Natalie’s journey from
victim of circumstance and upbringing to a woman living life on her own terms
is beautifully handled in the writing, direction and Erika’s sensitive
portrayal of this gradual, yet powerful transformation. (Review by Shannon
Kenny)
I
Can Buy Myself Flowers at the 031 Festival 2025 – Seabrookes Theatre
DHS
• performed
by Erika Breytenbach - Fleur du Cap nominated actress of The Unlikely Secret Agent
• directed by
Toni Morkel - Fleur du Cap nominated director for Firefly
• written by
Mike van Graan – multi-award-winning playwright and director
A fresh bouquet of warmth and wit in this comedy-drama
starring Erika Breytenbach which is booked to appear at the 2025 National Arts
Festival in Makhanda (Grahamstown)
I Can Buy Myself Flowers made its Durban debut at the third annual 031 Festival of theatre this weekend.
Audiences are invited into the life of Natalie Jackson, a suburban single mum, estate agent – or, as she prefers, business owner – in her early-fifties and member of the Six-In-The-City WhatsApp group in this warm and wry one-woman comedy-drama.
Named for the Miley Cyrus song - now a universal anthem for single women - I Can Buy Myself Flowers explores family; societal expectations; parenting; disappointment; hope; the gift of friendship and the joy of love in all its forms – as Natalie reflects with much humour on her life.
The play opens with an introduction to the fresh bouquet of characters that make up the Six-in-the-City WhatsApp group who are “old enough to be on their second or third marriages, young enough not to be blamed for apartheid and women enough for menopause.” Much like how our memories and recollections of our lives are often not linear, Natalie provides us vignettes of the people who – for good or for ill – have populated her life. Doriaan (English mother, Afrikaans father - IYKYK), Robyn, Jacqui, meathead brother Rob, Mum and Dad amongst others – who have significantly impacted Natalie’s life and choices are embodied with deft artistry and authenticity by Erika.
Natalie’s journey from victim of circumstance and upbringing to a woman living life on her own terms is beautifully handled in the writing, direction and Erika’s sensitive portrayal of this gradual, yet powerful transformation.
As a thirty-something theatre-goer remarked, “The story is of a woman in her fifties, a mother who has been married and divorced. And even though I’ve experienced none of those things, the story and characters were very engaging and relatable.”
Natalie’s epiphany of her ignorance about the lives of others – sparked by her growing friendship with her Mum’s new beau - is subtly and sensitively realised, presenting a challenge to all of us to go beyond the familiar.
I Can Buy Myself Flowers is a coming-of-age story; of triumph over adversity; a story about finding your tribe and healing with and through the family you choose and the family you are given.
The story is in the beautiful, safe hands of Erika Breytenbach - skilled performer, teller of stories.
National Arts Festival 2025 audiences are in for a treat. – Shannon Kenny
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