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SCENE IT: Emotionally evocative SPEELGOED VAN GLAS explores the fragility of forced family bonds
- Barbara Loots
- Aug 10
- 3 min read
Updated: Aug 12
Barbara Loots
In SPEELGOED VAN GLAS –an Afrikaans adaptation of a timeless Tennessee Williams classic– Nico Scheepers untangles a web of love, loss and longing as a family struggles with the changing times and each other’s opposing desires for the future. The end result, an emotional journey through a dream-like play where the memory of heartache reverberates throughout in a gentle yet profound way. It is onstage at the Baxter Theatre until 16 August 2025.
Melancholy and nostalgia meet in perfect harmony in Nico Scheeper’s SPEELGOED VAN GLAS, an Afrikaans adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ classic, The Glass Menagerie. The result is a play that emotionally sings of heartache. Scheepers has managed to create an evocative image through text and design. The play is a dreamlike state that invites you into the memory of a son, struggling with his perception of regret (shackled to a sense of family responsibility) that stands in conflict with his need for escapism (and an expression of true self).
Tom (Ben Albertyn), the unreliable narrator, welcomes you into his recollection of a snapshot in time. You meet his overbearing mother (Anna-Mart van der Merwe), limping, shy sister (Carla Smith), and an Englishman (Mark Elderkin) whose brief visitation in their ‘world’ tests already compromised and fragile family bonds. Circling this snapshot as observer and participant, Tom invites the audience into his recreation of a life altering moment in a play that is layered with symbolism.
It is clear that the stellar cast has walked a path with this award-winning play. Their delivery sits comfortably; they play off each other without missing a beat. This synchronicity gives the beautifully crafted Afrikaans text a gravitas that effortlessly lures you into a 1990s Afrikaans family setting.
There you find a family living from day-to-day on limited funds and ever depleting hope. Their interactions in small, human moments (having supper, watching television, escaping to a rather pitiful balcony for a smoke, or even popping out to get margarine on credit) carry with it an undertone of turmoil and trauma that stirs up resentment and a need for escape –with the associated longing for freedom meaning something different for each of them.
Anna-Mart van der Merwe is a tour de force as Amanda, the overbearing, ever correcting mother who was deserted by an adventuring husband and as a single parent tries to keep a sense of family. The emotional manipulation central to this character can easily read as annoying, but Van der Merwe sketches Amanda as an interesting, albeit flawed, character that tugs at your heartstrings by the end as you realise she is herself held captive by regrets from her past.
In fact, all the characters are utterly flawed in their own way. This adds to their vulnerability and makes you hope that even they may find happiness in some form. Sadly, happiness is not destined for them in the family tragedy that unfolds as Tom’s retelling of a fateful family dinner.
The end result is an Afrikaans theatre offering that is deeply moving and impressively presented by a creative team who clearly bring out the best in each other. The 110-minute run-time feels as if it glides past in the blink of a dreamy eye.
Though SPEELGOED VAN GLAS still has the essence of William’s classic, it subtly adds layers of nuance that speak truth to the reality of many Afrikaans families in the 1990s, clinging to a misplaced sense of identity and each other. A rather subjective truth that, much like Tom’s fluid memory, stands to be interrogated.
You can see SPEELGOED VAN GLASS at the Baxter Theatre until 16 August 2025. Tickets can be booked through Webtickets. The production carries an age restriction of 16.