As we enter the theatre we are met by a beautiful young woman, dressed in a vibrant red cocktail frock, holding a bunch of roses in her hand. She greets us and once we are settled, starts to read a speech she has prepared, a eulogy for her late father. Her sister, also beautiful, dressed in black lace, shares the responsibility of the event; but she sees it in a very different light. Whilst Charlotte, played by Malou van Sluis, wants to cover over all the faults and uncomfortable truths of the family’s dynamics, Evelyn, played by Denise Lukkenaar, sees the memorial as an opportunity to reveal and expel the painful truths that haunt her. 

‘Dancing on your Grave’ is a brilliantly executed exercise in creating a natural environment through drama. It takes the simple premise that the emotional strain of a death in the family unearths hidden or suppressed feelings; in particular it examines the breakdown of sibling relationship when differences of attitude become both evident and embarrassing.

The beauty of this piece lies in the total believability of the two characters and their interactions. The actresses draw strong distinctions between their private and their public worlds using such devices as an exaggerated step into the public domain, mother-tongue discussions at the back of the stage, amplified and natural speech: clear delineations that allow us to witness the control required to handle the shifts which were impeccably executed by both actresses,Van Sluis and Lukkenaar and meticulously directed by Ferry Spigt

I was moved by the choice of subject matter. Musho! Festival’s profile is definitely enhanced by international participation and ‘Dancing on your Grave, which has already won awards at the Festival International de Theatre in Morocco added an exciting and original flavour to Musho! 2012.

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Dawn Haynes

The audience members were met at the door by a charming young lady in a bright red dress set off by an elegant black veil. With a hug and “thank you for coming”, we were welcomed into what was obviously a memorial service. The bright flowers arranged centre stage and flanked by a portrait of a grey-haired man were the focus as we took our seats. A white “carpet “ led to the back of the stage and so the service began.

We soon realised this was no ordinary memorial! Charlotte, the daughter in the red dress, was joined by her sister Evelyn and they began a speech about their recently deceased father. With Charlotte constantly interrupting the more demure Evelyn dressed in a formal back dress in contrast to her flamboyant sister, the eulogy created more laughs than tears. Stepping of the central white carpet, the sisters lost their funeral masks and became two bickering siblings who could not agree on anything. Arguing with each other in Dutch, we could not follow every word of the dialogue but the tension between the two was evident.

Evelyn returned to the mic to present her song only to discover that Charlotte had not brought the backing track. With determination, Evelyn sang a beautiful song which gave the audience a few moments of sadness. But this mood was soon disturbed once again by the forceful Charlotte intent on taking centre stage.

Making the audience part of the proceedings from the start, this interesting look at the swing of emotions at funerals was both innovative and interesting.  It certainly made everyone think about their own experiences and resulted in various emotions and complex ideas about coping with death

 

The play was well acted with the two girls alternating successfully between the attempt to control themselves in front of the guests and the release of their anger and animosity as they stepped aside. The white carpet was in fact made up of numerous notes and this became a confused mess as the play progressed with papers being tossed aside and the neat arrangement rapidly being destroyed.

After the play, the Director and both actors came on stage to discuss with the audience some ideas about funerals. This exercise was so interesting and certainly added another dimension to this thought-provoking drama.

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Check out the website for one more review: 
http://www.mushofestival.co.za/contentpage.aspx?pageid=1563