6 performances between March 3, 2016 and May 7, 2016
Comedy
Performed by Milton Schorr, Andrew Roux, Mikki-Dene Le Roux
60mins
After a sold out debut run in March, the cult classic comedy franchise 'The Game' returns with their twisted tale of love and heartbreak 'Ohne Dich (Without You)'. Hailed as ‘pure genius’, ‘superb’, and ‘funny as hell, brave as a motherfucker’, The Game is a new form of theatre. Improvised according to a set story-line and intentionally grappling with deep universal themes, every performance of The Game is one of a kind, creating the on-the-edge energy that has made this show notorious.
Legendary Coach Frik (Milton Schorr) and his new assistant Maachel (Andrew Roux) are reeling from broken hearts. On the brink of ending it all a cry to the heavens delivers to them an Angel (Mikki-Dene Le Roux), and the chance to wrest their sanity from a haze of romantic illusion, if they have the balls.
'The show laid bare the antagonism between the sexes. To be loved you must be exposed which, in turn, renders you unlovable. A harsh universe full of truths and residues. The work is raw and pure.' - Daniel
“The Game is an education in why we spend too much time being precious about this theatre thing. Here’s to not concentrating but taking note. Here’s to making the first time every time. Here’s to honest frikin rightness. I need a soapbox, someone give me a soapbox…’ - Daneel.
“Loved it completely! It was brutally funny and brave. What a wonderful night out. Thank you.” - Carolyn.
“Some interesting themes but should not be advertised as a comedy unless the nudity is deemed as the comedic aspect which is unintelligent to say the least.” - Belinda.
“Absolutely fantastic. Well done. Non-stop entertainment, very funny and quite emotional at times.” – Fraser.
About 'The Game':
The Game is long form improvisation with balls. Set in a world where an ancient form of extreme handball has become a global obsession, The Game is a series of live events featuring Coach Frik du Perez (Milton Schorr), Tatiana Petrokova (Brendan Murray), Japie (Andrew Laubscher), Shannon (Adrian Collins) and Maachel (Andrew Roux). It is generally wholly improvised, rehearsal work revolving around character and relationship development, meaning events are unpredictable with participants simply playing The Game and letting what may unfold.
It was first performed in Cape Town in June of 2009 before travelling to the South African National Arts Festival, where it received the worst review in the history of humankind. ‘A waste of time and money..', 'I felt embarrassed to be a part of the human race…’, 'TOTALLY inappropriate' and 'no talent, no story-line, no game…' are just a few snippets from that landmark text. The cast immediately had t-shirts printed with the worst of the quotes, and continued to challenge audiences with the show’s unique, non-theatrical style.
In the words of the show’s creator, Milton Schorr: ‘We realised that the review was a shocked, purely honest response that gave us a perfect window into the dynamics of The Game. In rehearsal we discovered that the phrase “totally inappropriate” is exactly what The Game is about, because it means “honest”. From then on, whenever we worked on a new instalment, we asked ourselves “is this totally inappropriate, is this honest?” Honesty, we agreed, is what is often lacking on the stage with productions usually re-presenting old themes and styles, which is why honesty is shocking.’
Despite the original reviewer’s feelings other people did like the play, some even loved it. ‘Funny as hell, brave as a motherfucker’, ‘I have never seen a room full of people laugh this hard’, and ‘it was like a rollercoaster’, were just a few of the sentiments gathered at that first performance.
After a hiatus of nearly six years Milton Schorr and Brendan Murray, unable to shake the feeling that The Game still had an important place on the stage, decided to reprise the format with ‘The Game: Redemption’ (2015). Since then ‘Shannon’s Tongue’ has also hit the Alexander Bar stage (2015), featuring a new addition in the character of Maachel (Andrew Roux).
For ‘Ohne Dich’ Mikki-dene Le Roux joins the team as ‘The Angel’ and becomes the first ever participant with a real vagina (don’t tell Tatiana, she thinks her penis is a large clitoris and the anus is where everyone ‘does it’). The boys are happy to have a woman among them, they feel they may just be able to become men.
Dedicated Game Fan Ari Kruger shares the experience of watching ‘Redemption’ in this video
It's brave, simple theatre, honest and therefore very funny with an underlying texture both beautiful and weirdly profound. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I tried to go to this show with an open mind given that it was supposed to be experimental and improv. I was hoping for a good laugh.
To be very honest, I left feeling that I had absolutely no idea what it was about, no idea what the point was and that I had wasted R80 and an hour of my life.
I was not moved by it and certainly didn't find it funny.
Best thing about it was the female actor's cheekbones!
I thought it was terrible.
Filth. This kind of depravity and open use of authentic theatrical experience should be banned in case someone in this god forsaken town takes notice.
Pretty wack!
fabulous,fast paced, funny.......all mixed up with a heap of despair and hopelessness....a great evening out !
rating of 4 - plus points: originality; fun; comedy - only problem was that one cannot always hear what they are saying - PROJECTION EXERCISES PLEASE CAST!!
A fun and intriguing production, especially enjoyable (I suspect) to those of us who've seen one or more of the show's previous incarnations. The performers' dead-pan, off-beat approach to comedy works very well.
