By Danelle Jacobs
In 1918, German playwright, Bertolt Brecht, wrote Baal – a story that follows a charismatic drunk and poet, Baal, who wanders the countryside seducing women, causing physical and emotional destruction whilst playing his guitar and singing raw and elemental songs that mirror his lifestyle.
Baal and his guitar with his close friend and lover, Ekart. Photo: Antoni
Although written 108 years ago, most of the themes discussed in the play are still relevant today. Baal lives a life completely free of boundaries. This begs the question of whether absolute freedom can lead not only to one’s destruction, but also to the destruction of those around you?
Dr Schalk van der Merwe, producer of the Stellenbosch University (SU) Drama Department’s rendition of Baal, second-year Drama and Theatre Studies lecturer and post-graduate co-ordinator says this play is “still valuable and [open] to social commentary” and further highlights “elements of relationships, overall, that [are] quite coherent, and it’s strange that a play that’s [almost] written a 108 years ago and performed a 103 years ago [is still so important]”. Van der Merwe goes on to say that “theatre is a mirror of society”, and that remains important to him. Sebastian McAdam, second-year BA (Drama and Theatre Studies) student plays the title character of the play.
Shayne Justin Joseph, Honours in Drama and Theatre Studies (Physical Theatre) student, plays the character Luise, a waitress at the tavern, who is sexually assaulted by Baal. He is a male actor who plays a female character and in doing so performs the act of “genderfucking”, a term coined by gay activist, Christopher Lonc.
In the play the actor wears a dress and high heels whilst having a beard.
Luise represents your everyday working woman with “no man to support her, so when she comes into that space or realm, the story [she] is trying to tell is that this situation can happen to anyone,” Joseph explains. This idea of Luise’s story being so relatable ties into the concept of genderfucking and emphasises that it “doesn’t matter what your sexuality [or] gender is, you can experience it.”
Final Scene of Baal, where Luise and other characters speak to Baal in an overlapping dialogue and ignore Baal’s dying plea. Photo: Antoni
The effect of alienation is a well-known tactic of Brecht to distance the audience from the play. It’s not only an aesthetic choice done through contemporary music, movement and dramatic lighting (contrary to a play set in the early 1900’s), but also a political choice to remind the audience that they are watching a play and invites them to think critically about the themes of lust, desire and self-destruction, and provide intellectual solutions as these issues are examples of real-life scenarios.
There are a few intimate scenes in Baal and the movement director, Mmatumisang Motsisi, did a beautiful job at choreographing all of them. Each scene, whether “physical contact, sexualised movement [or] moments of vulnerability, [were] explored safely and precisely.” On the potential diminishment of the danger and intensity of these moments, Motsisi writes, “Intimacy is treated as choreography: specific, repeatable and agreed.”
The music was composed by music director Antoni Schonken. It acts as an important party that aims to “[search] for what the text has not yet said”. The music moves between different realities such as “techno and dubstep [that] establish the physical world of clubs and bodies” to “sonic unfolding [revealing] hidden aspects of character”.
The audience is reminded that they are watching a play when the music interrupts the dramatic narrative and forces the audience to analyse the social message. Van der Merwe describes this directing process as “collaborative” as Motsisi and Schonken tackled this project with him.
The set was another important aspect of the play. It was designed and built by third-year BA (Drama and Theatre Studies, Technical and Management) student, Zonika van Zyl. In just five to six weeks, Van Zyl and her team worked on the beautiful set we saw on stage.
Van der Merwe approached her with certain conditions and Van Zyl took some initiative to read the original text of Baal which led to her having an “industrial feeling” that would look a bit different than the “plain white canvas” Van der Merwe had in mind. Nonetheless, Van der Merwe trusted her and “at the end, [Van der Merwe] was in love with it,” Van Zyl says.
Baal is a sexual predator and he uses women as his muse to write poetry. At the end of the play, he murders his friend and lover, Ekart (played by Aidan Davies, Honours in Drama and Theatre Studies (Acting and Performance) student), in a fit of jealousy when he sees him interacting with Luise.
McAdam explained that it was difficult getting into Baal’s head and portraying him as truthfully as possible, but he had to remind himself that he was only playing a character and this created some distance between him and Baal.
Baal and the three lorry drivers sit in the tavern and drink. Right from Baal is lorry driver number three, played by Zachary Truter. Photo: Antoni
For Zachary Truter, third-year BA (Drama and Theatre Studies) student, who plays a misogynistic local at the tavern known on script as “lorry driver 3”, he says “it was not very hard to find inspiration” to portray this character because, there are many men in society who actually think that way about women.
This was, however, different for Mackenzie Lyle, third-year BA (Drama and Theatre Studies) student, who plays Mjurk, the owner of the Night Cloud café where Baal performs. Lyle explains that she “mirrors” this character a lot, especially when it comes to the character being “driven and ambitious” and it is “very similar to how [she] is as a person”.
Although finding similar traits of herself within the character, Lyle says she did not allow herself to think that she can simply be herself on stage, “but rather use that to [her] ability to apply what Mjurk wants with Baal”.
Through its exploration of freedom, gender, violence and the consequences of living without boundaries, the production asks its audience to look beyond Baal himself and towards the society that allows these realities to persist. With its contemporary music, movement and industrialized set, this century-old play is not simply a story from the past, but a challenge to audiences in the present.
Baal’s questions and characters remain uncomfortably close to home. These characters do not stay confined to the text but move amongst us and perhaps the question is not what happens to the characters but what happens to us after watching the play?
