By Jana Burger
Do people ever tell you that you don’t look schizophrenic? The drama, directed by Cornelia Hugo, was performed on 3 and 4 October at the Adam Small Theatre Complex and explored stigmatisation and stereotypes associated with schizophrenics.
The actors and production team – Julia Freeman, Cornelia Hugo, Kelly April, Siphesihle Skosana, Yuda Van Den Berg, Jessica Brits and Busi Mcoyana – all played renditions of the same character, warping the audience’s perception of the main character’s reality.
They sought to highlight the harsh reality that schizophrenics find themselves in and how it could ultimately destroy them. They criticised the idealisation of schizophrenia in the media and entertainment industry. There were a few comedic moments between the actors, but it was otherwise a very despairing and heavy drama. The goal was not so much to entertain, but rather to educate the audience in some way.
The stage was made to look like the inside of a house (or perhaps the main character’s mind), with four doors through which the actors could move around, which made for excellent visuals. Even though audience members were warned before the show about the drama’s use of strobe lighting, nobody was prepared for just how overly flashing the use of the stage lights would be. Some audience members admitted to feeling queasy while the lights continuously flashed at different intervals. This could be justified by the production team wanting the audience to feel as disorientated and strung into the chaos as the main character, in which they succeeded.
The ending felt a bit unsatisfying and abrupt. The drama was probably never supposed to have a “happy ending”, but the pacing could have been written a bit more smoothly towards the end.
I Started A Nuclear War was an interesting take on the representation of schizophrenia and emphasised the importance of accurately writing and portraying characters who struggle with mental health.
