With characters you would swear are plucked right out of your own life, the comedic play offers the perfect platform for the audience to interrogate the ever-changing world and its fluid traditions. If you’re a 'weirdo', the proud kind, of course, then this gang will make you feel right at home.
At the tail end of its run on the iconic John Kani stage, with the final show on Sunday, December 24, A Marry Little Christmas stars Antony Coleman (Borderline, Houseboy) and Kim Cloete (Joenie Galant – Hulle) while being directed by industry veteran Charmaine Weir-Smith.
Set on an unnamed golf estate somewhere on the north-west edge of Johannesburg, it follows Arnold Hartmann (Coleman) as his attempts to propose to his partner Natalie (Cloete), are floundered by the eccentric antics of his family and his would-be in-laws.
Photo: Suzy Bernstein.
“This play has been a few years in the making, with the initial idea for it dating back to an animated festive lunch with my own family,” says Homann of the production commissioned by How Now Brown Cow’s Writer’s Collective during the 2020 pandemic shutdown.
“Although not based directly on my family, the roots of it are deeply connected to my own family dynamics and antics.”
With themes of family, love, misunderstandings, and the topsy-turvy nature of following cultural practices, you’re certain to have your spirits lifted and leave smiling.
“I have a strong vision of families coming together and the dysfunction of families playing out, and there’s a lot of comedy to be found in that,” Weir-Smith remarked on what she drew from in order to get the play from the page to the stage.
Weir-Smith calls it “hilarious, truthful, and South African” and the script is a great advocate for more new Mzansi scripts to grace the stage. From the simple yet detailed set design to the distinctively South African musical choices, it’s beautifully refreshing.
Roberto Pombo (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Epicene Butcher) plays Gary, who is in a relationship with Bandile (Zolani Shangase - West Side Story, The Color Purple). He thinks a friend group consisting of the loud laugher, the crier, and the one who found the alcohol would absolutely enjoy the show, and we agree.
“I suppose I’m putting all these people together because it’s a heart-warming show that you want to watch with people you’ll enjoy it with.”
If you’re looking to start a new Christmas Eve tradition, then a trip to the Market is a must. A Marry Little Christmas is an emotional rollercoaster, but the good kind. A laugh-a-minute script that will undoubtedly raise your festive cheer.
Words by guest contributor S’bo Gyre
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