New play on toxic relationships hits hard

The first blush of love winds towards its chilling end in Rodney Gariseb’s ‘Naked Spaces’.

Recently premiered at the National Theatre of Namibia’s (NTN) Backstage, the raw and unsettling production invites audiences into the lives of Aili and Sem, young lovers whose turbulent relationship is mirrored in the past and present.

Starring Odile Gertze and Jeanne-Danae Januarie as Aili, Melgisedek Nehemia and Michael Nakale as Sem, and Rodelio Lewis as The Spook, ‘Naked Spaces’ explores mental health, toxic relationships, abortion, religion, guilt, trauma and the realities of emotional and physical abuse.

We begin with Aili and Sem in the past, played by the endearing Januarie and promising Nakale.

Reuniting after a significant separation, the two aren’t exactly swooning young lovers. Sem, a philosophical and sleepless creative, is struggling with his mental health and has asked Aili for space.

Aili returns despite his request, worried about his well-being, and they fall into familiar conversations about relationships, religion and their studies, lightly peppered with flirtation.

In the present, Aili and Sem are played by Gertze and Nehemia. The couple is still together, more toxic than ever, and recently returned from Sem’s estranged mother’s funeral. As the play alternates between past and present, the reasons for their ire, dissatisfaction, childlessness and stagnation are revealed piece by piece.

Dialogue-heavy yet elevated by Gariseb’s expressive prose and foreshadowing, ‘Naked Spaces’ unfolds as an extended conversation growing more acrimonious as the years pass.

With little action or change of location, Gariseb relies heavily on his commendable cast.

Gertze and Nehemia brilliantly embody the pain, exhaustion, desperation and defeat wrought by years of self-abandonment, unrealised potential, festering guilt and untreated mental health issues.

Gertze in particular is riveting. Oscillating between dark humour cutting through Aili’s bitterness and the voice-cracking despair of a woman in a dying marriage, she submits a stunning performance ringing with authenticity.

Equally astonishing is Lewis as The Spook, “the healing darkness made flesh”.

Terrifying in costume design by Immanuel ‘Tsadago’ //Garoeb and make-up by Eathan Madison, Lewis lands visually adjacent to ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’s ‘Frank-N-Furter, but with the cadence of a malevolent Shakespearean apparition.

Add scant, praying mantis-like grey wings manipulated by twitching minions played by Seraya Mentor, Ernesto de Jesus and Marlon Murigagumbo, and Lewis manifests one of Namibian theatre’s most chilling villains.

Demanding of its actors, sagely staged and cleverly directed, particularly as past and present overlap in a visual metaphor of Aili and Sem’s loops, ‘Naked Spaces’ is an impressive directorial debut for Gariseb.

Mentored by theatre maker Jenny Kandenge through the NTN’s New Makers Programme, Gariseb presents an intrepid, semi-autobiographical work.

“In Namibia, we tend to sterilise pain,” says Gariseb. “‘Naked Spaces’ is where that myth comes to die.”

He adds: “The play asks us to acknowledge our suffering without shame.”

In the production, a lack of confrontation becomes something grotesque that haunts Sem.

Though Sem’s wrongs are clear, Aili’s martyrdom, trauma bonding and ignored red flags are equally resonant.

Gariseb’s characters are flawed, familiar and deeply human, their triggering realism the play’s triumph.

“As for what’s next, I want to keep creating work that interrogates, unsettles and heals,” he says.

– martha@namibian.com.na; Martha Mukaiwa on Twitter and Instagram; marthamukaiwa.com

In an age of information overload, Sunrise is The Namibian’s morning briefing, delivered at 6h00 from Monday to Friday. It offers a curated rundown of the most important stories from the past 24 hours – occasionally with a light, witty touch. It’s an essential way to stay informed. Subscribe and join our newsletter community.