If you think your life is complicated, put yourself in John Smith's shoes for a moment. John, the taxi driver from MY VROU SE MAN SE VROU has two wives - and now, two families! In MY BOETIE SE SUSSIE SE OU, it is 18 years later and John still keeps his two families in different parts of London. Both families are incredibly happy and each is unaware of the other. But when his two teenagers, the daughter of one family and the son of the other, meet one another in an Internet chat room and decide to meet in person, John's already hectic life is accelerated into top gear as he stuggles to keep them apart.
MY BOETIE SE SUSSIE SE OU is Pierre van Pletzen's Afrikaans translation of Ray Cooney's CAUGHT IN THE NET and is directed by South Africa's own king of farce, Frans Swart. The cast is led by David Rees as John Smith, with his two wives, Mary and Barbara, being played by Ana van Achterbergh and Cindy Swanepoel respectively. Anel du Plessis plays Vicky, John and Mary's daughter, and Gavin, John and Barbara's son, is played by Francois van Renbsburg. Joining in the fun are Botha Enslin as Stanley Gardener, John's friend, and Frans Swart as his senile father, Deda. Swart took over the role from Hennie Smit after Smit became seriously ill during the State Theatre season last September.
Director Swart says that MY BOETIE SE SUSSIE SE OU is one of those farces that has all the elements in place to get people laughing, describing the show as "laugh a minute": 'That's exactly what MY BOETIE SE SUSSIE SE OU wants to do. People to come to relax and laugh about the antics of John Smith and his two families. Scientists say there is nothing that makes one relax better than laughing. And that is why it is such an honor for Lefra Productions to carry on with this production. People don't want to be tormented - our politics certainly takes care of that very well - we want to laugh."
MY BOETIE SE SUSSIE SE OU opens at the Atterbury Theatre in Pretoria on 29 and runs until the end of the month, with performances at 20:00 nightly and a matinee on Saturday at 15:00. Reservations for all performances can be made through Computicket (online or on 0861 915 8000). Block bookings of ten or more can book tickets at discounted rates by calling Lefra Productions directly (by email or on on 011 815 3000).
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