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Beverley Brommert
Self-affirming defiance comes through loud and clear in the title, I CAN BUY MYSELF FLOWERS, of this one-hander from the pen of Mike van Graan, with its assertion of both financial and emotional independence. What woman needs flowers from a man when she can buy them for herself? And who better to show her affection and respect than herself?
It is a brave man who undertakes such a theme, but as Van Graan comments, "...research (reading, observing, having conversations), imagination and empathy" are trustworthy tools at his disposal.
Not necessarily living the life of a woman in the 21st century in order to portray her world convincingly.
That no doubt explains the detached, almost documentary presentation of this drama's solo protagonist.
Natalie, a fifty-something year-old female, reflects on multiple issues in her professional and personal life, and although she is the only performer on stage, she includes a portrait-gallery of other women whose experiences amplify audience perspective. Thus we share the rigours of marriage, motherhood, divorce, menopause and careers through the narrative of this raconteuse and several of her acquaintances.
The play is minimally staged and costumed, and its substantial content is conveyed in roughly an hour of solo performance, making considerable demands on its executant.
Erika Breytenbach has proved her worth in past one-handers like this, at home in an intimate venue and reliant on body-language as much as on the script to deliver the work's message/agenda. Director Toni Morkel brings his expertise in this genre to underpin her performance.
Darker moments are leavened by humour, but it is not of the rib-tickling variety; it is wry, dry and intelligent.
As Natalie, Breytenbach is uncharacteristically bland, possibly because there are too many other voices for her to convey in a short time; there is not sufficient scope for the degree of insight requisite for winning the hearts of her audience.
On the subject of hearts, this is a show with its own in the right place, its message politically correct and reassuring. Like most new works, it will no doubt mature into an even more rewarding piece of contemporary theatre with time.