André Carl van der Merwe’s award-winning account of his experience as a gay man in the SA Defence Force during the Angolan Bush War inspired an unforgettable work by dancer/choreographer Bailey Snyman. Moffie opened in Cape Town this week writes DEBBIE HATHWAY.
MEN who serve in any country’s army during war time bear scars of battle not always visible to the naked eye. André Carl van der Merwe’s cathartic novel about surviving the torment of one of the worst kinds of prejudice – one that dictated who he could be and who he could love – won him the Green Carnation Prize in 2012, an accolade designed to honour lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) writers. It has since been translated into Italian.
The book caught the eye of Bailey Snyman, developing into his commissioned work as the National Arts Festival’s Young Artist Award winner for dance, which premiered in Grahamstown the following year.
Since 1981, the festival has been honouring the efforts of young artists across music, art, dance, drama and visual art genres on the cusp of national, if not international, fame.
Snyman shares the dance accolade with the likes of Christopher Kindo, Moya Michael, Dada Masilo, Gregory Maqoma, Vincent Mantsoe, Boyzie Cekwana and Mamela Nyamza, to name a few.
Knowing more about appreciation for the genre, than its technicalities, Van der Merwe gave Snyman carte blanche for his production, prepared to watch it on opening night and “be surprised”.
“What a privilege and a huge blessing to have something like this in your life,” says Van der Merwe.
“Bailey interpreted my story in such a fresh, contemporary manner, in ways I could never have imagined. They don’t even dance in army browns. I think it’s important for it to have a more universal comment, instead of specifically SA Defence Force…”
Snyman describes Moffie as “provocative, heart-wrenching, and very physically demanding”. Presented by Brett Gage and Matchbox Theatre Collective (winners of the NAF Gold Standard Bank Ovation Award and Amsterdam Best of the Fringe – 2011), it is a gripping version of Van der Merwe’s deeply insightful, personal story.
The cast rises to the occasion. Matchbox founders Snyman and Nicola Haskins (winner of the NAF Standard Bank Ovation Award 2011 – As Night Falls) are joined by familiar dance and musical-theatre personalities James Bradley, Henk Opperman, Richard Sinclair Gau and Stefania du Toit.
Matchbox last impressed at the inaugural Cape Town Fringe Festival last year in their work If These Bodies Could Speak, which is destined for the Prague Fringe Festival in May 2016.
The novel’s main character, Nicholas van der Swart, is a boy who has always known he is different and is unable to live up to the expectations of his family or society. “When he is conscripted into the South African army, he enters a world that is utterly at odds with his every sensibility. Here, he will face the scorn and violence of his tormenters, but will also find the strength to survive,” the publishers note.
Snyman chooses to weave his choreography around a secondary character, Dylan, because “what he goes through really speaks to all the themes that André deals with in the novel. Some scenes are drawn from the narrative; others are imagined.”
It’s a 65-minute emotional roller-coaster, set to 56 different pieces of music, which Snyman took at least two months to select and collate. It’s a narrative all on its own.
The material has posed an artistic challenge to the cast too. Gau, as the lead, says it’s been “a huge shift in mindset” to switch from his regular musical-theatre beat to “this intricate, intellectual dance work where my body’s telling the story, rather than me vocalising or singing it.”
Bradley on the other hand, more used to the neoclassical style, has had to adjust to a lot more “body-bashing” floor work, a signature of the release-contemporary dance style that Snyman and Haskins favour.
Admittedly wary of the controversial nature of the piece, I was effortlessly transported by the passion conveyed by the dancers in rehearsal and the magic of the musical soundtrack. Yes, some of it may not be easy to confront, but audiences are encouraged to support all our local artists in their home theatres, in the same way that they are lauded overseas.
Their brave efforts at telling difficult stories deserve attention, and this one could be transformative for many. Van der Merwe says the release of the book marked a turning point in his relationship with his father, and he continues to receive – and answer – responses to his story from people around the world.
Capetonians can see further evidence of his artistic ability in his sculpture, Rhinosaur, on the Sea Point Promenade, which was created to draw attention to the plight of the rhino in this country.
l Moffie is at Artscape until January 31 at 8.15pm, plus a matinee at 3pm on Saturday. Evening tickets: R140, day: R100, 021 421 7695, 0861 915 8000. No under 10’s.