By BRUCE DENNILL
How To Date Like A F#@$%^ Grownup / Directed by Jaco Van Rensburg / Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg
A new original musical is always a reason to get excited, and with two bright South African talents combining to tell a fresh story, much has been expected during the development of this piece, which began its genesis during Covid and has since enjoyed a workshopping process en route to the stage.
Daniel Butcher-Geddes (music and lyrics) is an in-demand musician, musical director and actor – unable to attend his own Johannesburg premiere because he was onstage in the pantomime across town at the time, playing a musician! His melodies in this piece take in a wide range of styles, from pop to EDM via – for perhaps the best options in the score – a couple of compositions that sound like what they are: superb stage musical songs. Mark Tatham (book and lyrics) has wondered into similarly themed territory before – a previous script was titled Nice To Meet You, Now Let’s Take Off Our Pants – and is more than familiar with telling a musical story on stage as a long-term cast member of the international touring production of The Lion King.
One of the immediately evident facets of this piece is that it is aimed at a different audience to the average musical storytelling endeavour, to the extent that earlier marketing included the subtitle, A Musical For Gen Z. The language used by the characters (nothing is bleeped out in the play as it is on the poster) and the details of each of the plot threads centre around the experiences of the four protagonists all reflect very modern cultural practices, and those most enthusiastically embraced by younger people.
Specifically, the script examines the pitfalls and occasional thrills of either meeting people via the internet (dating sites and the like) or largely expanding an understanding of each other via digital means (WhatsApp, sending pictures to each other and all the rest). That real, in-person connection is sometimes sorely missed is not really brought into the metaphorical discussion, but it is implied as Casey (Yamikani Mahaka-Phiri), Sarah (Dolly Louw), Jamie (Imke Van Wyk, whose talent has long deserved a lead role like this) and Logan (Nathan Kruger) laugh and doubt and attempt and fumble their way through trying to find something meaningful with someone else.
Butcher-Geddes and musical director Wessel Odendaal have excellent resources to work with in their cast’s voices, with Mahaka-Phiri’s rich baritone and Kruger’s Mika-esque falsetto bracketing a lovely vocal blend across the cast as a whole and their four-part harmonies providing some of the artistic highlights of the show.
While it is hoped that the theme, the cast and the marketing will help bring generally younger audiences (between 20 and 40 years old, in this case) back into theatres – and they really might – the piece is not immediately relatable for audiences half a generation or more older than that (or simply in a more mature life stage) who can get their heads around the technology involved but might be at the very least bemused by the decisions taken by the characters. Said decisions often have solid comic value (a dating show featuring quick-changing contestants is particularly funny) as what was obviously going to go wrong does go wrong, but the inherent superficiality of choosing a partner by swiping one way or the other on a phone screen is unavoidably evident in the lives of the characters, and the structure of the story doesn’t give them much space to prove that what they have to offer has really significant heft.
It’s worth noting that the above comments are being made by someone who is married and has children and hasn’t dated since the turn of the century. There’s a courage in staging a story with fresh perspectives that deserves rewarding by seeing how it lands in your experience.
