Mike van Graan (photo: provided)
Mike van Graan talks to Naomi Meyer about I can buy myself flowers, playing in the Artscape in February.
Mike, I see there is a new show of yours playing in February: I can buy myself flowers. The title is inspired by a Miley Cyrus song, but the story is about a 50-something estate agent. Please tell me about this woman.
The estate agent is 53-year-old Natalie Jackson. She was the middle child, sandwiched between two brothers, married relatively early by today’s standards (24) and had a child by the time she was 26. Her husband left her soon after the birth of her daughter. Her becoming an estate agent was to have a job that allowed for time flexibility so that she could single-parent her daughter. This background reflects the challenges she faces as a daughter in a patriarchal family, and as a woman who is left on her own to fend for herself and a child. The play is about her resilience and about her working through her insecurities and the challenges she has encountered, not least with the help of other women friends, so that in her fifties, she believes that she is really ready to live life on her own terms.
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It is less a play with a “plot” in the traditional sense, and more a piece of storytelling using comedy and drama to interrogate traditional relationships, ageing, parenting and social taboos with regard to sex, gender roles and expectations related to these.
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Was it easy for you, as a man, to write about a female character and her trials and tribulations in life – her relationships, her job, her female friendships? Is this, by the way, very different from writing about or imagining the life of a male actor of the same age group?
I’ve been married, have had relationships, and have a circle of friends whose experiences have provided the basis for much of the play. And then, of course, there is the research that comes with reading, with talking to people about specific areas of interest, and from observing. In a way, this piece complements another piece that premieres in the same week – To life, with love – which is about a male character who is getting older, is diagnosed with a dread disease, and, with a good chance of recovery, chooses how to live. In developing the character of Natalie, I’ve also worked with and gained useful insights and feedback from the two women engaged in the production: the director, Toni Morkel, and the performer, Erika Breytenbach.
Without giving away too much, what happens in the play? What is the plot?
If it were about a younger person, the play would probably be described as a “coming of age” play with the person coming into adulthood. It is less a play with a “plot” in the traditional sense, and more a piece of storytelling using comedy and drama to interrogate traditional relationships, ageing, parenting and social taboos with regard to sex, gender roles and expectations related to these.
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I’d like to think that she is a sympathetic character with whom many women may resonate, on the one hand, and on the other hand, that the piece challenges men to think a little more, or a little differently, about relationships and gender roles and to be more mindful of our behaviour and attitudes.
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Why did you write this play? Can you remember a specific inspiration or series of events that triggered the writing of the drama? Why did you write her story, or why did you create this character?
The combination of factors includes my recent decision to try to make my livelihood from theatre in particular, which requires me to have work that speaks to particular audiences (women are a key theatre market), is portable (can be played outside of traditional theatres to ensure a longer period of income) and is inexpensive to tour (ie, one-person plays). I’ve observed and engaged friends who have struggled through relationships, and I have my own experiences of marriage and relationships, including aA relationship with an estate agent. I have friends on dating sites and I’ve been there, too, so it was almost inevitable that at some point I would write a piece that interrogates relationships, but I thought it would be interesting to do it from a woman’s perspective, and in so doing, understand more about the experiences and psychology of women. I’d like to think that she is a sympathetic character with whom many women may resonate, on the one hand, and on the other hand, that the piece challenges men to think a little more, or a little differently, about relationships and gender roles and to be more mindful of our behaviour and attitudes.
Any other dramas/plays of yours that our readers can look out for this year?
If I have any reputation as a playwright, it is that I am “prolific”. I’m hoping that this year will be one of my most productive. Besides the one-person, human dramas mentioned so far – To life, with love and I can buy myself flowers – I’m really excited about the Suidooster Festival and the Market Theatre partnering to stage my play The good white, which is set against the backdrop of the Fees/Rhodes Must Fall campaigns. I also have a “scripted dialogue” – not really a play – called Abraham’s promises, with representatives of the Abrahamic faiths – Islam, Judaism and Christianity – debating whether Jews are safer today than they were before 7 October 2023 and Israel’s subsequent devastation of Gaza. Two satirical pieces – Return of the ancestors, in which Steve Biko and Neil Aggett are sent back to South Africa by the Council of Ancestors to see if their sacrifices have been worth it, and So over the rainbow, a multi-sketch piece in the tradition of My fellow South Africans – will also do the rounds this year. So, hopefully, a busy and productive year of theatre!