Award-winning play back at Market

The psycho-sexual drama The Girl in the Yellow Dress is back at the Market Theatre with a new lead. Kate Liquorish joins Nat Ramabulana in the award-winning play.
IDENTITY, class and sex are tackled in Craig Higginson’s play, The Girl in the Yellow Dress, which is now showing at the Market Theatre in Newtown.

Nat Ramabulana and Kate Liquorish and Nat Ramabulana play Celia and Pierre respectivelyThe production is back at the theatre for a second season after a successful run in 2010 during which time it scooped two Naledi Awards for Best New South African Play as well as Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role.

Set in Paris, France, the play is about a French-Congolese student (Pierre) who falls in love with his English tutor (Celia). But it turns out the love-smitten student knew English all along; he simply wanted to get close to his tutor, “the girl in the yellow dress”.

The two meet and the lies pile up as they openly mislead each other about their lives.

Pierre, played by Nat Ramabulana, tells Celia, played by Kate Liquorish, about the horrible deaths of his parents. He was adopted by a white family after his father was killed, he says, and his genitals were cut off and given to dogs to eat.

Lies
English Celia tells her young student that she was raped by her mentally disturbed brother. “I came to Paris because I had to get away from my brother. He desires me and he cannot control the desires. I had to get away for the sake of both of us.”

Misery loves company and the two end up comforting each other; their relationship eventually becomes a romantic and sexual entanglement. Pierre becomes distant, even changing his phone number, yet Celia tracks him down.

In doing so, she discovers the real truth about Pierre, and in turn confesses that she is the one who had intrusive thoughts about her brother.

Both actors portray their characters well. Ramabulana plays the part of Pierre so well – he even puts on a heavy French accent – that it is difficult to identify him as South African. The actor is best known for his roles as Blessing in the SABC2 sitcom Askies and as Elphas in the SABC2 drama The Mating Game. He also starred in the films Blood Diamond and The Bang Bang Club.

Liquorish, who is originally from Cape Town, is a new member of the cast. She replaces the British actress, Marianne Oldham, who originally played Celia.

Arts festival
The Girl in the Yellow Dress premiered at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown in 2010, followed by a sold-out seasons at the Baxter Theatre in Cape Town and the Traverse Theatre for the duration of the Edinburgh Festival.

It moved to Live Theatre in Newcastle, the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow and the Stockholm Stadsteater in Sweden. “Coming home it played to almost full capacity from its first day,” says Higginson.

The playwright says the play is brimming with humour, rage and longing. “This internationally celebrated play provides a minute exploration of an increasingly hazardous romantic entanglement and an insight into some of the tension between the first and third worlds,” he adds.

Originally inspired by Ovid’s story Echo and Narcissus and psychoanalytic writings on narcissism, The Girl in the Yellow Dress is set in contemporary Paris.

Ongezwa Mapukata, who was at the theatre on 7 October, said it was by far the best she play she had seen this year. “I liked everything about it; it involves different aspects such as romance, race and other issues. I say big ups to the creator of the play.”

The play is on at the Laager Theatre, in the Market Theatre complex, until 11 December. Show times are 8.15pm from Tuesdays to Saturdays, and 3.15 on Sundays. Tickets are available at Computicket and range in price from R60 to R140, depending on day.