You can see Hout Bay actress Erika Breytenbach-Marais in Die Goeie Pa, a one-hander, which is on at the Baxter’s Masambe Theatre this month and explores the psychological effect of abuse on three women.
The play, directed by Paul du Toit and performed in both English and Afrikaans, is adapted from South African-born British playwright Gail Louw’s The Good Dad, and Breytenbach-Marais plays the roles of all three women.
The play is based on a true story and derived from a psychiatrist’s notes, says Breytenbach-Marais, who spent several years teaching drama at Amoyo Performing Arts, in Imizamo Yethu.
She first performed Die Goeie Pa at The Drama Factory in Strand, in 2022, for which she received a Fleur du Cap theatre award nomination for best solo performance.
The mother of three has lived in Hout Bay for 12 years but is originally from the Free State.
“I studied drama at the University of Pretoria and initially focussed on educational theatre, as well as puppetry and clowning while also raising a family, before moving down to Cape Town.”
She performed her first one-woman show, Jam Every Other Day, in 2018. It toured the National Arts Festival in Makhanda and also played at The Hermanus FynArts Festival.
“In 2019, I co-wrote a play with Faeron Wheeler (also a “Hout Bayian”), called Your Perfect Life, which was loosely based on our own lives. This play also won a Standard Bank Ovation Award. It also had a run at The Drama Factory in Strand.“
Breytenbach-Marais says she ended up doing Die Goeie Pa after meeting Louw while working on another production.
“At that stage, I was keen to do another one-woman show but was specifically looking to do something around the theme of GBV.
“When Gail sent me the script, I immediately knew that this would be a very challenging and demanding role and something I would like to do. I play three characters: the mother, Sue, and her twin daughters, Donna and Carol. In Afrikaans, their names are Susan, Diaan and Karla. I portray these three characters with no costume changes and only have the use of a single prop, a red blanket, which transforms into many different things.“
The play is on until Saturday February 24. Booking is through Webtickets.
