Society is built on families and relationships but the definition of who has the right to belong and what rules we must follow, has throughout history, often been imposed upon us by authorities and religion.
This issue is at the heart of the one-person play ANTi, written and performed by Keagan Carr Fransch.
It is the story of Aunty, a young African woman living in Aotearoa with her girlfriend of several years, Robin. Her extended family consisting of a sister Nicky, mother, and cousins also live here and are very connected with the local church. Aunty’s sexual orientation and childlessness are issues of downright hostility and conflict with her sibling and mother.
Nicky has four children who love Aunty and the eldest, Janelle, is sixteen, a painter, and seemingly wiser beyond her years and certainly wiser than her mother.
The central point of the play concerns queerness versus tradition, church canon, and prejudice. It also holds up a mirror to the hypocrisy inherent in supposed traditional values. A loving relationship between two women for example is viewed as ‘sinful’, yet promiscuity, flirtation, and misdeeds in the church are conveniently overlooked.
What makes this play so relatable is that these big issues are expressed through an intimate family story. Seeing the effect prejudice has on Aunty and the effort she goes to in order to reconcile with her mother and sister is compelling. The harsh words about her life and relationship seem far more cruel and bitter when we hear them from her own mother’s lips.
The story also illustrates the basic nature of sibling relationships and how that dynamic can foster rivalries and jealousies that spill over into adult life. But ANTi also illustrates the way forward because that common shared childhood is also filled with love and laughter and can therefore lead to redemption and healing.
Who can’t relate to that?
Woven throughout the play are references and short reenactments of the mythic Greek tale of Antigone, a princess of Thebes who defies law and royal edicts to do what is right and follow her heart. It is an ancient metaphor used with great effect in ANTi. Antigone represents holding on to one’s own truth and using reason and passion when dealing with those who represent the ‘anti’.
Carr Fransch has a confident and impressive stage presence and a chameleon-like quality which means she morphs between characters and emotions with seamless ease and grace creating a wonderful dynamism and authenticity to the play. She also understands comedy well, both as a performer and playwright. The script is very funny and the humour adds a balm to some of the more dramatic and challenging narratives.
ANTi is a refreshingly honest and charming exploration of a family in turmoil and in which the only solution to the conflict is through the redemptive power of love and acceptance. The very things that her family’s religion is supposed to champion, but often doesn’t.
ANTi
27-31 August 2024
Basement Theatre, Auckland
