Crazy In Love
DIRECTOR: Rob Murray
CAST: Andrew Buckland, Liezl de Kock
DESIGN: Jane Batzofin
VENUE: Barney Simon at The Market
UNTIL: April 12
RATING: ****
It’s like an adult fairy tale; hard-core, but also full of heart. Buckland and De Kock fit together like an old pair of shoes that you simply don’t want to let go of. And so the story also goes. It’s about loss and letting go which becomes that much harder as the outcome becomes inevitable.
But here it is all in the detail. There’s the design which has exquisite light bulb moments as ideas are switched on and off to capture emotions that shine brightly in the darkness of yet another day.
Then there’s the language, fully South African in a mix of English with that accent that’s all ours and a few Afrikaans phrases that leave the deepest cuts.
“Slaap op jou sy en dink aan my (sleep on your side and think of me)”, says Ginny (De Kock) to her long-lost mom and because of the sudden language change, and the simplicity of the alliteration and rhyme, the meaning has a delicate melancholy air.
But more than anything, it is the telling of the story, the bond between the father (Buckland as Leon) and his daughter Ginny which unfolds through their unusual travels as they walk around another corner to find Ruth, the one who got away.
It’s like an old-fashioned black-and-white movie as they hustle between action and song, puppetry and poetry, and faces that speak their own language.
It’s the stance, the sitting on a chair, the deceiving and the attachment they have formed in a lifetime of love that holds only loss.
It’s a universal tale that fills the hearts in the room as they show their pain at every turn and phrase as they hold on to what they have while following the repetitions of their days and lives.
But they know it’s waiting as they slowly take each new day, each new step, to open their hearts to the world in a different way.
This is theatre that hits you where it hurts most but so beautifully executed and with such care, that the highs and lows add to the fullness of the performance and the tale.
Buckland and De Kock form a perfect partnership in a play that has been tailored their way to tell a story, the execution of which brings great joy to those watching.