Review: I CAN BUY MYSELF FLOWERS from Mike van Graan is a real laugh

As the name of the play suggests, I CAN BUY MYSELF FLOWERS is all about women learning to love themselves and to be content with who and where they are - and it's a laugh-a-minute ride. Written by Mike van Graan, directed by Toni Morkel and starring Erika Breytenbach, this play is good fun and good soul food.

The play opens with the character Natalie dancing to the Miley Cyrus song of the same title. She then introduces her five closest friends and herself - each of them listing their profession, marital status, children, which professionals in their lives are women, what their favourite toy is and they safe word. From this point on, you know that you're going for a deep dive into the lives of women and that you're going to explore exactly what makes these five tick.

Breytenbach has some kind of super power when it comes to performing multiple characters in one play. She can move seamlessly from one character to another and the audience simply knows who is talking to them now. Breytenbach and Morkel really pulled out what makes the different women uniquely them and allowed that to shine in the different characterisations.

I CAN BUY MYSELF FLOWERS is a lot fun - raunchy, saucy, honest, direct and full of heart. It's also wonderfully and refreshingly honest about women at a stage in life that is too often overlooked or glossed over. They're in their fifties, having fun with menopause and do not have it all together. They're just like you and me - real.

I really enjoyed this funny and heartfelt meditation on the ups and downs of life - especially the emphasis that was placed on the importance of female friendships.

You can catch I CAN BUY MYSELF FLOWERS at The Drama Factory this week. Tickets are available on their website and the show runs until 15 February. The production will be touring, so keep an eye on Unlikely Productions and MVG Productions on social media for upcoming runs.

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