Destiny

Kirsty Marillier is a South African-born playwright and is the writer and the star of the play Destiny. Marillier explores the concept of destiny in a very pure and literal manner. Her characters are clearly unable to avoid the destiny that awaits them as they are trapped in a cycle of violence and oppression. Marillier does not focus on the political aspects and sharply diverts attention to the soul of the people who work hard to live a life of normality under very extreme circumstances. The play is set in South Africa in January 1976.

Della Meth (Kirsty Marillier) is a young woman who works in a general store and looks after her exuberant and joyful younger brother, Rocky Meth (Gaz Dutlow). The optimism and enjoyment of their life is soon overshadowed by the return of Della’s former boyfriend, Ezra Jones (Barry Conrad). Ezra is seductive and alluring and Rocky in particular falls for his charms. However, Ezra is also politically militant and naturally brings the harsh realities of apartheid directly into their tranquil home. The political turmoil rekindles the undeniable attraction between Della and Ezra but there are bigger things at play in their world.\

Dutlow is a delight as Rocky and his performance literally leaps off the stage. He is comical without being cliched and makes the irritating younger brother character extremely endearing. This sets up the tragedy or drama of the play extremely well. Della’s life is clearly more privileged as her father, Cliff Meth (Patrick Williams), has managed to secure a good home for them. Williams gives Cliff a very poignant level of despondency which contrasts well with the exuberance of the youth that surround him.

Marillier has clearly delineated real and ordinary characters and the play is about the ordinary moments in their lives that would be extraordinary in a different geopolitical context. The harshness of their reality is driven home towards the end of the play when the politics brutally intrudes their everyday existence. There is no need to make bold political statements in this play, the destruction of the soul of the characters is evident as the events turn sour.

The skilled performances are situated in a beautiful set coupled with excellent costume design (Sophie Woodward). The era is captured with detail and perfection and the staging creates a lively sense of openness. The physical space suggests freedom which contrasts nicely with the limitations of the psychological space the characters are forced to inhabit. The lighting design (Kelsey Lee) also captures the dramatic contrasts of colour and light of the landscape in South Africa and drives home the horrible history in the text. 

This play is a timely reminder of the way in which an unjust and corrupt outside world will inevitably take its toll on the inner world of those who are forced to reckon with the reality of prejudice and bigotry.

Patricia Di Risio 

Photographer: Pia Johnson.