- by Carla Lever.

It’s 8pm. I’m in a deserted parking lot somewhere under Stanhope Bridge.  The only light comes from the cars passing above me and, though I can’t be certain, there sounds to be something perilously close to chanting coming from the small door in front of me. Director Beren Belknap has invited me to a sneak dress rehearsal of Madame Touxflouwe, his latest creation for Out the Box, intriguingly billed as “the B-grade schlock-horror play you didn’t know you were dying to see.” I’m supposed to be interviewing the cast after the show. I’m also supposed to be a big girl now. But there’s something awfully…atmospheric about this.

Before I can turn tail and go home to comforting reruns of Masterchef, the door is flung wide, perfectly silhouetting the hulking Brendan Murray to his best advantage in blood spattered apron with meat cleaver in hand. He takes one look at me and guffaws.

All right Madam T, you minx. Let’s do this.

 

Madame Touxflouwe is a multi-layered, quirky tale of love, loss and the not-quite-living. In a run-down mansion on the top of a hill, a household dinner routine centering around the lady of the manor runs to clockwork every evening. That’s not surprising, considering it’s been going on for the past two centuries… Seamlessly combining a wicked tale and a strong signature style with puppetry, projection, animation and shadow imagery, Beren Belknap’s got his hands full enough keeping his wits together, never mind his four person cast.

Speaking of the cast, Brendan Murray plays Vladimir, the Russian chef whose familiarity with the meat cleaver leaves a lot of questions unanswered. Johann Vermaak is Henry, the head butler who insists on everything being just-so for the Madame and wants you to know that there absolutely, positively is not a monster in the walls. James MacGregor is cast as Herbert, a young butler on Madame Touxflouwe’s estate who is slowly coming to terms with the mansion’s growing dust problem and the puzzling realisation that it always seems to be Tuesday. Alex Halligey is Tilly, a mute garden maid with a penchant for flowers and domestic disturbance. All of the actors work together to bring to life Madame Touxflouwe, a magnificent creation who may or may not have lost more than just her head over the past couple of centuries.

So, Madame Touxflouwe. A single lady just a-waiting for her man…since the 1800s. Beacon of hope for nearly-30 single ladies everywhere, then. What on earth gave Beren this idea and how can we punish him?

“Well, Beren’s always dreamed of being a spinster,” says Brendan, helpfully. Unphased by his sudden relegation to a gender-bending Bridget Jones, Beren thoughtfully tells me that the original idea came from when he was touring with the Paper Body Collective’s production of In Medea Res. “One of the elements in that play was a woman of the household who was manipulated by the staff. That was just a small side story, but I suddenly had the idea of expanding on that and the first inklings of Madame Touxflouwe were stirred.”

With numerous credits on leading Cape stages, Alex Halligey is an actress with a lot of experience. She’s also the only actress at all in this rather testosterone-heavy cast. How does this situation strike her? “Well, let’s face it, there’s not a lot of listening with this lot, but it’s all fine. On the other hand, there are an awful lot of ectoplasm jokes.” At this, the boys immediately assure me that they can do ectoplasm jokes very well indeed, “all night long, if required.” I look at Alex and see it’s going to be a long time till the third week in September.

 

Recent drama graduate James MacGregor first made waves back in drama school playing Romeo in Romeo and Juliet…and has just come out of a well-received Fugard-run of Fred Abrahamse’s Shakespeare’s R+J where he played Juliet. I congratulate him on escaping being cast as a star-crossed, doomed Shakespearean lover and instead graduating to the undead. “Yes. It is quite lovely,” he says, earnestly. With a glint in his eye, he reassures me, though, that there’s “still a lot of sexual tension.”

 

The last I saw Johann Vermaak perform, he was a bloodthirsty Afrikaans vampire. Brendan Murray, on the other hand, last played a dominatrix space alien with a penchant for poetry. Is this dark theatrical trend something we should be concerned about? “I just take the roles that are given to me,” says Johann with disarming (if slightly concerning) smile. “Apparently I fit a lot of these criteria.” Brendan, on the other hand, has clearly been giving his image a lot more thought. “I’ve been doing a lot of work on my arms specifically,” he deadpans. “I guess that means I’m naturally cast as a lot of ninjas and butches. I have a plain face that shows absolutely no emotion so I guess it’s rapists and murderers all the way for me from here on.”

 

With that out the way, is there perhaps not something about Beren himself and his directing temperament that makes him want to see his cast die slow and horrible deaths, repeatedly? “The rehearsal process is responsible for that beast,” wisecracks Brendan before Beren can open his mouth. Beren, who is clearly mentally adding minutes to Brendan’s notes as we speak, comes back quickly. “Really I just don’t know how to do a play unless you kill every one off,” he quips. “You know, I was raised on B-grade horror and action and that’s what I’m bringing to the stage.”

The production is brought to eager Out the Box-ers by The Space Behind the Couch. Beren explains that his production company is called this “because you always find interesting things behind the couch: childhood toys, random crap that you wouldn’t expect, odd things. But always things that provide unexpected delight.” Apt name, then.

With a plethora of fiddly props, some cunning projection work and the small matter of the inanimate main character herself being entirely dependant on the cast to manipulate into life, this show more than meets Out the Box’s visual performance and puppetry criteria. “This has been the most technical show I’ve ever been in,” says Brendan, for once completely serious.

So what’s been the biggest challenge? “I suppose the Madame has been the biggest thing as an ensemble,” says Alex. “To make a puppet seem real and believable, especially when you’re manipulating her as a team…that takes a lot of work.”

Brendan nods his head in agreement. “To separate your character journey from the journey of the puppet you’re manipulating, especially if the audience can see you, is really tough. I mean, the puppet is meant to be a frail old woman and I’m meant to be a robust Russian chef, so keeping that in my own body while trying to transmit vulnerability is a real challenge.”

 

It’s at this point that we must spare a thought for Gabriella Pinto, the production’s petite, softly spoken stage manager. Managing this set (never mind the cast) must be like cleaning the house of the undead: the job is never done. “True,” says Pinto, amenably. “But it’s not unenjoyable. This bunch are very entertaining. I don’t really watch any TV or comedy so I don’t mind getting my dose of drama here.” Clearly Gabriella is made of sterner stuff than I.

I can’t imagine why anyone would pass up an invitation to see this talented bunch in action. But why do they think you should come to the show? “Well, it’s got a bit of something for everyone,” says James. “Comedy, drama, action, horror…no-one’s going to feel short-changed.” Alex agrees. “It’s magical,” she says. “The things to particularly watch out for are the shadow puppets and the beautiful animation by Jeremy Carver – the things that make it a visual theatre play. It’s incredibly rich in that way.”

Let’s not forget that it’s also a rattling good yarn, of course.

If you fancy paying Madame Touxflouwe a visit and seeing this madcap creative cast in action, you can catch them all in Hiddingh’s Arena Theatre on the 6^th September at 18:00, the 8^th September at 21:00, the 9^th September at 21:00 and the 10^th September at 16:30. Tickets are R50 and bookings can be made through Computicket.

 

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