SPAR DRAMA CENTRE

50 MINS

SAT 1900

SUN 1200

R 80

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS PLAY IS IN ENGLISH, WITH SOME AUSTRIAN

This intimate two-hander Mein Soldat, featuring Janna Ramos-Violante and Clinton Small, is a freshly conceived new South African piece written by Ramos-Violante. It debuted at the National Arts Festival in 2010 and was one of three Durban productions to win a coveted Standard Bank Fringe Ovation Award. A total of 16 productions from across the country were awarded these out of an excess of 400 shows. It was also nominated for best new South African script, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Director at the 2010 Durban Theatre Awards.

Set during World War II, the play documents the beautiful and complex relationship of two strangers who find each other through forced circumstances. After escaping from a prisoner of war camp in Krems, Duncan (a young British soldier) falls into Irma’s (a young Austrian woman) kitchen in dire need of assistance. Irma for her part, has been alone for 6 years awaiting her husband’s return from the war. What must ensue is a sometimes taut, sometimes funny, but always ambiguous state of play as the two characters are unable to communicate.

Largely due to the impenetrable silence of Mein Soldat, the audience feels liberated and empowered to interpret the silences, laugh at the awkwardness, and place in the characters hearts their own wish for what might be said, what might come to pass. In short, “It is a piece rich in humanity, suspense and humour, beautifully set, and astonishingly portrayed.” (Clare Mortimer, 2010)

Written By Janna Ramos-Violante
Directed By Josette Eales

CAST

Irma - Janna Ramos-Violante
Duncan - Clinton Small

DIRECTORS NOTE

'Duncan finds Irma in the middle of Austria on a small farm house after having escaped from 'Stalag 17b' near Krems (a prisoner of war camp) during the second world war. Not being able to understand each other they are forced to rely on instinct.'

This piece of theatre, to me, is a chance for audiences to see absolute reality on stage with actors taking risks to tell a small but never-the-less vital story. I encourage my audience to wonder in the simplicity of a life we, as a modern society, have long forgotten ... a life without text messages and email, without easy communication and without the beauty of pure simple love.

Review: Thick Skin and Intimate Theatre