Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike make waves in Joburg
MONTECASINO - Bo Petersen joins a star-studded cast to bring Tony Award-winning comedy to South African audiences until 10 August.
Petersen amuses and moves as middle-aged, unmarried and resentful Sonia, one of several title roles in Christopher Durang’s acclaimed Chekhovian comedy, Vania and Sonia and Masha and Spike. Petersen and fellow cast-members, directed by Bobby Heaney, have brought this warm and wistful story of family strife and middle-aged nostalgia to the Pieter Toerien Theatre.
Petersen shares her experiences of staging the hit play for a local audience.
She said she knew where life would take her from an early age. “I knew I was going to act from when I was three years old and I saw The Wizard of Oz.”
She started performing professionally in 1977 and has featured to great acclaim in numerous plays, commercials and TV series as an actress, voice artist and director. This versatile performer has no preferred genre of theatre, instead appreciating each for its own merits.
Performing in Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Petersen responded to the challenge of playing Sonia, whose resentment of her more glamorous adopted sister brings the play’s conflict to a head. According to Petersen, “Sonia’s character is very far from my own, so it gave me a wonderful opportunity to play and find this person within me.”
Sonia’s appeal for Petersen lies in her ability to overcome middle-aged insecurity. “She listens to the advice of a younger person and takes a risk and hopes.”
Petersen’s enthusiasm for this “human” piece of theatre is unstinting.
This is a play that offers something to everyone, she claims. “It’s like eating a delicious meal… you will definitely leave the theatre feeling deeply satisfied, with a smile on your face and a warm, fuzzy feeling in your heart.”
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