Black Mouse Preview: The Wizardry of Alice Viskat’s Playwriting
Venue: Monument Building
Next performance: Thursday 26 June 12:00
Preview
By Sayuri Persotham
Up-and-coming playwright Alice Viskat promises darkness and intrigue in her 2025 National Arts Festival debut. Viskat’s first production, Black Mouse, is a mind-bending blend of psychological dramedy — a thriller made unintentionally funny by life’s absurdities. The play situates its two eclectic protagonists in a manor far removed from anywhere, where humour and normality are merely tools of deception. Some words of caution: every aspect of this play is interpreted at the viewer’s own discretion. The wizardry of Viskat’s mind belongs on stage, luring willing victims into her world of the bizarre and depraved.
Black Mouse delves into the grey areas of isolation, power, and redemption. The play focuses on the complex makeup of the manor mistress, Jess, played by Bianca Oosthuizen. S’Qhamo Mangcu assumes the role of her dutiful butler, Artemis, thus completing the dysfunctional duo. Regarding the characters’ turbulent bond, Mangcu says vaguely, “Everything is a reaction.” From atmosphere to costume design, Viskat imbues meaning into the most minute details. Almost apologetically, she says, “I’d love to go ham with it.” The passion between cast and crew is infectious, beckoning viewers to uncover the play’s deep-held secret. The question is: can our minds make sense of it?
The chaos of Black Mouse unfolds around a dining table — a space beyond ordinary social convention. It all began with the idea of an erratic, detached twenty-something individual. From there, the creative process takes over. With a glint in her eye, Viskat reveals her method to the madness: how better to portray a social outcast than through the act of dining alone? This gross negation of social ritual certainly packs a punch. Add forced companionship to the mix, and the nature of human interaction descends into unpredictability.
All in all, what can viewers expect? To this, Oosthuizen says: “Black Mouse is a story about two people who are so intertwined, but how do they untwine? How do you untwine yourself from something that is going to live in your body forever?” In the end, there is no simple explanation awaiting the audience. All that remains is a curious marvel of the human psyche and the strangled bonds left in its wake.
