Mon May 21 16:32:31 SAST 2012
Mon May 21 16:32:31 SAST 2012

'Unfaithful' Mary ill-timed

Sep 3, 2010 | Edward Tsumele | 0 comments

I HAD my reservations as I made my way to the Windybrow Theatre to watch Mary The Unfaithful Woman.

First, I had seen this production several times in the past, and so seeing it again felt like an over-kill or theatrical overdose.

Secondly, I felt that watching a production about an unfaithful woman during the celebration of Women's Month (August) was against the currency and the spirt of the celebrations taking place throughout the country.

It felt like one was fighting women's advancement, which like several other men of my generation that I know of, I support.

However, after speaking to Babe Cele, during an interview about her taking the lead role as Mary The Unfaithful Woman, she confessed that sometimes some women tended to confuse their rights versus those of the men they love.

Also after speaking to Julian Seleke Mokoto, who also insisted that he knew of women who were ungrateful for the good their men do, I was convinced that I needed to see this show, again.

Did I regret it? No. I did not. One, the show has been shortened, tightened and has a new cast, with Cele playing the lead role so beautifully. She is convincing as Mary The Unfaithful Woman.

The acting is so beautiful that it hurts to watch a man so abused by his wife, he sometimes thinks that he is the one who is in the wrong. The man is made to apologise for having done nothing wrong by this woman who is so manipulative.

However, good as it may be, I actually still do not believe that this play should have been staged during Women's Month, for the simple reason that abusive men, and we still have a lot in our midst, use such excuses as Mary The Unfaithful Woman, to justify why sometimes it is deemed justifiable to abuse women.

However, the events surrounding how Mary abused her husband made one sympathise with this man who was reduced to a nervous wreck.

On several occasions during their arguments, she reminded him that he was uneducated, low class, and far below the standard of men she valued.

This story of an imperfect relationship is the perfect study of how not to treat each other in a relationship. It has lessons, yes, but the problem is the timing of the play, I believe.

Mary The Unfaithful Woman is on at the Windybrow Theatre in Hillbrow until Sunday.

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