The award-winning acting couple Cintaine Schutte and Carel Nel will play opposite each other again in Johannesburg next year in ’n Begin – a play that movingly and delicately explores the complexity of modern relationships.
The play takes place at the end of a party when two damaged people reach out toward each other. It’s early morning. The party was a housewarming for her new place. He is the last remaining guest. The place is a mess and so are they…
’n Begin is Nico Scheepers’ translation of British playwrite David Eldridge’s Beginning – part one of a trilogy that debuted in 2017 at the Royal Theatre in England with a sold-out run. Eldridge’s play, which is both sharp and witty, asks questions about mutual loneliness, connection, humanity and intimacy.
’n Begin debuted at the 2024 Stellenbosch Woordfees, where it was received with rave reviews. The director is the award-winning Tinarie van Wyk Loots. Schutte is the creative producer.
Laetitia Pople, National Arts Editor at Netwerk24, wrote “it is flirty, modern and real. The author deftly explores relationships with a surety that comes from deep psychological understanding. And all of it is driven by the sensitive guidance of Tinarie van Wyk Loots.”
Estelle Terblanche writing on LitNet praised the “freshness” of the production despite the strong presence of themes such as “loneliness, independence, sexism, responsibility, decisions and consequences”.
Herschelle Benjamin’s impressions recorded in the Woordfees’s INK festival newspaper read: “With ’n Begin there is a duel that happens not only between the two characters but also within them. Cintaine Schutte’s Laura is open about her desires, but Carel Nel’s Daniel struggles with insecurities that he is unable to set aside.”
Benjamin points out the players’ brilliant body language. “There’s no fear on her part for how she desires the evening to end, but he hesitates as a thousand thoughts run through his head about a ‘failed’ start. And then it all boils over and they have to struggle bravely through the maelstrom that comes with honesty. It’s engrossing to watch.”
Scheepers, Schutte, and Nel had previously worked together on Die fliek. More recently, Van Wyk Loots was the director of the confrontational Monsters, for which she was nominated for a Kanna Award.
’n Begin is a Stellenbosch Woordfees production, supported by NATi. It runs from 30 January to 16 February at the Market Theatre. Tickets are on sale at Webtickets.
