Smaarties, currently running at Alexander Bar & Theatre, needs little introduction. The award-winning drama about a young man vexed by mental illness, loss and the pain of disconnection, has wowed critics since 2007 and endured alongside a series of fierce rivals during last year’s Cape Town Fringe Festival.
Jannes Erasmus as Mr Lotz exudes the youthful innocence and quick wit of a young man determined to remain sane. Performed mainly in Afrikaans, with the occasional English fragment, Smaarties provides an external manifestation for Mr Lotz’s internal response to the world. That world is often a surreal and fearsome place, but also oddly compelling and bizarre. At first, Mr Lotz appears much like a case study of mental illness – the blinking, the rattled mannerisms, the chin held too low or too high so as to avoid direct eye contact – but ultimately he strikes an emotional chord with the audience. There are moments when the story veers perilously close to sentimentality, and Erasmus often spirals into an overly rehearsed monologue that may feel a touch long-winded. However, the clarity of his gaze is so arresting that it often makes you uncomfortable, and the story is equally clear-eyed on his troubled life. By the end, thanks to Erasmus’ pained honesty, twitchy awkwardness, and whimsical delight, the character emerges as both hero and friend in this dark tale.
Director Quintin Wils has dared a more abstract and visceral response to Erasmus’ brainchild. The progression of the play is magnified by the production team’s witty design, in which multiplying uncertainties are represented by phrases scribbled on a white canvas. A semi-circle of table lamps strategically positioned around Alexander Bar’s intimate stage alludes to the solitary state Mr Lotz revels in. The well-paced lighting, in different tones of white, red and blue, sets the mood for each chapter. And Jansen van Rensburg’s experimental style of videography churns up visual projections to give us a glimpse of the sensory overload that besets Mr Lotz. These sections are gripping and forceful. At the same time, Smaarties seems swathed with flickers of haunting beauty and poetry, such as Erasmus’ nuanced performance and the gradual use of a suffocating sheath (a recurring theme in Wils’ work).
Playwrights seem to be fixated with the topic of mental illness, with a number of shows exploring the subject, and seeking to dispel the taboos still associated with it. We have an almost macabre fascination with the mentally ill, which may stem from a lack of understanding. Luckily, the stage provides a voyeuristic platform where we can investigate and decipher these othered people. I’ve seen my fair share of poor productions focusing excessively on the manic parts of mental illness, or the dangerous and psychotic patients. However, Smaarties succeeds by educating us, while presenting some form of accuracy on a topic so grossly misunderstood.
Benn van der Westhuizen
Smaarties, as part of the Cape Town Fringe Festival, is currently running at Alexander Bar & Theatre from 26 to 28 September 2015.
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