In The Shadow of Brel

In The Shadow of Brel you sang so well

Your voice was strong and true,

Performed it was with such finesse

I nearly shot my goo!

There was a young man called Godfrey

Whose show you really should see.

Oh fuck this is not working.

We’re no good at poetry.

We wanted to  write Godfrey a poem, or an Ode even. Because his show was so fucking kief.  And because 3 Way is feeling the poetic-multi-hyphened-metaphor-vibes. But we suck at the poetry. And Stal is not waxing metaphorical.  So 3 Way is going to riff some acid-prose-jazz-review-sickness, while Stal goes all simultaneous-translatory on his ass. (If you were a Gold Level Reading-Lab ninja at school, you might like to try reading both paragraphs at once. One with each eye. )

3 Way: When you see this show, you’ll want nothing more than to be Godfrey’s friend, and to share a glass of cheap wine with him on an upturned laundry basket. And to feel like a mobster in a prohibition-era-esque-SpeakEasy-club buying a sarsaparilla for a chick in a shiny silver dress.

Stal [Translates]: You see, what 3 Way means is, the venue is hard to find and located on an industrialized back street, and you have to climb up a rickety old staircase into the performance area which is a working Laundromat by day. So the vibe is kinda sneaky.

3 Way: It’s full of Melodic-emotive-pianesque-ified-sugar-coated-lemon-sour tear-filled goodness. And there’s moody lighting (designed by Jon Keevy).

Stal: His singing is totally not kak. He’s what the ‘kaners would call a klanktowenaar.

3 Way: He made my insides feel like a drop-kicked paint-rag sieved through a leaf-blower on a rainy day.

Stal: It made 3 Way cry like a girl.

3 Way: The words he sang like little shadow-children cowering in the black-drip-hole-scared-eyeness lit fiery-assed-sparks into my brain-space-entity-control.

Stal: The selection of songs and the musical arrangement was perfect.

3 Way: Like a mother-wombish warm-care, this play-jewel treasure-box of skill-maxed abundance yielded an hour-long harvest of stuff to make pleasure-bread from. I am still finger-eating the hum-tuney-crumbs.

Stal: The chairs were comfortable, and be careful, because the songs will stick in your head.

3 Way: The Devil-fox mind-stalks in many forms.

Stal: A while back 3 Way saw another Brel show at the New Space Theatre. He’s still struggling to sleep through the night and occasionally wets the bed. But thank Dionysis for good souls like Godfrey. If you’ve ever needed cheering up, for any reason whatsoever, or if you simply feel the need to be inspired, In The Shadow of Brel is exactly what you’re looking for.

3 Way: 4 Tsars.

Stal: 4 Tsars.

What’s the Score?

Created and Performed by Godfrey Johnson

Directed by Sanjin Muftic

Lighting Design by Jon Keevy

Dates:   Feb 4 – 6
Feb 11 – 14
Feb 18 – 20

Time:  20:30

Venue:  Tabula Rasa, Gardens, Cape Town

Cost:  R70 – R 40