By BRUCE DENNILL
So Long Marianne: A Tribute To Marianne Faithfull / POPArt, Parkwood, Johannesburg
POPArt is a wonderfully versatile venue that can stage shows in the round or move lights and curtains around to have a more traditional stage area of varying scale. One of the effects of this is that all performances here feel intimate, like you’re at a festival even though you only had to drive ten minutes to get there. And as such, to watch the likes of South African theatre institutions Fiona Ramsay and Tony Bentel, joined here by young bassist/guitarist Aidan Rabinowitz, perform is an enveloping, cosy experience.
The piece begins as it likely would have with Marianne Faithfull herself in the lead role – with low register vocals on the ragged edge of emotional emanating from somewhere backstage as Bentel begins playing on a piano that sounds like it has a 60-a-day habit. Ramsay’s voice is similar to Faithfull’s later career instrument and, while the her life experience doesn’t match the English It Girl, singer, actress and later drug addict’s, Ramsey has both had her fair share of adventures and previous interaction with Faithfull, both briefly in person and in other tribute shows some years back.
This connection comes through in the frayed performances of songs that don’t even try to hold back the troubled, disillusioned Faithfull’s feelings regarding relationships and heartbreak and ill treatment by men, like the graphic Why D’Ya Do It?, which might even make some contemporary rappers blush. It’s also evident in the clear understanding and unapologetic portrayal of Faithfull as an artist worthy of celebration but also an incredibly flawed human being, who was thrust into some challenging situations but who also regularly made unwise decisions.
Listeners not too familiar with Faithfull’s prodigious output (she released 50 albums over the years!) will still find much they recognise in this show’s running order, from the singer’s beautiful, mournful debut hit As Tears Go By, written by her beau-to-be Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, to the only slightly less beautiful, mournful hit Ballad Of Lucy Jordan, songs – as so many of her releases were – that were hugely evocative of the eras in which they were released.
The mood doesn’t really lift – at one point, Ramsay quips, with a wink, “Wow, I’m really great company tonight, right?” – but that stays true to the source material, telling the story of a life hamstrung by persistent, harrowing drug abuse, even as she enjoyed sporadic career resurgences and a measure of release from her addictions.
The musical accompaniment to Ramsay’s singing is generally simple – many of Faithfull’s songs are cyclical, rather than ranging widely dynamically – and unpolished, which suits the general tone of the piece but is just occasionally a touch distracting when, for instance, bassline and piano lead momentarily don’t match up.
The elements here – Ramsay’s passion for the topic, the research evident in the script, the songs and the production’s portability – suggest a show that can continue to travel and be staged for different audiences and, with Faithfull having passed away at the beginning of 2025 (at 78), her legacy remains ripe for examination.
