Protea ‘opened the curtains’
Protea Stage Productions finally opened the curtains to the play 'Who opened the curtains?' on October 7, at Tom Newby School.
The production directed by Margaret Todd, is a play within a play filled with twists, plots that thicken and a prompt (Ruan Pieterse) who shouldn’t been seen, but is predominantly seen.
The production opens within a play set in the 1980s where the main characters, Sarah (Kristen Lomas), Madge (Alison Hardy), Charles (Juan Oosthuizen) and Rupert (Michael Lomas) are introduced.
Rupert and Sarah are married but their marriage is on the rocks and they are speaking to divorce lawyers – Madge and Charles respectively – in their house.
During the debate about which lawyer will represent Sarah and Rupert, Sarah’s mother, Mrs Cullen (Samantha Sandford), visits her daughter and is told the news about the divorce.
The play quickly goes downhill however, when Rupert sees Charles visit his real wife’s (Madge) dressing room off-set.
Rupert confronts the situation on-set by publicly telling everyone that he’s going to kill Charles, because he knows of the affair off-set.
The cast try to dust it off, until Madge admits that she and Charles are having an affair and the production is then turned into a fiasco when Rupert pulls out a knife to kill Charles.
The production is then induces giggles when Rupert asks the prompt to bring his whiskey from his dressing room, which the prompt refuses to do, so Sarah gets it.
When Sarah returns, she tells the cast that Edward (Mark Worrell) is waiting to make his appearance; he however, is drunk and invites his agent to watch his set.
Rupert continues to argue with Madge and Charles about the affair and the two accuse him of drinking too much.
But the plot thickens when Sarah steps into the argument, by telling Madge and Charles that Rupert hadn’t been drinking because she was with him – accidentally admitting to their affair.
The story then reaches its peak with frustration, deceit and confusion until the nurse (Camilla Kinman) and medic (Lance Duffey) run through the crowd to join the cast on stage after apparently being summoned, but the two were actually watching the play which had gone wrong and decided to share their opinion.
Rupert gets bored of the lectures and proceeds to stab Charles, so Madge places Charles in a trunk for his own protection.
Act two then starts where Sarah proclaims her love for Rupert and drunk Edward enters on-stage.
Edward is an ageing Shakespearean star who was once famous, but is now nothing but an alcoholic.
The cast pities him and decide to continue with the production so that he could say his line and step off-stage, but that doesn’t go as planned.
If you want to find out how the play ends, the production will run every Friday and Saturday, at 7.30pm and on Sundays, at 2.30pm until October 23.
Tickets are R80 for adults and R50 for pensioners, however no children under the age of 13 are allowed due to strong language.
For more information about the production or ticket sales, contact Todd on 074 555 4159, or Michael Brownhill on 082 877 5832.
Also read: Vote for Mr and Miss Benoni
Like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter.
For news straight to your phone invite us:
WhatsApp: 079 431 2006
Instagram: benonicitytimes.co.za
