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Fahiem Stellenboom
Hot on the heels of its London success, the gripping play, Blonde Poison, starring leading South African actress, Fiona Ramsay, comes to The Baxter from 11 to 29 June 2024.
Following its hugely successful run in London recently, Fiona Ramsay returns to the Baxter Studio with her gripping one-person show, Blonde Poison, written by Gail Louw, for a limited season from 11 to 29 June 2024, at 8pm with Saturday matinees at 3pm.
Blonde Poison once again reunites the creative expertise of Ramsay, one of South Africa’s revered artists and multi-award-winning director, Fred Abrahamse, with set design by Marcel Meyer.
When the production was staged at The Playground Theatre in London in March this year, the critics raved with some giving it five stars. Paul Wood from Curtain Call Reviews was one such and wrote, “Theatre at its best”, another was Oviya Thirumalai from Adventures in Theatreland, who said, “Blonde Poison is a masterclass in writing and performing a compelling one-person piece … a must-watch show that challenges the notions and morals of being human and leaves you both amazed and slightly haunted by Ramsay's performance and by the chilling truths and questions in the writing.”
Simon Jenner from FringeReview UK 2024 described it as, “an outstanding production” with John Cutler saying, “… the exquisitely tuned piece boasts a powerful and highly affecting performance …” while Victoria Ashford from A Young(ish) Perspective said, “Fiona Ramsay’s performance of Stella is captivating. She takes the audience on a roller coaster of highs and lows during an encapsulating moment in history.”
Set against the backdrop of the Holocaust, it is a morality tale about beauty, treachery and the high price of survival in a world beset with mistrust, espionage and duplicity. The gripping play poses questions such as, “What would I have done in her place?” “It encourages us to confront our own humanity, and the choices we make when threatened with certain deportation, possible displacement, vicious persecution and the horrors of war,” explains Ramsay, who portrays the character of Stella Goldschlag.
Goldschlag lives illegally in war-torn Berlin during World War II, where she was betrayed, beaten and tortured. When offered the chance of saving herself and her parents from the death camps, she became a “greifer” or “catcher” for the Gestapo, giving information and “ratting” on Jews in hiding. Stella’s character ranges from a tortured and pitiful victim to a callous cruel agent of death, from a beloved and loving daughter to a pitiless betrayer of friends and from a gentle and tender lover to a woman of depraved and decadent promiscuity. She was dubbed the Marilyn Monroe of Berlin and awarded the alias Blonde Poison by the Gestapo, who embroiled her in the murky world of treachery.
Decades after the war, Stella agrees to an interview with a childhood friend - now a respected journalist - offering her a last chance at redemption. Can she ever be released from her past? Despite the choices Stella made she forces the audience to confront their own humanity, raising questions of ethical and moral choice and acknowledging the cruelty that resides within us all.
Blonde Poison is the first play written by South African playwright Gail Louw who now lives in the UK. Her play Miss Dietrich Regrets, based on the life of Marlene Dietrich and her daughter Maria Riva – was staged at the Theatre on the Square in Joburg - with Ramsay in the role of the aging star and screen icon.
At its South African premiere in 2017, leading critics were equally encouraging. Lesley Stones wrote, “Louw is proving a genius at taking one woman’s story and delivering a mesmerising piece of theatre … Ramsay is superb” and Peter Feldman said, “Blonde Poison is one of the most profound and thought-provoking slices of theatre I've seen in a long time … Gut-wrenching tour de force”. Diane de Beer called it “a genius performance by the skilled Ramsay” and Robyn Sassen calling it, “Ramsay’s utterly tight and masterful portrayal”. Moira de Swart wrote, “Blonde Poison is one of those pieces which stays with one long after one leaves the theatre” and Debashine Thangevelo agreed, “I was left speechless, marvelling over Ramsay’s tour de force performance in this sublime piece of theatre.”
Ramsay was last seen at The Baxter in Hansard, which was nominated for three Fleur du Cap awards, including Best Performance by a Lead Actress in a Play.
Blonde Poison runs at the Baxter Studio for from 11 to 29 June at 8pm with Saturday matinees at 3pm. Booking is through Webtickets online or at Pick n Pay stores. For discounted block bookings contact Mark Dobson on email mark.dobson@uct.ac.za or call him on 021 680 3972 or Carmen Kearns on email carmen.kearns@uct.ac.za or telephone 021 680 3993.