Daniel Dercksen shares a few thoughts with the … miskien team: writer-director-producer Tara Louise Notcutt, and co-writers/ performers Albert Pretorius and Gideon Lombard.

How would you describe Miskien in one sentence?
Tara Louise Notcutt: ...miskien is a story about two guys, and a table, and a lot of paper. No, seriously: it's about two best friends, dead-end lives, Happy Hours, and a lot of ellipses…
Gideon Lombard: Miskien is a story which highlights the moments of meaning we overlook miscomunicate or keep to ourselves in everyday life
Albert Pretorius: It's a story about friendship, about how people act in each other's company and when nobody is around and the mask is off, about what we say, don't say, should and shouldn't say.

Is Miskien accessible to all audiences or Afrikaans theatre buffs in particular?
Tara Louise Notcutt: What we wanted to make was a story about people. It's only about 40% Afrikaans at the most, and that Afrikaans is so conversational it's amazingly easy to follow. It's not a play for theatre buffs, but for regular, every day kind of people.
Gideon Lombard:Miskien is definitely accessible to all audiences. The play functions in a 70% English/30% Afrikaans framework. More importantly is the accessibility of the story that unfolds between the two characters. It deals with experiences that everyone single one of us, be it male or female, Afrikaans or English has dealt with.
Albert Pretorius: It is definitely for all audiences and not just the Afrikaans community. The play is in Afrikaans and English. I think everyone knows people like the characters in the play or has seen or heard their conversations at one point in their life. Gideon and I are Afrikaans but Tara is English as were many of the audience members who saw the play last year and I don't think that the language is a barrier in this piece, the feeling and meaning of it all transcends the language barrier and I think all audience members will be able to enjoy it for what it is.

Tell me about your involvement in Miskien…
Tara Louise Notcutt: I'm the director, co-writer and producer of the show, as well as being the director of The Pink Couch, which is the name of our company that has formed as a result of the show. I don't really do much though - the guys are brilliant. I just play the music and suggest places for them to stand on stage. It's a VERY special play to me, and I'm very proud to say that I have something to do with it…
Gideon Lombard: I play the character of Layton. He is a 25 year old white male who works a dead end job in an architecture firm in Cape Town. He has many different encounters with women, but the only time that really matters to him are the happy hours he gets drunk and talking about "regular guy stuff" with his best friend, Cormac.
Albert Pretorius: I play the character Cormac, a 25 year old that works at a law firm, the clichéd 9 to 5, and a pretty dead end job. After work he meets Layton at the pub for happy hour and this is where he relaxes. Cormac is in a relationship and lives with his girlfriend but the relationship has reached a strange stale state where they are living past each other and he is trying to fix things and clinging to the ideal that was 'them'. He enjoys rugby on Saturdays and sometimes misses the days when he was a student

How did Miskien happen?
Tara Louise Notcutt:  ..miskien was born last year, as my final graduating piece for Theatre and Performance at UCT. I'd worked with Albert a lot at varsity, and I'd done a scene with Gideon earlier in the year. We were all great friends, and there was something about the combination that just sparked us off each other. The piece actually started as something different, but as we got further into it, the story just developed naturally. It sounds terribly pretentious, but it's not, it's very true.
Gideon Lombard:  Miskien came about at the end of last year. It was Tara's final 4^th year project/production as part of her Theatre Making course at UCT. It started with an initial concept or direction from Tara and the three of us, throughout long sessions of improvising, workshopping and refining and defining the concept, came up with ...miskien!
Albert Pretorius: Tara did the Theatre Making course at UCT Drama School and …Miskien was her final piece at the end of her forth year. We have been in the same class but I did the acting component of the course. Gideon was a 1^st year at this stage and when she casted us in the play we juggled around a few ideas that was working towards a certain goal that she already had. The piece was well received last year and we decided to do a run again this year. It was strange and amazing to re-visit the text and play again but we fell into it rather comfortably, polishing old things, adding a few new aspects and giving the play more detail having more time than the previous run
 
The script and end result are very much part of a collaboration between the writer/ director and performers. Was this a difficult process?
Tara Louise Notcutt: We all wrote it together. I would put forward topics to talk about in rehearsal, and the guys would talk about them. I'd write things down, and we'd decide on what we liked, what would look best, and put a structure to it. It was a lot of improvisation, which can be difficult at times, but the three of us work really well together, and we're all very close, which made it easier. This isn't always the case - sometimes people who are close can't actually work together, but we can. It's a lot of fun getting up every day and being able to work with your two best friends and do something that you all love.
Gideon Lombard: The process was challenging, but never unpleasant. It helped that we were all involved at every stage of the creation of the text and narrative. What made it challenging was that we had to find "regular guy stuff" to talk about. As an actor it is part of your work and intrinsic in your way about life to critically observe people. It is therefore hard to just come up with "regular guy stuff." The question becomes what is a regular guy, what are regular conversations etc.
Albert Pretorius: The play was written and devised by all three of us, constantly working towards the goal and idea that was set by Tara. It was a different type of challenge because most of the dialogue and monologues came from me and Gideon, forcing us to be more creative than just being the actors. Some nights were difficult and we struggled to come up with compelling dialogue in the improvisation sessions, but Tara was always there to guide us in the right direction, giving a spark here and there to let it flow again. I really enjoyed it. Most of the time we were just a bunch of good friends bouncing ideas around, having fun while creating a play. What didn't work, we cut. What worked we kept, explored and polished.

What can audiences expect from Miskien?
Tara Louise Notcutt: Audiences can expect a story about people. We're not trying to send a message, make a statement, be political or shake things up. What we want to do is tell a story for people, about people. There's a bit of comedy, a bit of tragedy, a bit of language, and in the end I'd like to think it's a good night out.
Gideon Lombard: Audiences can expect a roller-coaster of a ride in which, somewhere along the journey, they recognise a little something of themselves. It will leave you constantly thinking about things, moments and thoughts which you previously glimpsed over.
Albert Pretorius: The audience can expect to laugh, frown, maybe even cry. It's a whirlwind of things that happen very subtlety but can draw you into this world of these two friends and their lives.

Your views on the current state of theatre in South Africa?
Tara Louise Notcutt: I think it's a tough time for everybody, and entertainment feels the pinch first. However, at the same time, there's a need for escape, for excitement, and for entertainment, and that's where shows that are really good are doing well - people want to get away from the difficulty, even for just an hour in their day. I feel it's an exciting time for theatre in Cape Town, especially with companies like the Mechanicals, and things are starting to look up. I'm an optimist by nature, but I definitely feel something good is coming.
Gideon Lombard: Theatre in South Africa has become a spectrum of many colours. It can almost be asked: "What do you think is South African theatre?" I sometimes feel like there are too many artistic disciplines that fall under the theatrical umbrella, therefore diminishing the specificity of some of the good work being done in theatres today.
Albert Pretorius: I think that for theatre in South Africa money is more often than not a problem, but David Geysen, a Dutch director I worked with, stated that there are also very good components that comes from lack of funds. For one it forces the actors to be more creative to create their plays instead of relying on special effects etc to carry their performances. I think that even in the recession we have seen some very good theatre this season in Cape Town. We have to work hard to get audiences because we do not have the theatre culture that for instance Europe has, but there is nothing wrong with the talent in this country.

What excites you about theatre?
Tara Louise Notcutt: The fact that there's this other world you can just get lost in, and it's happening live, right in front of you. Theatre has always been a huge part of my life, and I can't imagine doing anything other than what I'm doing now. I think that watching two people on stage have a conversation, or fight, or kiss, is magical, because you're right there to see it. There's not the sense of disconnection you have when watching TV or a movie, which are also great in their own rights. And there's just something about that smile you get on your face after watching something that you've created / been involved with / just plain LOVED that is one of a kind.
Gideon Lombard: The fact that you get to create or live an entire life in one hour on stage. Also the notion that we do on stage what people in everyday life are too scared to do.
Albert Pretorius: The element as an audience member is that something live is unfolding in front of your eyes. A slap or a kiss on TV might get a sigh or a small smile, when that happens live in front of your eyes it can turn into gasps or cheers. It's two flesh and blood people telling you their story. As an actor it's amazing. There are no second takes, there are eyes looking at you, not just an image of you. All you have are those minutes on that stage and what happens between you and the moments with your fellow actors, nothing more nothing less.

What do you do when you are not on stage performing?
Tara Louise Notcutt: I'm the Project Manager for Maynardville Shakespeare, so when I'm not working on ...miskien, I'm doing that. I'm also a freelance stage manager, so I work on other shows that aren't necessarily mine in the creative sense, the next of which is 'Die Storie van 'n Vertaalde Mens', directed by Michael Inglis, which will also be at the Intimate, later in the year.
Gideon Lombard: I play and listen to music, mostly jazz. I read and write quite a lot. Ultimately theatre is all encompassing in some or other way. The things I do off stage, consciously or subconsciously, give me the ideas for the next thing I'd like to put on stage. The endless cycle continues.
Albert Pretorius: I do what most freelance actors do: go to castings, auditions, etc. I also try to write a bit and I am a slave for movies and can easily watch three a night.

Any comments you would like to share about the show?
Tara Louise Notcutt: It's a very special show, and it's very close to my heart, and what I hope is that people will take an hour out of their day to come and escape for a bit…
Gideon Lombard: I feel incredibly privileged and honoured to be able to do the show. I am currently a 2^nd year Theatre and Performance student at UCT and for a student to get an opportunity like this is something special and a little surreal sometimes.

Future plans?
Tara Louise Notcutt: Grahamstown, hit the Afrikaans festivals such as the KKNK and also hopefully get to the Absolut Dublin International Gay Theatre Festival. We, as The Pink Couch, are also keen to get some other projects going so that we have a few other things to play with, but I hope we're going to give ...miskien that longest possible life that it can have.
Gideon Lombard: Finish my studies, continue composing music for stage and playing, act, direct, cook, and read, the list goes on…
Albert Pretorius: We are applying …Miskien to several festivals and can hopefully take it further. I am performing at Artscape later in the year and is shooting a short film with a friend called KUIERGAT. That is for the immediate future. For the bigger future there are a few cards up the old sleeve but it still needs some consideration etc

READ AN INTERVIEW WITH ALBERT PRETORIUS WHO TALKS ABOUT HIS DIVERSE ROLES IN ...MISKIEN AND THE TENT

Copyright © 2009 Daniel Dercksen/ The Writing Studio

A meaningful exploration of the human condition
Review by Daniel Dercksen

…miskien is now on at the Intimate Theatre in Cape Town for a short run until September 12 and will appeal to anyone seeking first rate entertainment that is refreshing and meaningful.
From the outset it is important to note that despite its Afrikaans title, …miskien is not an Afrikaans play, but an English play peppered with understandable Afrikaans truisms.
Original plays such as …miskien are unique in that it reflects the voices of its creators and opens a window to our outside world, allowing us to see people differently from another point of view.
Although the writer's voice of …miskien belongs to three different mindsets, it is unified on one singular journey, telling a powerful story that significantly amplifies important issues in society: our lack of communication and how this disempowerment of individual expression can result in heartache, solitude and misery.
The collaboration of director-writer Tara Louise Notcutt, and writers-actors Albert Pretorius and Gideon Lombard is a marriage made in heaven; having woven their own experiences into the fabric of the story, makes …miskien even more endearing. 
In …miskien the characters might communicate adequately on the surface, but when confronted by the reality of their inner desires, a deadly silence severs what might possibly be their only chance at happiness.
The enlightenment that surfaces in …miskien casts a shadow that causes conflict and upheaval; this human dilemma is perfectly personified by Pretorius and Lombard, two young performers with promising futures.   
Pretorius brilliantly captures the anxiety and frustrations of Cormac, a 25 year old who works at a law firm, a clichéd 9 to 5, and a pretty dead end job. He aptly balances the brimming aggression and dormant anger of Cormac with the sensitive nature of man who is afraid to explore his true self.
Lombard delivers a magnificent performance as Layton, a 25 year old white male who works a dead end job in an architecture firm.  He shines in capturing Layton's humorous party-animal temperament and astounds with his exploration of the character's complex sexual duality.
If there's one reason to see …miskien, it is to experience the dynamic magnetism between these two actors, particular during silent moments when everything relies on the truth of their performance.
You will never forget a scene during the rousing revelation where the truth finally dawns. This glorious moment is guaranteed to trigger an emotional response that will remain with you long after leaving the theatre.
What is this moment?
To divulge it would be pure evil and destroy the magnificent resolution that makes …miskien a play you are bound to revisit and share with friends.
Add to this Notcutt's sensitive and astute direction, the imaginative staging and striking lighting design by Mathew Lewis, and you are in for a potent and rewarding theatre experience.
The main narrative of …miskien brilliantly captures the physical journey of the characters, revealing their external world filled with beer-drinking marathons during happy hour, watching rugby on television, and coping with unsatisfying jobs and unfulfilled relationships.
It is hysterically funny and poignantly satirises the dilemmas of human interactions and reactions to human inadequacies. 
The power of …miskien lies in its explosive subplot, drawing us into the internal mindscape of the characters, allowing us to explore our own truths through their actions and expressions.
Although …miskien might sound like an average story about the 'friendship between two regular guys', it is guaranteed to change the way you see the world and will allow you to re-examine your own misconceptions and inability to truthfully express your feelings towards people and in particular those you loose your heart to.
There's an honest subtlety in ...miskien that ultimately seduces its audience into a remarkable and powerful experience that is rewarding.
There is a potent life lesson in …miskien that injects our search for truth and meaning with a fresh sensibility that is invigorating.
During times where broken relationships need to be restored, and our quest for happiness in an unhappy world needs reinforcement, …miskien is bound to make it easier to turn that frown upside down. 
With the miraculous creation of the magnificent The Mechanicals troupe, and now The Pink Couch and GO2 Production management, the future of theatre in Cape Town has never been more enlightening.
Make … miskien a definite choice in choosing a night out at the theatre. You won't regret it. Make sure not to miss this great opportunity of seeing our local talent in action.
Visit www.thepinkcouch.co.za
Copyright © 2009 Daniel Dercksen/ The Writing Studio