Antie Wi’oekal Uncovers Coloured Female Stereotypes in the Entertainment Industry at #NAF2021


Faith Kinniar has a fantastic take on absurdist theatre in Antie Wi’oekal, an online show which she has written, performed and co-produced with the National Arts Festival 2021 with the collaboration of a dynamic team: Director Jeremeo Le Cordeur; Choreographer Rae Classen; Set & Lighting by Alfred Rietmann; Production & Stage Management by Dian Harcovecchio. With a clever use of symbolism, repetition, physical theatre and audio-visual material, the show calls out coloured female stereotypes prevalent in the entertainment world and, as the show advertises, stereotypes that are “exploited for comedic value”.

Just as we get comfortable listening to the unidentified central character – fitting to the title of the play – express her frustration at the worn-out gown she’s wearing, we get pulled into her alternate world (“ek was innie yal in”) where she is living in the coronavirus pandemic (“die taxis het fokkel oep vensters”), being teleported (“djy gaatjie, vi wat teleport djy my byrrie verkeerde stop?) and tormented by cats. We eventually learn – the audience must not be mistaken that this Antie will fill in all the blanks for you – that the gown is a symbol of her own hell, a limited world, from which she is trying to break free. 

Other scenes explicitly show how this coloured female archetype are also perpetuated by male actors and the male gaze, a few which include Madea and Aunty Merle, scenes which intentionally create a stir in the audience and get them to wake up and identify their own participation in these narratives.      

The best line and response to these stereotypes was in the wrapping up of Antie Wi’oekal – “die ou stink gown van agtien voetsek”, an expression that shows that these stereotypes, like the gown, must be thrown out completely. Antie Wi’oekal had a brave and stirring message to the general public and creative industry alike, calling us to authentically investigate how we all, without exception, support this stereotype – we all create it and we all buy tickets for it. Faith Kinniar’s work makes us see, in the context of racial injustice and inequality, that we are contributing to the regression of coloured female narratives when we support these one-sided representations in the entertainment world.

Cultsha Kennis would like to thank Jeremeo Le Cordeur for the opportunity to review this show, and to the entire creative team of Antie Wi’oekal for enabling this much-needed production. All photos supplied by Jeremeo Le Cordeur, the show's director. The show is still streaming until 31 July 2021! Get your tickets here: https://nationalartsfestival.co.za/show/antie-wioekal/

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