Seeing other people explores the patriarchy, the role of women in a male-dominated society and the concept of love versus sex
Theatre is an escape. A chance to insert myself – if only for a while – into the space of a character I see evolving before my eyes. Sometimes theatre works as a mirror and reflects aspects of our lives we weren’t expecting to see.
The anticipation of taking in a show decided on some weeks beforehand, arriving a little – but not too – early to secure a glass of wine, chatting to friends who have come along to enjoy the performance. Then, scooting past knees angled to the left to allow thoroughfare, finding your seat and settling in.
Not exactly dinner table conversation
Seeing Other People’s subject matter doesn’t make for easy conversation. Not around a dinner table with friends, not in your head alone and certainly not with your significant other. But the cleverly employed comedy makes it that much easier to consider the idea.
As the name implies, Seeing Other People deals with the rather prickly subject of open relationships. The show charts the breakdown in the relationship between Antonia and Anton, over 10 years. They never actually seem to be madly in love with each other, rather they appear to be comfortable in roles which social norms have dictated constitute a relationship. Then things change.
Independent theatre at its best
Director Hira Lodhi takes inspiration from Dario Fo and Franca Rame’s The Open Couple to present a somewhat voyeuristic look into a relationship that seems to lamely limp on from day to day. Lodhi brilliantly spans the 10 years by having two couples, simultaneously, play Antonia and Anton. Time travel before your very eyes; HG Wells would have been impressed.
I was captivated by this stroke of theatre genius. The show is a mental stimulus overload of note as you take in two sides of one story, across time, but at the same moment. To further navigate the space-time continuum, stagehand Dave is introduced to the audience.
Dave never speaks, something that actor and the show’s producer Martin Grendele says was a challenge. Dave offers the audience a safe space in which to absorb Antonia and Anton’s machinations and, as I found, a blank canvas onto which to project thoughts and feelings about the subject matter. No judgment.
The show starts with Anton being flippant about Antonia and evidently playing the field, while Antonia just sees the best in Anton. The dynamic of the relationship changes over the decade, which later (but in real-time in the show) sees Anton still playing the field but seemingly more enamoured with Antonia, if only to boost his chances of having her agree to an open relationship. Antonia, however, seems to have lost interest in Anton.
A social commentary
Seeing Other People explores several meaty themes including the patriarchy, the fate of women in a largely male-dominated society and the concept of love versus sex. The cast invites the audience in as they break the fourth wall, asking you to see things from their perspective.
Anton tries to get Antonia to agree to an open relationship, which only seems to work for him if he’s the one messing around with a hall pass. As such, I felt a bit sorry for him in the end – not to excuse his actions – but to the extent that he too seems to be a prisoner to some degree of the patriarchal society in which he lives. He just never gets the subtle nuances of his requests to Antonia, or the impact of his decisions and desires on her life and well-being.
Antonia does women proud at the end of the show in a fantastic plot twist, to applause from the audience.
We see Anton lose the plot at the end of the show as he dons a blond wig and lets loose in a comedic farce. His character literally transforms on stage – in my mind, a physical representation of what must be going on in his head as he battles to make sense of his request to Antonia and how it actually plays out.
A script reworked
Seeing Other People started life as a final-year varsity project for Lodhi and, at the time, featured just two actors on stage for a 15-minute performance. At the beginning of 2022, Lodhi and Grendele assembled an extended cast and worked on the script as a unit, ultimately conceiving the current incarnation of the show.
The cast features Naledi Modipa and James Netherlands as the current-day couple while Hlumie Moloi and Sasha Karlin play the couple 10 years prior. Martin Grendele plays everyone’s friend, Dave the stagehand.
Spending time with the cast after the show, it was evident they enjoy a strong bond, which pays dividends in their performance. Modipa shared that she found synchronising her voice, and a host of other characteristics unique to Antonia, with those of Moloi, her biggest challenge in the production.
I asked the group how the production had affected them. Karlin told me how the issues began to crystalise in his mind as he watched the character of Antonia evolve, while Netherlands was affected by the blatant narcissism of Anton. Strong sentiments, but conversations we so desperately need to initiate right now as we battle the scourge of gender-based violence in South Africa.
Various scenes are worked into the script to add to the comedy of the affair, including a session in Russian, complete with dubbing. Lodhi summed it up well when she said, “The show tells us about these two people’s experiences. It doesn’t attempt to make a statement or draw a conclusion for you. It encourages you to decide for yourself.”
Seeing Other People is back for a limited two-show run at The Bioscope on 16 and 17 September 2022.