Sandra Prinsloo on the fabric of life

Unconvincingly, given that she is the founding cast member for the role of Magdaleen, the octogenarian at the centre of the one-woman piece.

“It’s really an elderly lady, talking about her life. But what the play really does is give you a good understanding of what the life of an old person is like; especially the loneliness of the situation, and the feeling of being left behind, and not understanding their situation.

“When Rachelle Greeff wrote the play, the idea came from a situation a long time ago, when Jan Smuts asked some people to look into the lives of the women on the Platteland, to see what power they had – if any – financially.

“Often they would inherit farms, but then the farms would go to their husbands when they got married, and then if the husband died, the farm would get sold and they would have no rights and no future. And they found the women were able to accept the loss of all the cattle, and the land and everything, but when it came to their sewing machines, that was a deal-breaker.”

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Given that heritage – it’s a play about an aspect of Afrikaans culture, and the central character is unmistakeably an Afrikaner, whatever language the current production is being performed in – is there anything lost in translation?

“The original is written in something that’s almost free verse,” Prinsloo says.

“It’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to learn. But I think what Rachelle does so wonderfully is that in a few words, she creates a world. That means, though, that you have to concentrate quite a lot when you watch.”

Several storylines develop independently throughout the play, and when Magdaleen changes focus, it’s left to the audience to fill the gaps and imagine missing details about a number of characters they never get to meet.

“I think it’s a brilliant translation by my director Hennie van Greunen, but you always lose a little. And because Magdaleen remains an Afrikaner, that’s her world and you can’t change it.”

Prinsloo pauses. “It’s difficult to explain,” she says, “but if you say certain words in Afrikaans, there’s a sort of ripple effect that helps people to understand exactly what is said. In English, there’s not often that pebble in the pond outcome. But I still feel that people are very moved by the play.”

It’s not only the language in general that makes a difference, but the way the words are said. As soon as Prinsloo says the first few words of the script, she more or less defines who her character is in a more profound way than a long biography ever could.

“It’s important to sort out who this woman is,” Prinsloo says.

“In the beginning, there are some scattered thoughts, and the lists that she makes, but you already know who she is.”

Which is interesting, given the context – an old woman’s identity is slowly evaporating, but she’s grounded by her culture, expressed in a very simple way.

“My own parents were in a retirement home, because they wanted to be there,” Prinsloo says.

“I think it’s unnatural. But I spent a lot of time at the home, and with my mother, who was in frailcare. I was able to observe how old people move – how they handle a teacup, or get lost in thought and zone out.”

There’s a moment like that in the play, where Magdaleen does just that, staying silent for half a minute or so.

“It illustrates the complete loneliness that she feels,” Prinsloo says, “but the interesting thing is that the audience often goes completely silent when that happens. Perhaps they think that I’ve forgotten my lines. But it’s effective. I get a lot of feedback from people, saying, ‘I will, I must phone my mom or my gran when I get home.'”