South Africans of an older generation will be familiar with four Jacks and a Jill, but in Barrydale this past weekend, a very current generation left knowing two Johns and one Jack, writes Mark Keohane.
John Maytham, John Dobson and Jack Parow owned the Karoo Art Hotel and did it as individuals and masters of their trade.
I had a cameo on Saturday afternoon, providing some rugby analysis to preview the Springboks Test match against Ireland. Maytham asked the questions and Dobbo and I provided some very confident answers that there was no way the Bokke could lose.
The real action happened on Friday evening as the Karoo Art Hotel owners Rick and Sue Melville produced the most potent night of entertainment in Barrydale’s history.
And it happened in one traditional, school-like theatre hall that embodied everything that was glorious about intimate theatre and transformed the audience into a live concert that could comfortably have been a nightclub.
My partner Gill said she felt like she had walked out of the Baxter and 30 minutes later walked back into the Baxter; only it was Arcade in Cape Town’s Bree Street. Jack Parow’s raw energy had instantly merged with the intensity of Maytham’s performance in the Sin Drinkers.
Maytham, Cape Town’s most celebrated afternoon radio host on Cape Talk, has a voice for radio, a passion for theatre and a presence rarely seen when on stage.
He was power personified as he verbally sparred with the very impressive Emma Kotze in playwright and director Louis Viljoen’s 60-minute sizzler.
I am not a theatre critic, so I will spare you an attempt at a review, but I was in the crowd and collectively, there was a holding of breath as the 55 minutes seemed to freeze en route to the final minute of the hour.
It was some performance from Maytham and Kotze, but in those 30 minutes of trying to appreciate the genius of the duo, explore the narrative and find the why and how it resonated, Jack Parow’s explosiveness changed the channel as abruptly as loadshedding changed one’s appreciation of having electricity.
Parow is a mate of Dobson’s, and Dobson, the charismatic United Rugby Championship-winning Stormers coach, is a huge fan of theatre, and Maytham, the unrivalled afternoon radio talk show host, is theatre.
Dobson is also a friend of the Melvilles, and when friends this connected combine to put on a show, it will be extraordinary.
Dobson and (Rick) Melville, in the late Friday afternoon, had visited the local rugby club. Dobson spoke inspirationally about the strength of community, the belief in the impossible, the connection between the Stormers and the people of this province who love rugby, and the generosity and desire of the Melvilles to make a difference to the Barrydale community.
He also singled out Conroy Williams, who is the inspiration in everything, giving Barrydale’s sporting community hope.
As Dobson spoke, the people believed in better days. There was love and there was passion.
It was humbling.
Two hours later, Maytham and Kotze had me experiencing a whole range of other emotions and, as I snuck away Cinderella-style just before midnight from Jack Parow, everything internally felt settled.
Two worlds, in one theatre, 30 minutes apart. Some booked for Maytham and others for Jack Parow, but most stayed for both. It was that kind of night. Only in Barrydale at the Karoo Art Hotel.
There was trail biking on Saturday morning. I gave that one a miss, having to write about the All Blacks beating England. Work or no work, I would have given it a miss. Saturday was going to be demanding, both socially and professionally. The electric blanket also had a greater appeal than 49 kilometres of trail bike riding.
The rugby talk was scheduled for 4:15pm and before that, charismatic – and famed – Cape Town-based chef Greg Bax gave a masterclass on the finer art of cooking the perfect steak.
Less than 24 hours after walking into ‘Barrydale’s Baxter’, I was walking into ‘Loftus Versfeld’. The theatre and nightclub of Friday night was now a rugby stage.
The only familiarity in the setting was a bottle of Jägermeister in the freezer, but it was all that needed to be familiar in a 24-hour period that will always feel familiar in how three worlds rocked my world – and that of Gill’s.
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