The award-winning play The Unlikely Secret Agent has returned for a short run at the Baxter Theatre Centre, before heading off on a national and international tour.
Based on a book by Ronnie Kasrils, the play follows the true story of Kasrils and his wife Eleanor as they navigate beliefs in communism and racial equality in 1960s South Africa, and the terrifying apartheid police force.
The play was nominated for a total of eight Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards, with Paul du Toit winning Best Director – the man who adapted the story for the stage.
The story follows Eleanor, a young single mother who is arrested at the bookstore where she works in Durban and taken in for questioning. It is South Africa in 1963. The government’s forces under Hendrik Verwoerd’s apartheid regime are violent and brutal.
The police are looking for Eleanor’s lover, Red Ronnie Kasrils, who is notorious for being a “terrorist”. She is detained under the 90-day detention act and brutally interrogated by the special branch of the police service – people responsible for many torturous and murderous acts during apartheid.
Faking a nervous breakdown in order to be moved to a psychiatric institution, Eleanor begins to plan her escape in a context where getting out is nearly impossible. The audience is taken on an incredible journey of bravery as we get to witness the power of community and kindness.
Also read: “The Unlikely Secret Agent” returns for run at Baxter Theatre Centre
“Her spirit once again soars like a bird to taunt the apartheid state, thanks to this brilliant adaptation of my book, superb direction and acting, that drew standing ovations at The Drama Factory in Somerset West – and I am over the moon. What expectations to savour!” says Ronnie Kasrils of his wife Eleanor.
This run of the play has a different energy than before, brought about by two new cast members: Wessel Pretorius in the role of Ronnie Kasrils, and Carlo Daniels in the supporting cast.
The simplicity of the play creates a space for the actors to move around that is outside of the restraints of time, memory and identity. On the stage, there is only a table, five chairs and a shelving cabinet. Small props: books, a mop and pens float in and out of the play subtly.
Above four of the chairs lined up against the wall, there is a projector that displays important contextual information and casts creepy shadows on the haunting faces of the actors playing the policemen.
The actors are clearly comfortable in their roles, which, for everyone besides Erika Marais playing Eleanor, are a variety of characters and identities. The performances given are nuanced and thoughtful, with every character rounded out skilfully.
There is clear chemistry between performers, and the actors do a wonderful job of embracing switching between characters, sometimes leaving the audience confronted with their feelings as they swap from portraying hilarious women’s gossiping sessions to men’s horrifying acts of violence within seconds.
There was never any confusion about which characters were speaking, as the actors transformed quickly and masterfully from one character to the next.
There is no constraint of identity in who the actors play: the supporting cast, who present as men, switch to women characters both funny and serious. It is a skilful thing they manage to do, in creating so many of the characters through familiar accents and mannerisms.
With incredible dimension and authenticity in their moving performances, the cast members illuminate a heartbreaking story that is all too familiar in South Africa’s horrific past.
As the founder of Unlikely Productions, Erika Marais, says, “the story of this remarkable woman Eleanor Kasrils inspires and moves our audiences wherever we have performed this production.”
Also read:
The history of the Baxter Theatre: where art has always included everyone
Picture: The Baxter