders reviews.
IN recreating images of life there’s bleak, and then there’s Ballen bleak.
I have often wondered what a stage play created by the acclaimed photographer Roger Ballen would look like. Rademeyer has satisfied my curiosity with this portrait of two lives that have already unravelled as we witness the final seam tear.
An empty fridge, covered in a paisley throw is a storage cupboard, a medicine cabinet and a couch.
The only working appliance in the room is a small flickering television where Ma (Bo Petersen) waits and watches.
Both she and her abode have seen better days.
It’s unclear what she is waiting for but it’s definitely not the return of her daughter, Isabella or Issy (Danieyella Rodin).
She walks in to the desolate apartment wrapped in chaos and trailing her own personal despair.
Rademeyer is unafraid of silence and he allows Issy to sit in it.
Such is Rodin’s skill that while we watch her brood and ponder through a restless night her life outside and before this encounter is created in vivid detail.
When morning comes the pair begins another onslaught on life, fuelled by vodka, sweet wine and a pharmaceutical cocktail of dubious origin.
Issy tries to sell her mom her dream of becoming an internet millionaire.
As she describes the prospects offered by the “real world” one realizes how complete nonsensical it all is.
The oblique reference to the current economic climate, and Ma’s response to it, reminiscent of Jeanette Winterson’s observation that, “to be ill adjusted to a deranged world is not a breakdown.”
The writing is taut and clever and the title references the reluctant sale of almost each and every item that that Ma has owned as well at the unspoken elephant in the room which is revealed at the end of the play.
There is much that remains unsaid and Petersen is particularly believable. She is a portrait of maniacal despair, living despite herself and carrying the traces of an earlier life that she has no hope of reclaiming.
Sadly this will be Petersen’s final performance on local stages before she departs for the US. South African theatres will definitely be the poorer for the loss of this talented actor and director and this seems a fitting swan song.
White Elephant is a gloomy, delicate and insightful portrait of lives that disintegrate despite one’s best intentions. It reveals the fault lines of familial relationships and how the elementary bond between a mother and a daughter is not always one of nurture and care.
As a prelude to the forthcoming holiday gatherings it’s a timely; reminder of Tolstoy’s quote, “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Information: www.alexanderbar.co.za