Standing room only

I was very kindly invited for a return visit to Casa de Self to join Dom and his family for dinner followed by a play at the Tricycle theatre with his mum. It was an eventful journey to Willesden Green. I got onto the Jubilee Line and happily stood reading my paper as there weren’t any free seats. I’m not too bothered about standing but it seemed to be bothering the elderly gentleman standing next to me… a lot. First he tapped me on the shoulder and said, “Don’t you think it’s a disgrace than none of these young men have offered you a seat?” I said I didn’t mind and that I was fine. He then tapped the man sitting in front of me on the shoulder and said, “Don’t you think you should offer this lady your seat?” He was met with a stony glare. I was mortified. The older gentleman continued to tut loudly until the guy who didn’t want me to have his seat eventually got off and I sat down… ensuring that everything was once again right with the world.

Dinner with the Selfs was lovely. Unlike most families they don’t talk about the weather at the table, it’s all politics, sociology and maths… I loved it.

Our play, Karoo Moose, is about a girl called Thozama, who lives in a township near Knoxville in the Eastern Cape with her drunk, layabout father, her domestic servant grandmother, Grace, and little brother and sister. When a moose escapes en route to the zoo and terrorises the township, Thozama’s story crosses paths with that of Brian, a young policeman and the son of Grace’s “madam”, who is hiding a terrible family secret. The story plays out as a kind of fairytale with the actors switching parts and stepping out to tell bits of the story. I was absolutely enraptured. Notwithstanding the incredible skill and versatility of the cast, the story itself manages to be very dark but not depressing. And something happened to me that doesn’t happen often. I missed home. I missed home a lot and so I sat with a lump in my throat, able to imagine every scene in a way that I don’t think the non-South African audience would have. If you can, go and see this play… you won’t be disappointed.

Thank-you to both Dom and his mum for taking me along. I loved every second of it.