Review of “A Girl called Violet”

By Savithri Rodrigo 

It was one hour and ten minutes and in all that time, the audience embracing intimacy of the little theatre sat in awe as one woman worked through the life of “A Girl called Violet”, in all its multi-layered multi-faceted ups, downs, ins and outs, all seamlessly woven into a pot of tea. “Once upon a teacup”, she said as she began her story and “Once upon a teacup”, she said as she ended her story.

The South African actor currently living in Sri Lanka and whose lead role opposite John Malkovich in the award-winning film Disgrace gave her critical acclaim, Haines held the audience enthralled in that total of eighty minutes, something a one-handed show would find very challenging. Even before the play began, clad in a long white dress, Haines walked around the stage, with a cup of tea in her hand, using the cloth covered props which would later have multiple uses and a teacup mobile hanging from the ceiling, to punctuate what was to come. 

Light, shadow and movement

And when the play began with, “Once upon a teacup”, Haines unleashed the entire story of “A Girl called Violet”, a girl in Africa with white skin. It was written in alternate rhyme, a feature some may not have even become aware of, given her knack of narrating her tale with such raw passion. There was infectious energy in her entire performance – she knelt, danced, pirouetted, ran, did the impossible with a white sheet and even put on four-inch stiletto heels while standing ramrod straight – not missing a beat. Her professional dance career and qualification in Cecchetti Ballet from UCT Ballet School and being a Barre Method fitness instructor are assuredly the raison d’etre for such effortless grace.

Her props were ingenious. Using light and shadow as the primary vehicle to bring the play to life, there was a doll’s house which started and ended Violet’s story from childhood to Violet’s children. A sheet which was a shroud, a shawl, a tie (the sheet was ripped to make one for school) and stuffed impossibly into her mouth (completely) in her battle with bulimia. There were two screens standing aside a hinged sideboard that served to showcase her prowess in shadow theatre and a marvellous rendition of the headmistress at boarding school. And there was always that comforting teacup.

But that’s not all – Haines’ talent at switching accents was quite extraordinary. She conversed with her blue bike Daphne (Daphne replies with a cockney accent) and Frank, her French toast who naturally had a French accent. The beautiful she-devil in pink tweed was typically American and her headmistress very British.

From childhood wonder to adulthood struggles

Violet’s tale begins in her childhood, in her family home near the woods which is Violet’s refuge. She weaves stories in her head with Daphne (her blue bike), discovers a cracked teacup with a gold rim she treasures and flies her yellow kite with great abandon. It is in these woods that she also meets the pink-tweed shadow who would be her nemesis through her entire life.

Violet, the teenager, is eventually sent to boarding school where the tea is bad and the headmistress unsympathetic. There is no room for error. Violet however graduates and moves to university, experiencing her first crush with Dominic (the handsome fourth year who has no time for freshers) who calls her “fat”. Broken hearted, she bows to the inevitable pressure of society demands. She gets into mini-skirts and high heels to go clubbing and bulimia to stay skinny. (Haines’ long white dress is hitched up and tucked for her rendition of a mini skirt). She moves into adulthood in continuous drunken stupors but is eventually rescued with the notion of the comfort of home (and tea).

We see Violet fight her way through mental health issues brought on by societal pressure with Haines using her remarkable prowess in shadow theatre to drive the message home. The performance, punctuated often with Haines’ natural ability to bring on laughter, see Violet emerge – somewhat scathed but in survival mode with the story ending on the poignant note of her daughter finding the cracked teacup in the woods where Violet played as a child. 

And so Violet begins regaling a bedtime story to her sleepy-eyed daughter – the story of “A Girl called Violet” – beginning with, “Once upon a teacup”.

A passion for storytelling

Haines’ has a relentless passion for storytelling and an unending thirst to keep augmenting her knowledge of theatre. Her Honours degree in English Literature and Performance Theatre is a good start, working in film and television the next tick box and after studying shadow theatre with Norbet Gotz, she returns to the stage with this story written by her. To direct the play, she brings in Le Coq trained multi-award-winning actor and Director James Cuningham who has worked across 15 countries and over sixty theatre, film and TV productions including working with Idris Elba, Jonathan Bailey and Sir Ian McKellen. 

Haines who has starred in numerous roles including Heart Lands directed by Angus Gibson, Home Affairs produced by Penguin Films, Isidingo and Gazlam, seems to be poised for her next chapter. “A Girl called Violet” pushes the envelope in all forms of theatre. She collates the entire tapestry of her talents in all its hues and textures; she is imaginatively adroit in her writing, inventive in her portrayals and is astute enough to make her audience comfortable with issues that are normally swept under the carpet. Add some theatrics and wisps of comedy into those dire and dark places, and she becomes a powerful storyteller in her space.

From teacups to truths: Jessica Haines redefines Solo Theatre

The Tale of a Shadow and A Girl called Violet

A one-handed play written and performed by Jessica Haines

Directed by James Cuningham

5 March at Namel Manel Punchi Theatre