{"id":438,"date":"2015-07-03T14:02:37","date_gmt":"2015-07-03T12:02:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/?p=438"},"modified":"2015-07-03T14:02:37","modified_gmt":"2015-07-03T12:02:37","slug":"burned-by-ashes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/?p=438","title":{"rendered":"Burned by Ashes"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The<\/a>
The Mother in Ashes. Photo credit: Maggie Gericke<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It isn\u2019t often I\u2019m left teary\u00a0after a show but I\u2019m not too proud to say when it happens. Last night Ashes<\/em>, written and directed by Philip Rademeyer, set me up by presenting a story of love and a family working through understanding having a homosexual son. This is an important show, I was thinking. Then they razed my comfort in watching \u201can important show\u201d as it developed into a piercing, authentic and brutal blow to the heart.<\/p>\n

Topically, Rust Co-Operative never shies away from pressing social issues, and Ashes<\/em> follows suit, burning a searing hole into the fabric of twisted, discriminatory, superiority-complexed, heteronormative communities in South Africa.<\/p>\n

A series of characters, all excellently embodied by Stefan Erasmus and Jason Jacobs, tell their seemingly disjointed stories. Their acting is high calibre: so distinct were the characterisations, it was hard to believe there weren\u2019t six people on stage. Yet there was not a hint of caricaturing \u2013 a trap that this style of multi-character-playing can often fall into.<\/p>\n

As the puzzle pieces fall together we learn of a\u00a0boy\u2019s childhood and the experiences that brought him to understand himself, his family, and the difficult society he lives in. It is Erasmus\u2019 and Jacobs\u2019 acting skill\u00a0(no doubt carefully crafted by Rademeyer) that draw us so deeply into the mother\u2019s care, the father\u2019s despair, the gangster\u2019s disgust, the bystander\u2019s confused helplessness, and the two boyfriends\u2019 true\u00a0love for each other.<\/p>\n

With a light touch, Rademeyer gives us a scathing critique on South Africa’s apathetic attitude towards homophobic hate crimes and seeks to understand how and why they happen. A woman says: \u201cI was raised the Christian way \u2026 You can just see, you know \u2026 when they come mincing\u201d and quotes her husband, \u201cte veel fokken Ru Paul oppie TV<\/em>\u201d. And the gangster guy tells us about when they were kids: \u201cthere was one kid that was a moffie. Everyone knew he was a moffie. We teased him about it\u2026 But that doesn’t mean he couldn’t come play. Dan word jy mos ‘n man<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

What happens between childhood\u2019s na\u00efve innocence and adulthood\u2019s decisive and fearful hate? As the father asks, \u201cis hate learnt?\u201d and how is it different to love\u2026 \u201cis it not just blood flowing?\u201d<\/p>\n

Interlinked as social issues are, Ashes<\/em> looks at how South Africa\u2019s intricately unique situation determines our interpersonal relationships. Disrupting cultural norms and re-negotiating previously (still<\/em>) delineated spaces and religious indoctrination\u2019s harmful effects \u2013 all and more are subtly woven into the script, and with a touch of humour.<\/p>\n

Ashes<\/em> is unsettling and challenging; an impactful and important production. It will leave you bare and vulnerable \u2013 in the way the characters, those marginalized by being \u201csubmerged in straightness\u201d, live their whole lives.<\/p>\n

– Sarah Roberson<\/strong><\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> for production information. Ashes is\u00a0daily @ 19.30 @ Princess Alice Hall.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It isn\u2019t often I\u2019m left teary\u00a0after a show but I\u2019m not too proud to say when it happens. Last night Ashes, written and directed by Philip Rademeyer, set me up … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[10],"tags":[98,367,577,644,705,778],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=438"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}