What happens when five sisters get together over a weekend
for the first time in three years lugging with them all the baggage which
siblings carry? Is this a recipe for disaster or could it contain all the
ingredients for a lovely pot of breyani?
Director Lara Bye has assembled a formidable cast of
power-house women: Denise Newman (Erfsondes, Sorrows
and Rejoicings), Mary Daniels (Suip!, Kanna Hy Kô Hystoe), Lee-Ann van
Rooi (Fishy Fęshuns, Shirley, Goodness and Mercy), Euodia Samson (Vatmaar,
Kanna Hy Kô Hystoe) and newcomer Roxanne Blaise (In Media Res, Khululeka).
Author Malika Ndlovu says, “It’s been a while since I last
wore my playwright hat and I am exhilarated to have the serendipity of a
dream cast and director bringing life and their own interpretations to
this new script. Having Sister Breyani in such gifted hands, and with the
full support of the Baxter is exactly the way I’d want the stories and
characters in the play to be honoured.”
Ndlovu’s new play is about five sisters
who reunite for the first time in almost three years over a weekend in
October. The older four travel from their home city, Durban, to the big
city, Johannesburg, where they meet at the new home of the youngest
sibling. The celebration-cum-family reunion is simmering with excitement
but, before long, family tensions bubble to the surface as the sisters
realise that blood ties may not be enough to sustain the complex web of
their relationships. Unfortunately, time is not on their side as the dream
reunion soon begins to unravel.
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Roxanne Blaise plays baby sister Jo-Anne, who escaped the
family by moving to Johannesburg, seeking her own path and distancing
herself from the family issues, while Lee-Ann van Rooi plays the
organised, fun-loving sports teacher Bernadette (Berni), who takes them on
the journey in her car. Denise Newman is the bossy Cassandra (Sandra), who
seems to prefer animals to people and sports a Zulu toy-boy, much to the
amusement of the others. With an infectious laugh at inappropriate moments
masking her harsh life experiences, Moira, played by Euodia Samson, is the
dark horse of the family now finally having her say. Mary Daniels takes on
the role of Sheila, who seems to be the life and soul of the party, but
carries many secrets which run deep and which go back many years.
Bye brings her signature edgy vision and passion to Ndlovu’s
latest work. “We are staging the play in an abstract
landscape of memory and ancestry although the scenes themselves are
utterly realistic. The characters resonate for me like Pirandello’s six
characters in search of an author. They are both real and in the present -
but at the same time archetypal and timeless,” explains the maverick
director.
She continues, “In the melting pot of
this play we all find bits of ourselves - no matter how unpleasant or
uncomfortable those bits might be. What a treat to have a rehearsal
process filled with laughter, chats, storytelling, dancing, reminiscing
and recipe-swapping - all inspired by the characters in the play.
By blending a variety of elements such as poetic imagery, storytelling,
mime and dance, and mixing these with a wonderfully original and
atmospheric soundscape, I hope to create a work that is ultimately fresh
and beautiful.”
Remember those uncomfortable gatherings
whether on Christmas, Eid, Rosh Hashana, Divali or any other important
occasions usually intended to unite families? What about those weddings,
anniversaries, birthdays or even funerals, for that matter? With both
snappy and poetic dialogue, a rich range of characters and easily
recognisable family dynamics at play, Sister Breyani will offer audiences
a delicious helping of soul food that will have them coming back for
seconds.
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