A wonderfully written one-woman
comedy, populated with a host of delightful and whacky characters. (Review by
Keith Millar)
Making a welcome appearance at the Musho! Festival on Friday night,
after a recent very successful run in Johannesburg, was Irene Stephanou’s
classic one woman comedy, Meze, Mira and
Make-up.
The production is directed by Reno Spanoudes and performed by the quite marvelous
Taryn Papadopoulos Louch.
Mira is a young Greek girl living in South Africa. She is trying to grow
up and find her own way in what she finds is a rather stifling traditional
environment. She is determined to do everything her own way and to achieve the
life of an emancipated woman. However, her pathway in reaching this goal is
never smooth and the antics which result are as poignant as they are hilarious.
She is even determined to choose her own mate. Unfortunately, her choice
is Dutch artist Vincent Van Gough, so even that causes a great amount of angst.
Papadopoulos Louch puts in a tour-de-force
performance in the role of Mira. She is passionate, vigorous and very funny.
With the help of a few props like a hair clip and a scarf, she is able to
transform herself seamlessly into the many wonderful characters, both men and
woman, who inhabit her world.
She has the most expressive face with large eyes which she skillfully
uses to extract the maximum humour or emotion out any situation.
Hers was a really enjoyable performance, and one hopes we see a lot more
of her on our stages in the future. She fully deserved her standing ovation,
and the audience’s rendition of Happy
Birthday on her special day.
Meze ,Mira and
Make-up is very well directed by Spanoudes. It has a basic but versatile set
and some very clever costume changes which happen on stage. All adding to the
professionalism of the production.
The play is a wonderfully
written one-woman comedy, populated with a host of delightful and whacky
characters. It is extremely humorous but at the same time highlights some of
the problems experienced by young woman growing up in traditional circumstances.
A proud addition to the Musho! Line-up.
The
Musho! Festival is presented by PANSA with support from Twist Theatre
Development Projects, The KZN Department of Arts and Culture, The Daily News,
BASA and the Arts and Culture Trust (ACT). For more details of the rest of the
programme visit http://www.mushofestival.co.za
– Keith Millar
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