VER IN DIE WÊRELD KITTIE. Written, composed and directed by David Kramer. With Dean Balie, Rushney Ferguson, Jenny Stead and Andre Terblanche, and musicians Kerryn Bailey Torrance (violin), Yvan Potts (keyboard) and Nick Turner (acoustic guitar & cajon). Assistant Director: Dean Balie. Lighting Design: Ben du Plessis. Costume Co-ordination: Widaad Albertus. Projection Design: Julian Davids. Photographer: Mark Wessels. Die Blik (The Tin), Epping.
MEGAN CHORITZ reviews
Well, I am home after a little Sunday afternoon cry. One of the best kind. The most emotional kind. The prickle of tears started when a skinny shy man spoke about Die Blik as a venue and how it has come into being (part of the Epping Fruit market) and my tears continued all the way through the simple, beautiful, charming, and sad Ver in die Wêreld Kittie.
Part South African Apartheid history lesson perfectly humanised through the lens of a doomed love story between a privileged white young man, Josef Marais, and a coloured house servant Kittie Japhta, part beautiful musical nostalgia, part poetry of Afrikaans, I loved every moment of this small, fragile musical, which has ethno-musicologist and magical theatre maker David Kramer stamped all over it. And that’s before I rave about the performances, set and styling, and the wonderful venue it inhabits.
This is the description of the show, directly from the press release, but it is only the landscape of it.
“1952. Doris Day and Frankie Laine have an international hit with the song “Sugarbush,” which is purportedly written by Josef Marais. In the 1950s, Josef and his wife Rosa rode the wave of their success in America as a folk singing duo. Known as Marais and Miranda they became known for singing Afrikaans songs translated into English by Josef. Their records were played on radio stations across America, and they worked with Burt Lancaster and Humphrey Bogart in Hollywood. However, back in the Boland, Kittie Jaftha doesn’t celebrate their success. She feels betrayed and believes these songs don’t belong to Marais and Miranda. She knows that Josef heard these songs from Koos Heuningbek, who works on his father’s farm.”
While Joseph is free to travel the world, Kittie’s dreams are held in the confines of overseas postage stamps and a Mulberry tree.
Precious, beautiful, moving
I loved everybody on stage. But. It is now official. Dean Balie, who plays Koos Heuningbek (and two other cameo characters) must be one of my most favourite favourites. He is extraordinary. He embodies. He performs with effortless delight. He doesn’t miss a moment. He makes me cry. He plays the guitar. Both normal and blik. He makes me love the musical genre (which is quite a thing).
This huge, tiny musical is a wonderful, emotional, simple yet layered journey. The Afrikaans lyrics, the simple 50s-tinged melodies, the familiar songs we know and love, the stylish, stylised set and projections, the utterly wonderful musicians. It’s all there.
It is precious and beautiful and moving. Thank you everybody, for taking me there, and letting me have a little weep.
PS. Die Blik. What a space. What a delight. I hope that I will be going there often. I love it.
What: Ver In Die Wêreld Kittie
Where and when: Die Blik, 110 Gunners Circle, Epping from 27 July until 11 August 2024
Tickets: Webtickets
WS
