(Klara Van Wyk)
Superior theatre out of
the top drawer. (Review by Keith Millar)
The social life of a
teenager is not always easy. Particularly at school where there is a desperate
need to fit, to be part of the “A” crowd and where to be even to be slightly
different will probably result in you being ostracised and possibly bullied.
For Pretina De Jager it
is even more difficult. She is an Afrikaans girl who in grade 9 is placed in an
English school by her mother so that she could learn an international language.
You Suck and Other Inescapable Truths is a hilarious one-woman comedy piece which
chronicles Pretina’s efforts to survive her circumstances and offers advice to
others in a similar position.
The production was
written and is performed by Klara Van Wyk and directed by Francesco Nassimbeni.
It won an Ovation Award at the Festival in 2016 and also earned Van Wyk a
Fleur-Du-Cap nomination.
Van Wyk calls her herself
a new wave clown and comedienne. I am not sure what that means but I think she
is absolutely brilliant. Both in her writing and her interpretation of the
character she captures the essence of a complex chewing gum popping, confused,
angst ridden, lovable, sulky and difficult teenage girl to a T. That is a lot
of words to describe a person, but it is fact and anyone who has had the
pleasure and pain of raising a teenage girl will identify completely with
Pretina.
The production is
hilariously funny. On entering the theatre one sees Van Wyk as Pretina
slouching on a bean bag in her untidy teenage room, popping gum, rolling her
eyes in frustration and surreptitiously eyeing the handsome boys in the
audience. Not a word is said, but she has her audience in stitches before the
action has even started. And it goes on from there. Brilliantly insightful,
sympathetic, biting and very, very funny.
It is also not without
darkness and pathos. How could it not be when dealing with an issue as
contentious as school bullying? The intelligence of Van Wyk’s script perfectly
balances the two aspects and leaves you highly entertained but also with plenty
to think about.
You Suck and Other Inescapable Truths is superior theatre out of the top drawer. If ever
the opportunity arises to see a performance of this production drop everything
and go. – Keith Millar
(To
link direct to the NAF site click on the large banner that runs across the top
of this blog)
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