Playwright talks intimacy, escapism, male sexuality

Dercksen spoke to City Buzz about the themes of intimacy, escapism and sex for sale explored in the production which is on at Joburg Theatre’s The Fringe.

The play, featuring Rowan Studti, Wojtek Lipinski and Andre Lombard, tells the story of three men whose lives unite in a remote cabin in the woods when David (Lipinski) takes straight masseur Tommy (Studti) to his cabin in the woods for a birthday weekend, and Steve (Lombard), David’s lover, crashes the party.

“I dedicated it to the memory of the young men who were executed at a male-to-male massage parlour in Cape Town in 2004, to the many Tommys I’ve met,” said Dercksen. “I was friends with one of the men who were killed.”

He added that one of the main male sexuality issues tackled by the play was the fear of intimacy.

“Men, people, are afraid of intimacy, which is one reason they visit massage parlours. But if they fall in love with with the masseur and start obsessing about him, it could destroy their other relationships,” he said.

Faced with a world increasingly lacking in intimacy, Lipinski’s character finds escapist comfort in the music and stories of Maria Callas and Marie Antoinette – and in Tommy’s arms.

“Masseurs are often seen as unwanted outsiders, and not as human beings. They’re labelled by society, and can become those labels if they’re constantly approached like that,” said Dercksen.

“There was a time when parlours really gave those young men a home, and the parlour owners were like mother hens. I don’t know if that exists anymore. Sex has become superficial and soulless.”

Dercksen said that, thanks to the “absolute realism the actors injected into the play”, he found it more emotional now than when it first opened in Cape Town earlier this year.

“The play has opened up conversations about intense, dark places… But if there’s one thing I’d like audiences to take home, it’s the message to love someone for real, for who they are,” he said.

“Love is a gift. Don’t trash it.”

The Beauty of Incomplete Things will run until 1 August at The Fringe, Joburg Theatre, corner of Simmonds and Stiemens streets, Braamfontein.

Details: 0861 670 670; www.joburgtheatre.com

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