Hi, Marianne. You are performing Speed politics for bewildered South Africans at this year’s Suidoosterfees, after your recent production at the Baxter and the KKNK (Round of applause – South Africa still standing). Many of us associate your name with your journalistic work, notably for the Daily Maverick. What prompted you to branch out into theatre?
Well, after I went freelance in 1997, I diversified, including branching out into comedy. Back in 1987, I think, I was part of the Cape Comedy Collective pulled together by Sam Pearce and Mark Sampson. Marc Lottering, Riaad Moosa, Kagiso Lediga, Tracy Klass, Melanie Jones, Conrad Koch, Irit Noble, Kurt Schoonraad, Dave Levinsohn, Stuart Taylor are just some of the comedians who all started out there.
Tracy Klass, Riaad Moosa and Marianne Thamm (Photo: provided)
Marianne Thamm with the Cape Comedy Collective (Photo: provided)
We used to perform for R100, first at the Armchair in Observatory and then all over … in steakhouses and restaurants/bars. In fact, back in the day Riaad won Funniest Comedian or some such award and I came second. I had been a journalist since 1982, so quite entrenched in it as a career, and it certainly paid more than R100, and I didn’t have to hand my ID in at the door to the organisers. I loved it.
During my time as a freelancer I also worked on the satirical puppet show ZANEWS pulled together by Thierry Cassuto’s Both Worlds with latex puppets based on Zapiro’s cartoons. Tom Eaton and Ben Trovato were some of the early writers, as well as Anne Hirsch and others. So in a way this world is not new to me.
I am a jobbing journalist; it is my fallback, so to speak. I worked for the Cape Times for many years, then You magazine, which I loved and then all sorts of other publications. I know how to do it, so I do it.
Could you tell us a bit more about the genre and format, and what inspired you to move to scriptwriting and performance?
Well, the genre has now been described by Anton Harber who termed it performance journalism. Another influence is that I was a theatre reviewer for many years in the arts section of the Cape Times, so I’ve been exposed to the country’s best. Pieter-Dirk Uys, David Kau ... I have written thousands of words about thousands of productions I have seen. I have learned so much from the best.
Journalists engage with the “worst of society” on a daily basis: Is turning your experience and learning into theatre a way to process this? How does your journalistic background inform your one-woman performances?
It completely informs it. My life is like a Netflix movie … How can I not share this. Remember, I have lived this close to reality for 40 years, so I'm not sure this is a way of processing; rather a way of life.
No matter the challenges that South Africans face in terms of unemployment, corruption, loadshedding etc, South Africans' humour and resilience could be seen as two sides of the same coin. Does Speed politics for bewildered South Africans speak to this possibly uniquely South African condition?
I hope so. We are very, very funny people ... we are warm too, and lovely ...
What makes you hopeful about the arts in South Africa, and about the country more broadly?
Well, in my position I get to see a lot of the arts and theatre, so you can take it from me, there is extraordinary work going on all around us. Just get off your phone ... check the ice theatre, music, dance on offer and go and see it ...
Also read:
Suidoosterfees 2024: ’n Onderhoud met Miché C van Wyk oor Konsistorie: ’n kabaret
Suidoosterfees 2024: Burger King Konsert van Hoop – ’n onderhoud met Anna Davel
Persverklaring: Suidoosterfees se Onder ’n bloedrooi hemel ’n "kragveld van kreatiwiteit"