It would be easy to walk out of Klaasvakie and have no idea what the story was about. Truth be told, if I hadn’t read the notes in the programme I might have missed the plot completely. But Klaasvakie is one of those rare plays where one can completely miss the story and yet still be moved.
The stage is set with two hospital beds and two grey ladies, one with immaculately coiffured tresses and the other with flat hair. It is not hard to see who had the easy life. The play starts as it ends with the two ladies drifting in and out of lucidness as they recount the big event that shaped both their lives: a political scandal.
Klaasvakie was produced in honour of Wilna Snyman’s contribution to the arts, and Snyman herself takes one of the leads alongside Antoinette Kellerman. The body language and facial expressions of the two of them are so finely nuanced as to make dialogue almost superfluous. And this masterclass of acting is met with grace and ease but the third cast member, Nicole Holm.
I am scared to recommend Klaasvakie, but not as much as I am not to. On the one hand you might spend 90 minutes in utter confusion, and leave sneering that it is a play for pretentious academics. Alternatively you might feel something else – a feeling you’ll be trying to pin down for some time to come.
By Jana van Heerden
@woict_girl
Klaasvakie runs at the Fugard Theatre 24 October to 5 November 2011.
