CONVERSATIONS WITH YOUR EX

Mother and daughter Gail and Chantal Snyman appear in Musho! Play. (Review by Shika Budhoo)

Seen on the Musho Festival, Conversations With Your Ex was a delicate story about love, loss and life. The piece was conveyed in the intimate setting of a lounge, between mother and daughter on the evening after the marriage of the youngest daughter in the family. Mother (Dorothy played by Gail Snyman) and daughter (Delia played by Chantal Snyman) sit down and share their thoughts about the wedding, the guests, family issues, their ideas about marriage and “da da da-dum” their ex-stories!

Chantal Snyman had some brilliant moments that had the audience in stitches. A brave performance, one that I don’t think I would be able to produce with my mother sitting on stage with me. Chantal’s comedic talents - definitely an inheritance from her mother - were brought out in her portrayal of her boring sex-life with her ex-boyfriend Roger. It was particularly hilarious, and her skill with comic timing evident.

Gail Snyman is the creator of this piece. The relationship between mother and daughter is of such a fragile nature, that many versions of its dynamic can be explored. Conversations With Your Ex explores the sharing aspect of a mother and daughter relationship. The freeness with which they share their past stories, memories, opinions and dreams of their futures is admirable and true in many mother-daughter interactions.

At times I was reminded of specific conversations I’ve had with my own mother, specific gossiping sessions, moments where I sat and complained to her, moments we laughed so hard we had tears in our eyes and were swept off our feet. It was a great show to remind you of the quiet times and quality times shared between a daughter and mother, that are to be treasured.

The play saw the two characters sharing their experiences with their particular ex’s - specifically. Dorothy told of her husband, now passed, and his adulterous end. Delia spoke of the boyfriends she experienced from the young age of 10 until present. I particularly enjoyed her account of her relationship with Joey, her first love when she was only 10 years olds.

I must explain this scene as it was a very touching moment in which Chantal Snyman - with the exact amount of passion and youthfulness - filled the stage with a new idea about how love can be and the possibility of not being fulfilled after a high expectation was set. The scene goes like this: Delia explains that her first love, Joey, passed away. Delia explains that Joey was a wild one, a free spirit; of course she hated him at first - and proudly claims: don’t all good love stories start like that?

She explains about how, when they were kids in the 70’s, Joey loved Karate and they could play fight and Joey kicked her in the stomach, she takes off with him for not pretending to kick her instead? Once when they were pretending to be horses and she fell down and got hurt, Joey carried her home, he pulled out the thorns, put on mercurochrome and bandages. This is when Delia delightfully exclaims that it was the most romantic moment she’d ever had. She then goes on to explain how at his funeral she would’ve have loved to lean over and said what she was thinking “Joey, you were my first love - and you set a high standard. End scene! It is a beautiful scene with a story that is untold. The fact that so many of us have had some of our best moments at times that are unconventional of their existence, was made well aware of in this scene.

The show although relaxed in performance at extended periods, had moments of true pleasure. It had several moments that had me buckled over with laugher and moments that made me aware of the joys of celebrations such as weddings. It had a strong message about the fact that all women have had experiences with men, favourable or unfavourable which have shaped their interaction with all the men in their lives.

However, I am aware that men, as well, will be shaped by the women they interact with, but I further believe that the majority of women are more emotionally driven compared to men who are practically driven. So … as a woman watching this show, I was in way allowed to take the journey and be reminiscent of my ex’s and from the show was able to realize the need to rid myself of the negative and notice the positives that have stuck with me and help me with my present interactions with the male species. There is always a lesson to be learnt and a way to move forward, from a bad ex experience or a good ex-perience. Well done to mother and daughter! - Shika Budhoo