REVIEW: RADIO DRAMA ‘KRAG’.

VERTICAL living is explored in ‘Krag’. Photograph courtesy pinterest.

WHAT ARE THE protocols of an emergency under lockdown? A little old lady, Elsa Venter (Elize Cawood) fiercely alone in her Linden flat encounters a problem big enough for her to call the emergency services, but is it big enough for them to take seriously? Krag, by Lee Doubell, is this week’s RSG Afrikaans-language radio drama which puts many poignant issues into the ether.

As the pandemic has flowed and grown in our midst and stolen our loved ones as well as our sense of complacency and clarity, so has the sense of lockdown funnies become hollower and hollower, and wisely, this work doesn’t offer a screed of giggles. It’s not however all sturm and drang, as it offers a bit of a love story tossed into the plight of an old curmudgeon who holds tight to her independence and privacy, but is as vulnerable as the rest of us. Toss in a celebrity, some ropes made of damp bedsheets and a scorned daughter in a city 1000km away, and you get the picture: this is not high theatre, but it will have you on the edge of your seat.

Interestingly made in lockdown strictures, the work features a cast that, with the exception of one cast member, recorded from their individual lockdown contexts rather than the radio station’s studio, which makes it an historical work in itself. While it does feel as though it was written very quickly, but with strong acuity that enables it to sing, narratively, it’s a smart little essay on what radio drama is all about and the magic it can yield. The work magically casts an array of images into you head which will tense you up and give you a bit of a grin as it unfolds.

• Krag (Energy) is written by Lee Doubell. Directed by Renske Jacobs and featuring technical input by Bongiwe Thomas, it is performed by Elize Cawood, Botha Enslin, Johny Klein, David Louw, Mari Molefe van Heerden and Karen Wessels. It debuted on RSG on 2 July 2020 at 8pm,  will be broadcast again in Deurnag, the station’s all night programme, on Monday 6 July 2020 at 1am and is available on podcast through the radio station’s website: www.rsg.co.za