Playwright: SUE PAM-GRANT

Director: KARABELO LEKALAKE

Venue: Scaena Theatre

Language: English

Dates and times:

24 September 2014         19h30

25 September 2014         18h00

26 September 2014         19h30

Prices:  R 40.00 for adults / R 30.00 for students or scholars / R 25.00 for pensioners or for groups of 10 or more

Bookings:   Computicket (0861 915 8000)

The play is set against the background of Joubert Park, the infamous grey area in Johannesburg. The year is 1989 and South Africa is nearing the end of the apartheid regime. While some are fighting to keep what they have, others are fighting for existence.  Sue Pam Grant’s thought-provoking Curl Up & Dye highlights some of the challenges facing the community during apartheid. The  play focuses on the lives of the five seemingly different woman, whom the ruthless course of South African society in the eighties has thrown uncomfortably together. It all comes tumbling down as they battle and bump into their own truths unwillingly, yet still clinging to the old masks. But as it all unravels, Roline (Yoliswa Jacobs) reverts to her true self and the demons that she can never escape. Living in a society where everything she wants to hide is skin deep and easily exposed, it heightens the fear and the powerlessness that dominates her life. The character of Mrs Dubois (Marnel  Bester ) who often finds comfort in the discomfort of others, escapes her dark reality by reminiscing about the good old days. Miriam (Mosili Makuta) is the unsung hero in the play. Although she is the same age as Mrs Duboise, race, class and the system doesn’t allow her to get equal treatment as her counterpart. Charmaine’s (Jana Coetzer) destructive world is made up of drugs, alcohol and prostitution. She engages in these activities because that is the only way she manages to numb her pain. Then there is Dudu Dlamini( Setheo Thamae),  she is a highly qualified nurse who makes her unlikely way into the scenario. Dudu brings hope into the hopeless situation.

With this play, Grant mirrors all shades of grey that infect our society. Although some might be uncomfortable watching this play, the play explores with tenderness, compassion and wonderful humour the fears, conflicts and hopes of these women living on the edge. As we celebrate 20 years of democracy our country, the play exams the then volatile, segregated country and it captures the success and journey of the new South Africa.

Curl Up & Dye will be presented by honors students from the University of the Free State at the Scaena Theatre. Catch this exciting, hilarious and intriguing    play on the 24^th September 2014(19:30), 25^th September (18:00) and 26^th September (19:30).