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PRESS: RESCUE REMEDY, a queer child’s funny, tragic attempt to meet their dad halfway
- Theatre Scene Cape Town
- Jun 4
- 2 min read
Roland du Preez
No one has a comfortable relationship with their father. RESCUE REMEDY, onstage at Theatre Arts from 10 to 15 June 2025, is a queer child’s funny, tragic attempt to meet their dad halfway. Literally, on the N2 highway.
You’ve had enough of your dad. You’re determined to leave him in the rear-view mirror, but your car breaks down so you have to call dad for help. He can be brutish, but in your most desperate hour he is there to catch you.
RESCUE REMEDY is a queer kid’s hilarious, tragic attempt to understand their dad. How could you give up on family?
A one-person dramedy, created to understand the often conflicted relationship we have with our fathers: The play draws on familiar flashpoints of an explosive relationship to portray the love, misunderstanding, and anger between father and child – things one can laugh about in hindsight.
In doing so, it shines a spotlight on queer people in contemporary South Africa, the trauma of a soldier, and mental health. Can father and child set their egos aside? Maybe there’s still hope. Love is reason enough to keep talking.
It is a story of intergenerational healing, a love letter from a child to their parent. The play features “Kind”, a sensitive queer youth, and “Papa”, their old, gruff but loving father. Roland du Preez plays both the child and their father who have to listen to one another, even if it's the last thing they want to do, if they want to save their relationship. At any given moment, the audience may be divided between laughing and crying.
RESCUE REMEDY was first staged in-the-round at Kaapstad Toneelhuis, with an upcoming run at Vrystaat Arts Festival. The play offers an intense intimacy between the audience and performer that lends to the relatable honesty of its story. The play is accessibly split into Afrikaans and English. Audience reviews cite the play as being accessible from the point-of-view of a younger generation as well as from that of an older parent.
The creatives behind Rescue Remedy are new voices: Roland du Preez is a playwright endorsed by NATi Jong Sterre, having gone through the mentorship in 2022-23. This is their first solo play. While Tailyn Ramsamy, the director, has much experience as an actor, this is his first time directing a one-person show.
RESCUE REMEDY is onstage at Theatre Arts in Observatory for a short run from 10 to 15 June 2025. It carries and age restriction of PG12+. General admission tickets are R120. Tickets can be booked online at www.theatrearts.co.za . Thereafter it heads to the Vrystaat Arts Festival, for performances from 15 to 19 July 2025. Tickets for the festively run can be booked through Webtickets.