Review: SOLO FEST at Theatre Arts Provides a Mouth-Watering Taste of Future One-Person Shows

SOLO FEST was created with the intention to “make more spaces for more south African stories to be told, more often”. Indeed, theatre-maker Sophie Joans explains, “Everyone has a story to tell. The hard part is getting started. I wanted to create a weekly structured space for people to come together and write in community, to explore their stories, and share them with others. So our first course, ‘So, You Wanna Write a Solo Show?’ was born. I was amazed and heart-warmed at how many people signed up. And every week, each class was captivated by the stories that came out of the session. Thus, Solo Fest was born as a moment for the writers to showcase their new work.”

The first iteration of Solo Fest takes place over two evenings. I attended the first evening, which comprised seven performances: SHELLFISH by Cailyb Prinsloo; SPACED OUT by Rameez Nordien; BENEATH THE SURFACE by Gabriella Roughton; I THINK I SMELL SMOKE by Roshina Ratnam; SOLITUDE by Kamogelo Mhlantla; BUCKLED by David Schmidt; and SO THIS IS LOVE by Julia Daniels.

Of these seven performances, two were pre-recorded and played on a projected screen. The other five performances were performed live.

SHELLFISH by Cailyb Prinsloo was one of the pre-filmed pieces. Unfortunately, I lost about 80% of the piece because the audio was unclear, at least to me. The visuals were gorgeous though: puppetry was used to create a vibrant shellfish (seemingly out of recycled material), whose expressive claws and moving head are used to tell the story. While I cannot comment on the content of the narrative, it was a captivating performance nonetheless – I would love the opportunity to see the excerpt live.

SPACED OUT by Rameez Nordien provides a tongue-in-cheek commentary on religious belief which he couples with his love of outer space. This witty and unique piece tells the story of an astronaut recently returned to earth. As the first astronaut to belong to an unnamed (imaginary) religion, Nordien takes us through the commandments of his religion’s holy book. Through the art of ‘making strange’, the performer interrogates what might be the normalised madness of religion. After all, he asks us, are religions not simply successful cults?

BENEATH THE SURFACE by Gabriella Roughton is a beautifully crafted piece. Roughton combines rich imagery and effective physical theatre to communicate the all-consuming experience of (potential) love found and (perhaps) lost. The piece is deeply relatable to all who yearn or have yearned for a particular person, and is delivered earnestly and honestly.  The piece also speaks to the indelible impact of love and experience – we are forever changed with each new, layered relationship, situationship, or “imaginationship” (I think I just coined that term).

My favourite piece of the evening was I THINK I SMELL SMOKE by Roshina Ratnam. Ratnam tells the story of her family’s migration from Sri Lanka to Zambia, following the civil war which broke out in the former in the 1970s. The performer literally and figuratively unpacks her family’s trajectory by utilising precious heirlooms and, sometimes, effective and haunting puppetry. At times hilarious, and at other times disturbing, I was utterly riveted by this piece. I can only hope that Ratnam’s full show will be performed sometime soon – I’ll be first in line for a ticket.

SOLITUDE by Kamogelo Mhlantla comments on the difference between loneliness and solitude. This piece was pre-filmed and played for the audience. Fortunately, the sound quality was good and I was able to hear the entirety of the excerpt. This piece is an introspective look at what it means to be alone – and to choose to be alone. It poses existential questions and speaks to our relationships with ourselves: As Mhlantla notes, who can one trust or rely on more than oneself? This is a thought-provoking piece; the visuals complement it well.

BUCKLED by David Schmidt is a jarring piece. Brechtian in nature, the excerpt is framed innocuously: the performer recounts some dreams that he has recently experienced. While Schmidt is often smiling and speaking in a gentle, subdued tone, these tales are not dreams at all – they are the waking nightmares of our current world. They speak of environmental, geo-political and corporation-caused devastation. This deeply unsettling piece is a call to action made to all of us…before it is too late.

SO THIS IS LOVE by Julia Daniels is a tender and poignant examination of the chasm between expectations and reality – particularly when it comes to love. Told in the third person, the speaks to a life lived ‘by the book’ and the potentially devastating consequences that follow when words are left unsaid. I really enjoyed her use of dance and props (the coatrack!) to evoke intimacy and vulnerability. This is another show that I’d love to see come to fruition; Daniels gives a beautiful and natural performance.

I adore the concept of SOLO FEST and was thoroughly impressed by the quality of the excerpts performed. Hopefully, this becomes a regular fixture of Cape Town’s theatre-scene, as a much-needed platform for performers in the process of penning their one-person shows.

Excitingly, Joans will be hosting another writing session in early 2025 for those wanting to craft their own one-person shows. Look out for future dates at @SPARKINTHEDARKSA on Instagram.

This round of SOLO FEST runs at Theatre Arts from 1 to 2 December 2024. Tickets cost R180 and are available via the Theatre Arts website.

To post a comment, you must register and login.