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SPOTLIGHT: Larissa Crafford-Lazarus on bringing Jon Keevy’s A GIRL CALLED OWL to Woordfees
Barbara Loots
We first saw Jon Keevy’s A GIRL CALLED OWL in 2012 (if memory serves at the must-missed Intimate Theatre). It was one of the first productions we covered in the fledgling years of Theatre Scene Cape Town (TSCT). So it was with great delight that we learnt that Calaringe Productions has picked up this captivating tale for a revival.
When we first saw Jon Keevey's A GIRL CALLED OWL in 2012, this is what we had to say about it:
“... more than just a mere coming of age story. It invites you in, to such an extent that you unknowingly laugh and cry along with Owl and Kay as they grow both closer and apart. You find yourself holding your breath as Owl utters the powerful final words … that you must go hear/feel for yourself.” - Barbara Loots (Theatre Scene Cape Town)
It is then no surprise that we are rather pleased that a whole new generation of theatergoers will get to experience A GIRL CALLED OWL almost 15 years later courtesy of Calaringe Productions.
After taking the play to London and the Vrystaat Kunstefees, this acclaimed play is making its way to this year’s TOYOTA STELLENBOSCH WOORDFEES. In the build up to the festival, Larissa Crafford-Lazarus (LCL) shares some insights in this latest SPOTLIGHT.
TSCT: Where did your love for theatre start?
LCL: My parents took me and my sisters to places like the State Theatre in Pretoria to see shows when we were tiny. I remember seeing the ballet Giselle and being completely taken (perhaps even haunted) by it. My parents put us in ballet and piano lessons when we started school, and I was four or five the first time I got up on stage. I’ve always felt really at home while I’m performing, and I’ve loved it for as long as I can remember.
TSCT: How did you come to know about A GIRL CALLED OWL?
LCL: A director friend in Johannesburg had the script and initially approached my sister Inge [Crafford-Lazarus] with the idea that she would play Owl. She spent time learning and workshopping a possible staging of the play, but that production never came to light. Years later, when I decided I wanted to do a solo piece and I was looking for a script, Inge brought it out and we never looked back.
TSCT: What was your first reaction when you read Jon Keevy's script?
LCL: I watched Inge play it in an early workshop-sharing before I ever read it, so my first experience of this text was as an audience member, watching. I remember finding it quite troubling –the social issues that are addressed are complex, and they mulled around in my head for a while. But of course, that’s a good thing, knowing that the piece will stay with you and make you think. So, when I was looking for a play to perform, this one felt like the right kind of challenge. I knew I could step into Olivia’s shoes, because I share a lot of her opinions and I find it easy to feel what she’s feeling.
TSCT: Without revealing too much of the plot, can you tell us about Olivia/Owl’s journey throughout the play?
LCL: The journey starts when Olivia is ten years old and moves to a new town in the Overberg with her father, who is a policeman. Olivia quickly befriends the girl who lives next door –Kay, who has a mysterious scar, and gives her the nickname “Owl”– and the two of them become inseparable. The play follows Owl and Kay as they grow up, and what starts out as mischief on the playground eventually turns into more tangible danger with real-life consequences as the girls grow into teenagers. It’s a story about growing up and becoming yourself, and everything that influences that. We see young people discovering what’s important to them and figuring out how to fight for those things.
TSCT: Jon Keevy's writing often blends realism with elements of imagination and poetry. How does that influence your performance and the way you connect with the audience in this play?
LCL: There’s so much permission in the metaphors and poetry. It’s perfect for this piece –we can jump between locations so quickly because we don’t need to create them literally– we have placeholders for things, but we fill in the gaps with our imagination. If I can conjure an image clearly enough for the audience to see something in a space where there is actually nothing or merely a suggestion of something, they’ll meet me there imaginatively and create what they need to follow the story. Yet, the realistic elements ground us in a place that many will find familiar. You can picture what I’m describing because you’ve had that experience yourself. The details are specific to a certain kind of South African childhood, but the situations are universally relatable because they’re about things that are fundamental to the human experience.
TSCT: What do you love most about Olivia/Owl?
LCL: Her fearlessness. She refuses to stand by quietly in the face of injustice. She inspires me to be braver.
TSCT: Are there any particular scenes or moments in the production that proved especially demanding, either emotionally or technically, in preparation?
LCL: I can’t go into detail without spoiling major plot points, but I will say that things that might seem daunting on the page were often solved by making them simpler, rather than trying to over-complicate anything. The words on the page do a lot of heavy lifting, and then we ensure that the staging serves to clarify the action and perhaps make something visible that is only implied by the text. I suppose there is an overall challenge in sustaining energy and holding the audience’s attention for the duration of the piece, but that’s really just about accepting responsibility for everyone’s attention, inviting the audience in and maintaining that contact.
TSCT: You are reviving A GIRL CALLED OWL along with your sisters. How has it been working together as a creative team?
LCL: The first word that comes to mind is 'efficient'. We don’t waste time trying to impress each other. We have similar tastes so we’re on the same page about what we’re aiming for, but often have different ideas about how to get there. It’s a rich collaboration, and I feel so safe. Every artist deserves to find the kind of partnership that we’ve developed with each other.
TSCT: Live theatre creates a unique relationship between a performer and the audiences. Have there been any memorable reactions to this revival during the London and Vrystaat Kunstefees runs?
LCL: I had the immense privilege of showing this piece to some of my teachers from childhood –people who taught me piano, ballet and singing when I was very small– during one of the earlier runs in Centurion. It was personally very significant to have those people in the audience, because they contributed to instilling a love for the arts in me and encouraged me to follow my curiosity for it; they’re in my corner as I continue to build my career. It’s a theme of the play how important it is for children to have teachers and role models who encourage them. So that’s something I’ll remember for a long time.
TSCT: How would you describe A GIRL CALLED OWL in one sentence to an audience who have not seen it before, to entice them to come see the play at Woordfees?
LCL: A GIRL CALLED OWL IS a poignant, South African coming-of-age story, told by one actor playing a dozen different characters, that will take you by the hand and not let go.
TSCT: What conversations or questions do you hope Woordfees audiences take away with them after watching A GIRL CALLED OWL?
LCL: I’ve had several people tell me after the show that it made them want to write, which is enormous. If there’s something in it that galvanizes writers and actors to create more work, then that's mission accomplished for me. It also starts conversations about all the quiet difficulties that people are dealing with in their lives, and how often we don’t know what battles others are fighting. So, there are questions about how we can help people when they’re dealing with difficult things. It’s not always easy to start these conversations, but I hope the work can make people ask themselves, “How can we be a bit kinder, and maybe make life a little more liveable for each other?".
A GIRL CALLED OWL is part of the Woordfees Spier Theatre programme, with shows on 6 October 2026 (10:00) and 7 October 2026 (20:30) at HMS Bloemhof. Tickets range between R180 to R250 online through Quicket or R210 to R280 at the door. It runs at 75minutes and carries an age restriction of 16.