By David Mann
In The Agents, a new satirical comedy by Roberto Pombo, Kyla Davis and Lisa Derryn Overy, we are met with a South African suburban dream deferred. Selling us this fantasy is a trio of real estate agents – Brendah, Ventah, and Lindah – who prey upon one of the greatest motivating forces amongst middle-class South Africans – fear.
Sharply dressed, newly spray-tanned and with business cards in hand, they know the properties on the rise, the notorious no-go zones, the hot-spots and the hidden gems. They know the market, too. Or at least they pretend to – “buyer’s market, seller’s market, I think we can all agree that it’s a market.”
Under the direction of Toni Morkel, they are a joy to watch. The trio moves as a three-headed beast, which makes for great ensemble work. They deliver the razor-sharp script with ease, and routinely whip themselves and their unsuspecting clients into a frenzy: “Sign, sign, sign!”
Fittingly, The Agents has also marketed itself brilliantly. I saw Pombo’s Jozi-boet persona on Instagram before I saw him on stage, and for a moment, I almost believed the ‘SOLD’ signs lining the pavement of the Princess Alice Theatre.
Anchoring the wild ride that is The Agents is a young, yuppie couple, Jacques and Tanya. They meet in a trendy loft apartment precinct that could be Maboneng, Woodstock, or any other generic, gentrified sliver of the city replete with trendy coffee shops and an overpriced indie cinema – what a vaab!
But there is always fear. Fear of an uncertain future, of a changing neighbourhood, of the so-called Seven Deadly Crimes: mugging, stabbing, hijacking – you get the picture. Enter the security companies. If the real estate agents are making a meal out of gentrification, the security companies are the ones sniffing around for scraps. They are bullish little attack dogs all dressed in camo, eager to peddle their pepper spray and CCTV cameras.
So it goes. From loft apartments and gated communities, to a fully-kitted-out suburban fortress, all fall victim to a world that can no longer sustain itself. And there’s the gut punch. Behind the purported safety of the electric fences, perimeter walls, and industrial generators is a threat that cannot be avoided – a world increasingly without drinkable water, clean air, and habitable land.
Where to go in a time of converging socio-economic and ecological crises? How will we survive? Still, whatever hell on earth might look like, it can’t be as bad as the neighbourhood Whatsapp group.
The Agents is easily one of the gems of this year’s Festival, and a testament to the enduring nature of the Fringe as a home for new, inventive, and extraordinary South African theatre. Go and see it!
The Agents is on at Princess Alice Hall from 24 to 27 June.
