In this remarkable one-woman show, Prinsloo not only brings a 10-year-old vividly to life, but breathes life into a grandmother who supports the child's heartbreaking journey, as well as a few other colourful characters in a children's ward.
Armed with only her talent and a bare stage with only a bed, Prinsloo becomes the characters and brings the story to life in your imagination, taking you on a journey filled with recollections of your own life experiences ignited by those the young Oscar takes you on.
Oscar and the Pink Lady, the English version of Sandra Prinsloo's award-winning Afrikaans play Oskar en die Pienk Tannie, is based on a novel by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt, which was initially translated from French (Oscar et la Dame Rose) into Afrikaans, by Naòmi Morgan. Oskar en die Pienk Tannie has been performed at several venues around the country since 2012, scooping multiple accolades wherever it was presented: Best Theatre Production, Best Director (Lara Bye), Best Actress (Sandra Prinsloo) at the 2013 ABSA Klein Karoo Kunstefees (KKNK); Best Production, Best Director and Best Actress at the 2013 Fiestas; Best Actress at Aardklop in 2012; Best Theatre Production at Vryfees in 2012 and Best Free State Artist (Naòmi Morgan) at Vryfees in 2012.
Oscar casts a jaded eye on adults, love, hormones, God, death. He has cancer and his operation was unsuccessful, something for which he blames himself, as children tend to do. His lifebuoy is Granny Rose, an elderly woman who visits the children's hospital every day. She is wise, witty and irreverent. To amuse him, she concocts tales of her days as the Wonderful West Coast Warrior, a free-style wrestler.
She is morally brave and never lies to the child. She orders him to live every day as if it were 10 years. In this way he could live to the ripe old age of 120.
She advises him to write a letter to God every day and to make a wish. "Dear God, My name is Oscar, I am 10 years old, I set fire to the cat and the dog and the house. This is my first letter to you, because I didn't have time before. I had to study."
In my youth, when I was a few years older than Oscar, Prinsloo turned me into a fervent theatre animal with her riveting performance in Taraboemdery opposite Marius Weyers. Now, decades later, her celebrated performances in The Sewing Machine, which overwhelmed audiences countrywide, at the Edinburgh Festival, and now the equally powerful Oscar and the Pink Lady, confirms her status as one of the top actresses of our time.
As a consummate storyteller, she commands our attention with dignity and respect; we listen to each breath and even when the rain pounds the roof of the theatre with all its might (as the night I watched the show), nothing can distract from her detailed performance.
Oscar and the Pink Lady is a special play and a personal one for Prinsloo, whose vast experience and finely tuned instinctive nature gives her the opportunity of walking a tightrope between the different world of her vibrant characters, bringing each one to life with ease and dignity.
Oscar and the Pink Lady does what only theatre can do, and does it extremely well: ignite our imaginations with nothing, and transforms our lives with its magic.
This unique conversation between God and the dying child questions the fate of our own existence, and our soulful journey to spiritual realm filled with hope, love and ultimate joy.
Directed with sensitive understanding by Lara Bye, excellent lighting design by Pieter-Jan Kap and apt background music by Braam du Toit that underscores the emotional journey, Oscar and the Pink Lady is a play you simply cannot miss. It is why we go to the theatre, and although there are uneducated idiots in the audience who still have to Facebook and message during a performance, hopefully a show like this will change their lives and make them realise that there is a power higher than the life they are desperately trying to live through the screens of their mobiles. It is the power of the imagination, where conversation is sparked between the storyteller and the listener, where the spoken word touches our souls and makes theatre live in our hearts.
Thank you Sandra for making me believe again and awakening the theatre animal in me.
Oscar and the Pink Lady runs at the Baxter Golden Arrow Studio until 23 August from Tuesdays to Saturdays at 7.30pm. There are two matinees at 4pm on 2 and 23 August. Tickets are available via Computicket and cost R120 with special discounts available for senior citizens, students and block bookings of 10 or more. PG10.
For more on Oscar and the Pink Lady and other theatre shows, go to www.writingstudio.co.za
