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MAN ALONE - ROELF MATLALA


Roelf Matlala's writing and directing come alive in 'Man Alone' - a play that explores the theme of Gender Based Violence in a way that forces the audience to look society, and themselves in the eye. The main character - Sam, played by Sebone Lekatse - is a blatant representation of society - using 'jokes' that are seemingly harmless with violent undertones to address socioeconomic issues. We often hide behind banter and humour to shy away from issues that affect and need us to face them head-on. A trauma response at most.

Set between two homes of neighbours that seemingly aborh each other's presence; Sam, the old man-cum-'Plant Parent', and the other of a learned couple comprising of a Dentist and School Principal - a combination, which, according to Sam is a recipe for disaster because, "no man in his right mind would marry a dentist," something we later learn why. 

Charity Sehlapelo who played Kgadi - the Dentist - did a stellar job of carrying the 'modern, educated womxn and wife' while her husband - Mashadi, played by Beon Nkuna - complemented her as the 'supportive partner' who was in a tug-of-war between rallying behind his wife and appearing masculine in the eyes of Sam. 

While education creates class and division in the world we live in where neighbours barely breathe even a 'hi' in each other's direction, we see Kgadi and Mashadi nullifying this notion by being persistent in their nosiness disguised as concern in the life of Sam. They believe he is a 'mad man' as it doesn't make sense to them why a man his age, would treat his plants as 'children' and be content with that setting when he could actually create that kind of relationship with actual people. In their quest to help him, their research shows them he suffers from antisocial personality disorder which makes sense as to why he was always taking jabs at them with no regard for their feelings. When he wasn't doing that, he made commentary on social issues during his daily newspaper readings, with a mediaeval lens.

The discoveries that the couple continue to make, shock the audience and put everything in perspective. We learn that perpetrators of child and womxn abuse live amongst us - they are not strangers. They're our fathers and uncles. Our brothers and boyfriends. Our friends and colleagues. Our neighbours. And no matter how much we know and adore them, our empathy for who they are to us, should not cloud our judgement of who they are to others. This is a reality our country finds itself in where we continuously protect perpetrators because of who they show themselves to be to everyone else, and that silences victims, making us complicit in these atrocious acts. 

We need more work like this to help us have conversations around this plague we face, now more so than ever. These issues shouldn't be reserved for campaigns like those of 16 Days of Activism when they occur every second of every day. 

PHOTOS: Supplied
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