South African Theatre Journal

ISSN: 1013-7548 (Print) 2163-7660 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rthj20

Visual metaphor as tool to stage the ‘Unsayable’

in the verbatim, youth theatre production Wag, ek
kry gou my foon [en soos sulke goed]

André Kruger Gerber

To cite this article: André Kruger Gerber (2019): Visual metaphor as tool to stage the ‘Unsayable’
in the verbatim, youth theatre production Wag, ek kry gou my foon [en soos sulke goed], South
African Theatre Journal, DOI: 10.1080/10137548.2019.1624604

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/10137548.2019.1624604

Published online: 07 Jun 2019.

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South African Theatre Journal, 2019
https://doi.org/10.1080/10137548.2019.1624604

Visual metaphor as tool to stage the ‘Unsayable’ in the verbatim, youth

theatre production Wag, ek kry gou my foon [en soos sulke goed]
André Kruger Gerber *

Drama Department, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch, South Africa

This article explores the process of constructing visual metaphor for a youth
verbatim theatre production within the South African, Afrikaans school context.
The process of verbatim theatre creation within this context is explored, with
examples from both the process and the production Wag, ek kry gou my foon [en
soos sulke goed] (2017). The article further examines the aesthetic and thematic
applications of visual metaphor and argues that visual metaphor can be used to
circumvent problems or restrictions that arise in the data collection phase of the
verbatim theatre process. These range from the context wherein the production is
created, the length of the production, and especially ethical boundaries, including
the responsibility of the verbatim theatre maker to represent both the subjects and
material at the intersection between verisimilitude and contextual restrictions The
article examines scenes from the production to conclude that visual metaphor can
enrich the verbal aspect of the verbatim research to expand, replace or comment
on the content generated and explored during the data collection phase.
Keywords: visual metaphor; South African youth theatre; verbatim theatre;
physical theatre; Wag; ek kry gou my foon [en soos sulke goed]

Introduction
While collecting data for the verbatim youth theatre production, Wag, ek kry gou my
foon [en soos sulke goed],1 which thematically dealt themes ranging from feminism,
contemporary youth, and sexuality, one of the participants on 24 February 2017
shared the following anecdote:

Uhm … Ok, this isn’t really something that I tell a lot of people … but most people know
that I don’t like … . Like, hugs aren’t my thing. Uhm … In grade six we were … Every two
years in our primary school, you went on tour to Hartenbosch. And everyone knows
there’s a warmed water pool. And it was a Wednesday and … we all went swimming in
the evening … We … There were boys that chased us […] and then like a thousand
people climbed in … like, workers. […] We swam … and … then a guy came from
behind me and pressed me against him … but he pressed me … and … I don’t know
what to do … and I swam away and, like, sat in a corner … there are like these benches
… and I sat there … and every time someone came to me, I would literally get a panic
attack and swim away. And then our … uhm … head girl … she fetched me because she
saw I was crying … and … then she … uhm … called my mother. And then I went
home. And the worst thing was … uhm … when I got home … my mother told me,
‘Ok, must I go search for the guy?’ I told her, ‘No, I don’t know what he looks like.’
And then she left me at home to go and party further. And since then … I was ‘hugs no.’2

*Email: andrekgerber@gmail.com
© 2019 South African Theatre Journal
2 A.K. Gerber

By sharing her experience, this 16-year-old also shared a part of herself and her past. It
was an evocative text which would be tempting to stage in the form of a confessional
monologue that would undoubtedly illustrate the themes of the production. However,
the text crossed an unspoken boundary in rehearsals that the creative team knew
would be difficult to cross in the eventual staged production; a boundary delineated
threefold by ethical considerations, editorial concerns, and school policies. This
border is especially clear when speaking the text in the context of performance
where the speakers also generated the text, and the parents and school staff – the
ones who imposed the policies – are the listeners to the ‘contentious’ texts
It was ultimately decided to exclude the above-mentioned text from the pro-
duction. Indeed, many such moments arose in rehearsals that were equally haunting
and held potential to be theatrically evocative. These texts ranged from the
mundane to the profound; the daily to the extraordinary, but while one would have
wished to include them in the production, they could not be staged in the form of
spoken text owing to various constraints ranging from school policies, time constrains,
and other factors. This presented a challenge because – especially in verbatim youth
theatre projects – the creative product must necessarily lie at the intersection
between unwavering ethics, verisimilitude, and authenticity that reflects the texts gen-
erated during the rehearsal process (or research period). This presents a challenge: how
does a practitioner go about honouring the intricacies of the process, while managing
the various borders that prevent a truly documentarian-style performance that reflects
the exact texts and themes generated and explored in the process. One possible avenue
is the use of visual metaphor that attempts to visualize the data on stage, or at least
tries to locate appropriate images that stand in the place of the spoken data.

Context and artistic methodology

This article attempts to reflect on the use of visual metaphor as a way to circumvent
certain restrictions or else enrich the themes of the production of Wag, ek kry gou
my foon [en soos sulke goed] (2017). As the co-creator of the production, I will
briefly outline the creative process of constructing the verbatim text in the South
African school context. Thereafter, I will investigate the concept of visual metaphor
as a tool to expand, replace, or comment on the spoken text. I will cite examples
from the production, as well as elaborate on the potential benefits of creating a
visual text, especially in the framework of the competition-driven youth theatre
where certain limitations prevent the inclusion of certain spoken texts. It must be
noted that visual metaphor is not a new staging methodology – indeed almost all
theatre must inevitably construct images for the stage. South African directors such
as Marthinus Basson,3 for example, are known for visually evocative theatre. Other
practitioners, such as Jaco Bouwer, for example, queries the relationality of texts
and images in theatre, with particular focus on the body as image-making tool.4
There exist, however, few practical methodologies that specifically document the
process of conceptualizing visual metaphor within the context of staging verbatim
data in youth theatre wherein ethical considerations specifically restrict the verbal rep-
resentation of certain – yet crucial – data points. The aim of this article is consequently
partly to map the creative process (and methodologies), the difficulties, as well as the
artistic and developmental opportunities for both the practitioners and the learner-
actors to ethically engage in similar such processes.
 South African Theatre Journal 3

Wag … was created with sixteen learners in grades 10–12 at Bloemhof Girls’
School (Hoër Meisieskool Bloemhof) in Stellenbosch, South Africa. The production
originated as an investigation of ‘gender’ from the perspective of these learners; an
approach that grew from the learners’ desire to express their growing discomfort
with gender norms within the relatively conservative environment of their local com-
munity. To this end, the creative team5 employed the process of collective collabor-
ation (Filewod 1987, Barton 2008) wherein ‘a team of artists including writers,
directors, actors, and others work together to explore a topic and develop a production
integrating their varied perspectives’ (Lea 2012, p. 63). The process of creating the pro-
duction involved three broad phases:

(1) Data Collection,

(2) Data Synthesis/Selection, and
(3) Staging the Data.

The first two phases are wholly collaborative and aimed at generating the spoken
text of the eventual production. This approach is closely related to playbuilding (Bray
1994, Norris 2000, 2009, Weigler 2001), which uses the data as the starting point, and
then dramatizes the data in various performative ways. Productions utilizing this
process need not be verbatim, and the data may in fact be fictionalized though the
use of ‘dramatic exploration’ (Norris 2000, p. 46) or verbal improvizations, which
are then labelled ‘truthful fictions’ (N. Denzin 2003). Other practitioners with
similar processes include Saldaña (1999, 2011) whose work is more ethnographic in
nature. Instead, the verbal data is used exactly as they were presented; therefore ver-
batim. Wag … was created through a combination of these processes, but where the
data was not fictionalized in any way.
Within these parameters, Lea’s model of ‘collective collaboration’ (2012, p. 63)
proved exceptionally useful during the first two phases. The eventual spoken texts
were consequently sourced from interviews, group discussions, written assignments,
and data collection within the school environment itself, including secret ballots
and classroom surveys. The texts were compiled and selected between February and
May 2017. During this time, the compiler (or ‘writer’) had to create an overall
frame to structure the findings (Saldaña 1999), which includes organizing the
spoken texts in a way that explores the thematic concerns of the play and, in this
case, the growing understanding of ‘gender’ within the group as a whole. Each the-
matic element consequently became the title of a scene (or ‘section’) in the play and
certain texts were selected that exemplified these concerns. These scenes or ‘sections,’
in order, were ‘Kapitalisme en Mode’ (Capitalism and Fashion), ‘Ek Soek ‘n Ass’ (I
Want a Bigger Ass), ‘Mooi aan die Binnekant’ (Pretty on the Inside), ‘Dis Baie Gevaar-
lik’ (It’s Very Dangerous), ‘Ek Kan Ook Charlie Bucket Wees’ (I Can Also Be Charlie
Bucket), and ‘’n Alpha Queen’ (An Alpha Queen).

The ‘Trapped’ text: locating methods of staging the research and the problematics of
‘Realism’
When attempting to stage data or research, Denzin argues that any performed rep-
resentation of the original language, defaults to, and is indeed trapped within, the ‘cul-
tural logics of Western naturalism’ (Denzin 1997, p. 93). While many verbatim theatre
4 A.K. Gerber

performances may certainly present a ‘realist’6 staging of the research data, Denzin
contents that

[t]he reflexive performance text must contest the pull of traditional ‘realist’ theatre,
‘method’ acting, (and ethnography) wherein performers, performances, and texts solely
or primarily re-enact and re-create a ‘recognizable verisimilitude of setting, character
and dialogue’ in which dramatic action reproduces a linear sequence, a ‘mimetic represen-
tation of cause and effect’ (Denzin 1997, p. 93).

Within the context of the competitive South African youth theatre circuit, which cul-
minates in the ATKV-Tienertoneelkompetisie,7 a realist representation would in any
case be near impossible owing to various limitations; the same limitations that pre-
vented the inclusion of the quoted text at the beginning of this article. I wish to high-
light three of the most significant obstacles that shaped the choices made to stage the
research in a ‘non-realist’ fashion.
Firstly, a time limitation of 45 min is placed on all productions that enter the com-
petition. Owing to the magnitude of the collected data – in terms of size and scope8 – a
realist representation would only be able to show a small sample of the data if the orig-
inal discussions and interviews were staged exactly as they occurred.
Secondly, parts of these discussions contained language that would be unsuitable
within the context of Bloemhof Girls’ School, which holds a strong Christian ethos
(‘Prospektus: Hoër Meisieskool Bloemhof’ 2018, p. 4). The school has specific policies
and guidelines that discourage the use of profanities or any modes of expression that
would otherwise be considered improper. Problematically, such language frequently
occurred in the data collection phases, with occasional cursing and recurrent discus-
sions about sexuality, sex, and sexual desire that would be deemed improper in the
context of the girls’ school. It would be unsuitable to stage realistically (or in a docu-
mentarian style), especially when the overall artistic outcome of the production is to
present the spoken data as verbatim. The school, as the financier and host of the pro-
duction, called at least one intervention during the process with the creative team,
stressing that school policy must take precedence over complete verisimilitude.
These requests had to be honoured, and artistic methods to reflect the integrity of
the process had to be brought in to balance.
Thirdly, the eventual selected text is completely dislodged from the crucial contex-
tual factors that allowed its creation. To illustrate this point, Norris (2009) describes
his playbuilding structure metaphorically as a kite shape (Figure 1):
Norris (2009, p. 55) explains that

once a topic is chosen, a focus is found that excludes other possibilities. However, from
this narrow point, the work expands like the bottom of a ‘V.’ During the devising
stage, more and more data is collected, expanding the possibilities.

When the final selection of the data occurs, many aspects of the original data is lost;
these include discussions, journal entries, or ‘sound bites’ (Norris 2009, p. 53) that are
not substantial enough to carry a scene but can neither be discarded.
For all three reasons cited above, a realistic representation of the contextual data
would be nigh impossible if the outcome is to stage a wide breadth of perspectives on
the chosen subject matter.
 South African Theatre Journal 5

Figure 1. The kite structure of the playbuilding process. Norris (2009, p. 55).

Visual metaphor to express the unsayable

In order to overcome these kinds of obstacles, Denzin proposes that a postmodern per-
formance aesthetic can be utilized: an aesthetic that ‘will venture into those undefined,
taboo spaces in which the unpresentable in the culture is felt and made visible’ (Denzin
1997, p. 93). To this end, he argues that representational theatre should be abandoned
for the sake of presentational theatre wherein ‘there is no attempt to dissolve the per-
former into the role – the emphasis is on stylization, not realism’ (Denzin 1997, p. 98).
This must be achieved, however, without ethically undermining the intent of the orig-
inal utterances themselves. Balancing these two concerns – the documentarian rep-
resentation of the real and the contextual restraints – the creative team chose to
utilize visual metaphor as a tool of expressing the inexpressible within the performance
itself. Spoken texts were replaced, layered with, and expanded with a visual text that
metaphorizes various ideas in the spoken texts.
In short, to overcome the obstacles, visual metaphors can be created that evoke the
conditions, texts, discussions, and themes explored during the creative and research
process. This may be achieved through metaphoric expression in the mise-en-scène
where the visual-aural landscape of the production replaces the spoken language to
visually manifest the various feelings, attitudes and material that were by necessity
removed from the verbal text.9

Visual metaphor: definition and parameters

In their study of verbal metaphor, Lakoff and Johnson (1980, p. 5) argue that ‘[t]he
essence of metaphor is understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in terms
of another.’ This relationship is established with the verb is. As Baluch (2006,
p. 103) elaborates, ‘the verb is as used to show metaphorical conceptualization
should be understood as a symbol indicating the process of mapping, i.e.,
6 A.K. Gerber

“transferring” the set of source experiences onto the image of the element being meta-
phorised.’ In Wag … , the ‘one thing’ is the excluded data, and the ‘other’ was found in
visual representation mostly through the use of physical theatre, the visual arrange-
ment of the mise-en-scène, the overall design of the production, and moments of
heightened visual expression.
Lackoff and Johnson (1980, p. 3) argue that

[m]etaphor is for most people a device of the poetic imagination and the rhetorical flour-
ish – a matter of extraordinary rather than ordinary language. Moreover, metaphor is
typically viewed as characteristic of language alone, a matter of words rather than
thought or action.

Metaphors are usually understood as purely linguistic figures of expression that acti-
vate cognitive associations between concepts.10 A visual metaphor, on the other
hand, may evoke similar connections, however, in this instance the connection is
between a visual sign and a cognitive conceptualization. In theatre, when specifically
a visual (instead of verbal) metaphor is employed, there is an added aspect of ambi-
guity at play. The is, in other words, is less definitive, and relies on the conceptual
implied relationship between the object and the expression thereof. Poreb ̨ ski (in
Baluch, 2006, p. 107), in querying the cognitive processes at play in the reception
of visual metaphor, notes that the ‘visual existence of metaphor, stresses the lack
of any semantic rules, which means that at the level of connotation it is possible
to come up with any interpretation, provided that we [the audience] are intent on
doing so.’ When considering visual metaphor as an artistic tool, the intent of the
visual sign is subject to the idiosyncratic interpretation of the recipient, but is still
interpreted by the recipient ‘on the basis of the maximum effect/least effort principle’
(Baluch, 2006, p. 107).11 The visual metaphors discussed below reflect the intent of
the creators in relation to the abovementioned principle. Although the construction
of the metaphor and the reception thereof may not be inexorably linked, visual and
auditory cues may lead an audience to infer the so-called implied is in the metapho-
ric expression.
According to Baluch, visual metaphors move beyond verbalization and act as con-
tainers for potentially expanded meaning. Baluch (2006, p. 108) posits three prelimi-
nary reasons why visual metaphor is a particularly useful theatrical device, especially
in relation to linguistic or verbal metaphoric expression:

(1) Metaphorical thinking induced by perceived images manifests itself beyond

direct verbalization.
(2) Metaphors expressed by visual means lack satisfactory verbal counterparts.
(3) Interpreting a metaphor is not about juxtaposing two concepts but about
investigating the specificity of the resulting image by making the recipient
re-evaluate his stereotypical perceptions.

Stage performances do of course contain linguistic metaphors, but they can only be
interpreted in relation to the whole of the mise-en-scène. Therefore, the examples
below will serve mostly to analyse visual aspects of metaphor in the production
Wag, ek kry gou my foon [en soos sulke goed].
 South African Theatre Journal 7

Generating the visual metaphor

In the following section, I will highlight five scenes of the production that made delib-
erate use of visual metaphor. I will specifically focus on how the metaphors were con-
structed in rehearsal, how the metaphor was intended to be read, and the dramatic-
visual function of the metaphor within the overall context of the production. Through-
out, I will reference the creative process that led to the creation of these metaphors.

Sexuality and desire: ‘Ek Soek ‘n Ass’ (I want a bigger ass)

The learners were asked in one of the earlier rehearsals to consider the various ways in
which the female body is perceived as an object and instrument of desire.
On 24 January 2017, the learners relayed discussions they had with boys about girls
shaving their leg hair:
LEARNER 1 There’s this girl in our grade who doesn’t shave her legs, but she
does it as a statement. […] But when I tell a guy this – I think I
have already – then he’s like, ‘That’s weird.’ And then he brings
up things like … how it’s wrong and how girls are now just
trying to make a point. There isn’t a point to make.
LEARNER 2 I – while I was doing research for this – told my brother. But why –
like, what do you think about this? He’s like, ‘it’s gross.’ And then I
was like, ‘Ok, but why?’ ‘It’s gross.’12
This fleeting moment in the data collection phase, prompted further discussion on the
topic. This however did not yield any particularly illuminating verbal material, apart
from one written piece that was eventually included as a monologue:

[…] I want thick, long hair that hangs to my bum, even when it’s in a ponytail (or, well, the
place where my bum is supposed to be). I don’t want to look like a ruler anymore. I just
want some hips so that I hopefully look less like a boy. To be honest, I like the fact that my
boobs aren’t that big – one less thing to keep under control. My pimples, however, aren’t
under control – not if I don’t drink my skin pills every evening at quarter-past-nine. I hate
the fact that I have to drink them at all. […] I hate how pathetic I feel when my mother
makes me breathe in a baggie when I get another panic attack. I just want to be able to get
up, be normal, and be happy without needing to drink pills. At least I’m not fat. And
people sometimes laugh at my jokes.13

In response to these verbal impulses, the choreographer set a task to the learners with
the following instructions:

Create a sequence of gestures wherein you attempt to correct all the imperfections of your
body on your body. In other words, try and correct your body so that it will suit the expec-
tations that the boys have about your physicality.

These gestures could be constructed in a sequence to reflect the experiences of the lear-
ners with relation to their bodies as objects (and instruments) of both desire and per-
ceived embarrassment. The composer – keeping with the theme – created a musical
piece to accompany these gestures to underscore the dichotomoy of pleasure and dis-
comfort of sexual desire within these learner’s lives. This was done with a jazz number
8 A.K. Gerber

that ‘stood in reference to the cultural lifestyle of the 1920s; the underhanded
expression of sexual ideas within a repressed society’ (Wolfswinkel, 2018).
Each of these elements – music, text, and choreography – combined to construct a
visual metaphor in the form of a dance sequence that functioned on three fundamental
levels: (1) the desire to be desired, (2) the discomfort of desire within a repressed milieu,
(3) the price of desire and how it interacts with expectations of the ideal body (Figure 2).
Desire, sex, and sexuality as general concepts are regarded as largely taboo within
this school’s context. Discussions on these issues are usually relegated to Life Orien-
tation classes, and even here the learners say that the topic is usually limited to the
relationship between virtue and sex, or sex as a functional deed of procreation.
Aspects such as desire or pleasure and how the body responds to such impulses, are
not usually part of the vocabulary.14 In yet another rehearsal, the learners were
asked to anonymously write questions that they would like to have answered but
aren’t addressed in the school’s Life Orientation classes.15 Some of the questions
received, for example, were:

Is masturbation just for guys? Do girls also wonder about it?

Do all girls touch their boobs when they shower?
Do other girls also look at guys and wonder how he would be in bed?
Is it normal to feel guilty about activities you did with a guy, even if it wasn’t your fault?
So even though you were basically manipulated?16

Owing to the complexities involved, visual metaphor was utilized to reference these
ideas instead of verbally speaking about them on stage. The visual-physical expression
of these concepts through physical theatre and dance, was intended to activate in the
audience the relationship between the various elements of desire and how they

Figure 2. Two actors transforming their faces to reflect their ideal body shapes.
 South African Theatre Journal 9

function both with and against one another, especially when aspects of body politics,
personal history, and conservatism are placed within a single frame. The auditory
impulses – the jazz music – was intended to evoke concepts of pleasure and desire
whereas the physical gestures were intended to reference bodily discomfort. This
created a visual-aural contradiction that might leave the audience with the same
sense of confusion the learners reported feeling. These impulses were therefore
intended to metaphorize this lived experience of the learners and, consequently,
comment upon and visualize the verbal information provided in the data collection
phase that could not be included in the final production.

Querying hypermasculinity: ‘Dis Baie Gevaarlik’ (It’s very dangerous)

One of the decisive hurdles the creative team encountered, was that in rehearsals the
perspectives of male learners17 were often brought to the table in the form of inter-
views, sound bites, and other audio recordings. In the context of a girls’ school, it
would be impossible to incorporate the voices of these male learners when casting is
restricted to only girls. The challenge becomes, ‘how does one incorporate the voices
of the male learners if there are no men in the cast?’ Furthermore, how does one do
this without impeding upon the open and vulnerable nature of the data collection
phase – something which would inevitably occur if a male was suddenly included in
the cast to portray the male voices.
On 20 February 2017, a learner brought an audio recording between her, her
brother, and his male friend to the rehearsals. After playing the recording to the
group, it was decided that the content of this recording should be included in the pro-
duction in some way. It was, however, unclear how this should be done without two
males to portray the respective characters. The decision was made to construct a
visual metaphoric expression for these male voices so that actual men would not be
brought in to interpret the recording. Objects/Puppetry was suggested as a possible
solution, and it was consequently decided that the original recording would be re-
recorded with male actors and portrayed by objects. This was mostly done so that
the recording could be shortened without compromising the integrity of the content
and so that the female voice could be removed. Another consideration was ethical:
to include the original recording would compromise the identities of the interviewees.
The female voice was consequently portrayed live on stage by the learner who con-
ducted the interview. Her performance was live, while the two male voices were pre-
recorded by the actors (Figure 3).
The objects were specifically designed to portray the boys not as they are, but how
they are perceived by the girls. The main male speaker (the interviewer’s brother) was
represented by a motorcycle helmet, two gym gloves for hands, and hiking boots for
feet. The brother’s friend was portrayed with a doll’s body, and a rugby ball with
googly-eyes served as his head. The stylized visual representation consequently
stood as a metaphor both signifying and critiquing hypermasculinity. Additionally,
there is visual irony because the masculine objects are manipulated by girls. The
visual metaphor was used in this instance to compliment the verbal material, while
simultaneously critiquing both the cliched perspective of the girls (of the boys) as
archetypes of traditional masculinity, and the boys’ depiction of themselves as hyper-
masculine guardians of women’s virtue. One part of the interview, for example, makes
this connection explicit:
10 A.K. Gerber

Figure 3. Actors manipulating the puppets representing the male voices.

BROTHER […] If a girl’s a slut, it’s literally like … she’s easy. Like, literally …
she’s easy. If a guy does it – for a guy it’s like climbing a mountain
and for a girl, it’s like walking down a mountain.
SISTER So a guy achieves something and a girl falls off ?
BROTHER Basically.
SISTER Why?
BROTHER If you think about it … If you were to score a guy today, it would
be flippen easy for you.
FRIEND [To SISTER:] Hopefully you don’t.
BROTHER Yes.
SISTER Why hopefully I don’t?
BOTHER Then I’m going hit him.18
Discussions on masculinity, hypermasculinity, and toxic masculinity were of course
part of the rehearsals. Topics such as the boys’ desire to be perceived dominant and
physically strong, recurred frequently. The objects consequently served as visual meta-
phors that signified these themes, without voicing them verbally on stage. The critique
on hyper and toxic masculinity was in this way made subtler, where deliberately voca-
lizing these critiques would potentially come across as heavy-handed. With the use of
the visual metaphor which stood in place of these critiques, the criticism hopefully
occurs in the minds of the audience, instead of being laid bare through the mouths
of the actors.

Power and powerlessness: ‘Net Ek as Mens’ (Just me as a person)

One of the writing prompts given to the learners, was:
 South African Theatre Journal 11

In two minutes, write without interruption on the topic ‘the things that I feel insecure
about.’

This prompt was given on 9 March 2017 and it appears that by this point in the
process, the learners had begun changing their views of women as ‘powerless’ and
had begun investigating and voicing perceived qualities of ‘strength.’ As an
example, when given the above-mentioned prompt, one of the learners presented the
following response:

[…] I’m partly a badass because I stole back my phone from a guy’s bag in Citrusdal’s
video store, but I’m also partly a coward because I cried when my director told me I’m
a walrus. I’m partly Moses, partly Joseph, and partly Samson … and Eve? I don’t even
like apples! Get over it, pastor Emile. Nobody cares. Maybe she was hungry? If she
didn’t eat anything, you people would just complain in the Huisgenoot that she’s anorexic
and then Aniel Botha would never have written her poetry anthology, Pirouette. So who
really wins when you try and categorize girls? I’m probably just a confused being, with a
lot of contradictory characteristics and ambitions. But I don’t know if I should answer the
question like this. Most of these things are just me as a person.19

This shift in focus and attitude was also incorporated in the production during the
latter part of the performance.20 The co-creator asked the learners to return home
and observe the things that the women in their lives do that, in their minds, signify
power and strength.
Unexpectedly, the cast returned with gestures articulating the folding of clothes,
washing of dishes, and cleaning of floors. This of course prompted discussions on
the nature of power and the role women play in their households. Many learners
returned with gestures they observed from their domestic workers, or from stay-at-
home mothers or grandmothers.
The learners understood how these dynamics stand in relation to their own defi-
nitions of success, autonomy and power, especially in a relatively privileged culture.
As one learner put it, ‘the fact that I can focus on my marks to build a future and a
career, is because women older than me do the household chores so I don’t have to.’21
Numerous other questions arose, such as how women have traditionally assumed
power, and in which domains perceived power lies today (house, workplace, etc). Fur-
thermore, at least two hours of material was generated on the topic of how power,
strength and autonomy are measured, especially in the context of a privileged
society where the women do not necessarily need to maintain careers so as to contrib-
ute to the household income.
It became clear that there simply would not be enough time in the production to
verbally address these topics thoroughly. For this reason, the creative team opted to
create a non-verbal scene that on a visual level attempted to communicate the
various layers of power and powerlessness within the household, especially in relation
to the aforementioned questions and concerns.
On a darkened stage, portable LED-lighting was used to intermittently reveal vign-
ettes of various household chores generally ascribed to women; this includes activities
related to the act of cleaning – clothes, dishes, floors, etc. These activities were stylized
through repetition and rhythmic pacing, layered upon and spliced with one another to
create an almost hypnotic ritualistic effect. The intended outcome was to visualize the
daily routines of women within the learners’ lives and to in some respect, reference and
12 A.K. Gerber

honour the work the women do in their households – whether these women are
mothers, grandmothers, or domestic workers (Figure 4).
The visual expression function on two levels: it stood in the place of the discussions
in rehearsals and expanded the monologue quoted earlier. The learners and their defi-
nition of power and autonomy (which was expressed verbally in the monologue) stood
in conversation with the visual expression of these older women and their complex
relationship to these definitions. While performing the rhythmic gestures repeatedly,
the actors were singing a tune in unison that evokes the feeling of a ritualistic folksong
to demonstrate an underlying shared sense of unity amongst women. As the composer
states,

‘Net Ek As Mens’ was conceived as a work song – drawing on the traditions of folksong
and community singing, with their particular histories centring around resistance and
self-care, particularly in pre-Civil Rights America and Apartheid South Africa. With
this simple melody, supported only by a sparse chordal accompaniment, it is the very
act of singing together that unities the ladies as a community. Paired with the choreo-
graphed movement, the act of communal singing elevates the performance of mundane
chores and tasks to that of ritual. Despite singing as an individual and performing indi-
vidual tasks, the singing creates a shared experience of the joys and pains of womanhood
– this ritual reflecting, not only on the now, but also upon the history of female experience.
(Wolfswinkel, 2018)

This dichotomy of gesture and music, along with the preceding monologue, was
intended to activate in the audience notions of power, powerlessness, and both the
tragic and inspiring nature of sacrifice – especially from the perspective of these lear-
ners in relation to the older women of their households.

Figure 4. Actors holding the LED-devices, lighting figures performing daily household chores.
 South African Theatre Journal 13

As a visual metaphor, this moment moved beyond the immediate scope of the
rehearsal process and attempted to access the histories of the learners and the older
female influences in their lives. The influences that allowed these learners – in their
view – to succeed as agents of their own respective futures. Traditional and contempor-
ary notions of power, autonomy and agency stood in conversation with one another
and, in this way, exposed and explored the delicate interplay between the past,
present, and the future of gender roles for these learners.

Vulnerability: ‘‘n Hemp Wat Gekreukel Is’ (A wrinkled shirt) and other visual
metaphors
The notion of vulnerability was extensively explored during the data collection phase.
Questions abound of body ideals, desire, female and male power dynamics, and per-
sonal histories would inevitably give rise to moments in rehearsal of profound vulner-
ability. These moments manifested intermittently depending on the topic at hand. As
sporadic occurrences, they frequently did not follow a single theme or central logic but
stretched across the entire scope of the process to touch upon the various topics that
arose.
The creative team decided to include two texts of this nature and grouped them
together owing to the quality of these texts, instead of immediate thematic relevance.
Beyond these two texts, however, there were many such moments that could not be
included. One such example is quoted below:

I feel insecure about most things, really. I am insecure about the sound of my voice
because to me I sound like a six-year-old. I am insecure about my handwriting, about
my thighs, about my pimples. I am insecure about my ability to talk to people because
I feel like a rat. I am insecure because I trust too easily. I am insecure because sometimes
I don’t feel valuable enough. I am insecure because so many people have stabbed me in the
back, so I feel like a failure. I am insecure about my marks because I just-just got into
Bloemhof, and now I do not adhere to the standards that have been set for me. I am inse-
cure because I feel I do not belong here. I feel insecure because insecurity is my middle
name and I should probably live it out.22

We were unable to stage this material for several reasons. The most crucial of these
reasons was that the speaker did not wish for it to be included. She believed it
would compromise her identity and she did not wish to be identifiable as the originator
of this text during a performance. It was suggested that the text could perhaps be inter-
preted by another actor, but she also did not wish to hear the words spoken by another
performer. This creates an ethical boundary that the creative team had to unequivo-
cally respect. This prompted exploration into visual methods of representation
which would both respect the ethics of the situation, while also including these inex-
pressible concerns as central thematic undercurrents in the production. To attempt
to locate the quality of this and other similar such moments, the notion of collapsing
bodies as a visual motif was explored.
This section – to reference for the missing texts – was staged with what the chor-
eographer referred to as a sequence of collapsing bodies, underlining notions and
moments of frailty, honesty and vulnerability that arose throughout the rehearsal
process. This section, in other words, visualized the entire process of playbuilding.
Standing near the tail-end of the production, the scene was a reflective dance on the
14 A.K. Gerber

Figure 5. One of the actors in a moment during a moment of ‘collapse.’

notion of sharing personal narratives, and the brave sincerity that such a process
implies. Certain texts, therefore, were interpreted with bodies intermittently ‘collap-
sing’ under the weight of other inexpressible moments and narratives that arose
during the data collection process (Figure 5).

Final reflections: ‘Alpha Queen’ (Alpha Queen)

Where the previous section visually reflected on the creative process, the final section of
the production reflected on the visual images that the audience had seen throughout
the production as a whole. Through a montage series of images – each a few
seconds in length – this choreographed sequence concealed and revealed key visual
moments in the production. These moments were selected to highlight the visual-the-
matic journey of the production and provide the audience an entire scope of the the-
matic journey. Practically, the scene was staged with all the theatre lights in blackout
with the portable LED-lights intermittently used to provide minimal sporadic
moments of lighting and darkness across the stage. Staged directly following the ‘col-
lapsing bodies’-sequence, the logical flow of the metaphor was to evoke a dream-like
state where the production and its themes effectively ‘collapse’ in on itself (Figure 6).
The scene – fast paced and somewhat violent in in its representation – was inspired
by a text written by one of the learners where a series of linguistic metaphors are used
to construct the identity of a fictitious character they referred to as the ‘Alpha Queen.’
Throughout the process, the learners – mostly as jokes – spoke about the qualities that
a teenage girl might possess if the stereotypical ideas of an ‘alpha male’ were to be
transferred to her. One of the learners shared her vision of the co-called Alpha
Queen, and it was decided to layer this metaphoric and somewhat convoluted and
fragmented text with the visual metaphor to create a double-layer of meaning:
 South African Theatre Journal 15

Figure 6. A fragment from the ‘Alpha Queen’ sequence. Each individual visual image lasted
approximately five seconds.

An Alpha Queen is an ape. Aggressive. Like animal instinct that kicks in in her blood-
stream. Like PMS but a 100. A bomb that explodes and makes her an enormous rat.
She hunts her man-targets by openly sniffing them and becoming addicted to their
smell. She searches for her target – a tree to let loose and then eats anything in front of
her. In the jungle she is robbed of her identity. A place where she isn’t raped, but her
own desires rape unresolved in her animalistic thoughts and stands in subtext to Raka.
Raka is the Alpha Queen’s stepbrother. She still seeks in this wild behaviour a comfort
zone because she understands that what she is, isn’t enough. That what she is, is a sin.
It is wrong: how can she – a woman – be animalistic? She feels bad. Ripped open like
a girl stripped of her virginity. In a world of equal lies, the Alpha Queen realizes that
her title is corrupt. There is only an alpha male. She is someone that accepts this
reality, but in secret she views herself like an animal. Perhaps a snake … 23

The violence in the language of the text and the ferocity and pacing of the visual
images stood in conversation with one another. The text became a soundscape that
propelled the visual images, evoking notions of strength, power, and autonomy, but
tempered with questions about traditional notions of femininity and expected behav-
iour. The sequence of images became ever more abstract, with the bodies of the actors
making shapes and arrangements reflecting the production, the process, and the inex-
pressible texts. In this way, the scene is an abstract expression of the inexpressible – the
numerous and complex layers of ideas, thoughts, feelings, and desires that are simul-
taneously random, ordered, violent, delicate, yet central to their lived experience
within the conservative context of the school.

Conclusion and final thoughts

Wag, ek kry gou my foon [en soos sulke goed] was an initial exploration in the construc-
tion of visualizing verbatim material within the context of the Afrikaans youth theatre
16 A.K. Gerber

circuit in South Africa. Various devices – physical theatre, object manipulation, design
and scenic elements – were used to construct visual metaphors that unlocked the
underlying themes, creative process, and the unspoken texts that could not be included
because of ethical concerns, editorial considerations and school policy.
These visual metaphors were constructed mostly from necessity owing to the
various restrictions and challenges that that a verbatim theatre creation process pre-
sented the creators within this context, but where specifically required in order to
achieve the goal of the production: a considered exploration of gender of the perspec-
tive of the participants in the school. Bloemhof Girls’ School holds, for example, a
certain ethical and moral code that precludes certain forms of expression on the
stage. For this reason, alternative modes of expression had to be explored. In addition
to this, the 45-minute time limitation in the competitions meant that a realist interpret-
ation of any of the material generated throughout the 27 h of the data collection phase,
would undermine the possible scope of the production. For these reasons, a vignette
structure was employed, and visual metaphors were constructed to circumvent the
various limitations at play. As Norris (2009, p. 10) argues,

through a vignette structure, […] employs multiple forms, moving beyond the standard
dramatic action. Voice collages, puppetry, narrated-mime, song, shadow screen, body
sculpting, and other theatrical devices [are used to] present social issues through
metaphor.

When using visual metaphor, specifically, there is an additional emphasis on the

absence of the thematically-contentious texts through the embodied representation
of the original data, honouring both the limitations of the creative context, and the
ethical obligations of a verbatim youth theatre creator. The metaphors created in
Wag … consequently functioned on three levels:

(1) replace spoken texts that were not included;

(2) expand spoken texts that were included, but presented only a redaction of a
larger topic or theme;
(3) comment upon (or reflect) upon either the spoken text, the production itself, or
the process.

Mostly these three functions are not separate and mostly work in combination with
one another to propel the creation of a visual metaphor. In cases where texts were
replaced in Wag … , visual metaphor was employed because of ethical reasons, limit-
ations in the length of the production, the wishes of the speaker to not include the text,
or the spoken text could have compromised the identity of the speaker.
Consequently, visual metaphors can be constructed to replace the spoken text in a
verbatim theatre production without affecting the overall truthfulness or complexities
of the subject matter, while still opting to exclude crucial verbal material.
Visual metaphor may also be utilized to expand texts. In these cases, the included
(spoken and staged) texts only represent a fraction of the generated material. The
visual metaphors in these cases are constructed to enrich the existing text with
visual elements. In Wag … these were mostly created in cases where there were
longer and more comprehensive discussions in rehearsals regarding a specific topic,
and the visual metaphor was used as a sign to suggest the content of these discussions
 South African Theatre Journal 17

and supplement the spoken text. Visual metaphor may consequently allow a contrac-
tion of the generated verbal data by visualizing these elements in ways that signal the
entire scope of the research process.
Finally, visual metaphor may also be utilized to comment upon the themes,
content, or process itself. The act of commenting may manifest – depending on the
context and staged signifiers – as either critique or reflection. In ‘Dis Baie Gevaarlik,’
visual metaphor was used to critique notions of hypermasculinity, whereas in ‘Net Ek
As Mens’ was a reflection on notions of femininity and strength. Depending on how it
is staged and how an audience reads these metaphors, they may function as both a cri-
tique and reflection; they are consequently not mutually exclusive functions. ‘Alpha
Queen,’ for example, attempted consciously to critique and reflect upon aspects of
the production itself, and the many themes that arose throughout. The term comment-
ing is therefore simply used as umbrella to group both functions together.
These functions – replace, comment, or expand – only represent possible tools in
the construction of visual metaphor. Other applications of visual metaphor are yet to
be systematically examined. In future, the use and manifestation of visual metaphor in
the verbatim youth theatre context could be examined in greater detail, with focus on
other productions that utilized a similar process.
Wag, ek kry gou my foon [en soos sulke goed] was considered a largely successful
production in its exploration of visual metaphor as a directorial tool. The production
won the Durbanville Youth Theatre Competition (2017), including the sub-categories
Best Ensemble and Best Directing. In the ATKV-Tienertoneelkompetisie (2017), the
production won the regional (Durbanville) competition, and achieved second place
in the national competition. It also won the sub-categories of Best Ensemble and
Best Directing.
With further research and exploration, more nuanced discussions on these ideas
can be explored. Visual metaphor currently is a tool that is used frequently in creative
processes, but systematic investigation into its functions and manifestations in pro-
ductions will bring to light the creative impulses that fuel its creation. This is especially
crucial in verbatim theatre processes where ethics must marry artistic integrity/intent
and verisimilitude.

Notes
1. The Afrikaans title translates directly to English as ‘Wait, let me quickly get my phone [and
like stuff like that].’ When the title of the production is used throughout the article, it will be
shortened to Wag … unless the full title flows more naturally in the sentence, or when used
at the end of a sentence to avoid confusion with the ellipse. Furthermore, all the original
discussions and the eventual production were held and presented in Afrikaans. I will use
the English translations in the body of the article to help the flow of reading, but I will
provide the original Afrikaans as footnotes.
2. Uhm … Ok, dis nie rêrig iets wat ek vir baie mense vertel nie … maar meeste mense weet ek
hou nie … Soos, drukkies is nie my ding nie. Uhm … In graad ses was ons … elke twee jaar
in ons laerskool het jy Hartenbos toe gegaan vir ʼn toer. En almal weet daar’s ʼn warmwa-
terswembad. En dit was ʼn Woensdag gewees en … ons het gaan swem die aand … […]
ons is toe daar en ons swem en ons … . daar’s seuntjies wat ons jaag en mekaar in die
swembad […] en toe kom daar soos ʼn duisend mense in … soos, werkers. […] Ons swem
toe … en … toe kom daar ʼn ou van agter af en hy druk my vas teen hom … maar hy
druk my vas … en … ek weet nie wat om te doen nie … en ek het weggeswem en, soos, ʼn
hoekie gaan sit … daar’s soos die bankies … en ek het daar gaan sit … en elke keer as
18 A.K. Gerber

iemand na my toe gekom het, het ek letterlik ʼn paniekaanval gekry en weggeswem … en

toe’t ons … uhm … hoofmeisie … my kom haal want sy’t gesien ek huil … en … sy’t toe
… uhm … my ma gebel. En toe gaan ek huis toe. En die ergste ding was … uhm … toe ek
by die huis aankom … my ma sê vir my, ‘Ok, en moet ek die ou gaan soek?’ Ek sê vir
haar, ‘Nee, ek weet nie hoe hy lyk nie.’ En sy los my by die huis en gaan kuier verder. En
van toe af … was ek ‘drukkies nee.
3. See specifically Du Preez’s (2006) article on Basson’s use of visualizations for an analysis on
visual arrangement and design from a South African director’s perspective.
4. Smit’s (2012, p. 141) analysis of Bouwer’s Untitled (2008) focusses particularly on the space
where language, the notion of ‘authorial control’ and visual metaphor co-exist.
5. The production was co-directed by André Gerber, the researcher, and Anél Joubert. The
spoken text was compiled by Gerber, while Joubert choreographed the physical theatre
aspects of the production. Original music for the production was composed by David
Wolfswinkel.
6. ‘Naturalism’ and ‘Realism’ in the context of Denzin’s argument refers specifically to style
and presentation, and not to content. ‘Realism’ in this context translates to, for example,
staging discussions visually exactly as they occurred in the creative process remaining verb-
ally and visually unedited to retain absolute verisimilitude in terms of the spoken text.
Denzin (1997, p. 93) consequently contents that a more presentational style will provide
opportunity to stage the ‘truth’ of the lived experience, rather than exact ‘reality’ thereof.
7. This is a national theatre competition for Afrikaans plays performed by high school learners
(‘ATKV-Tienertoneel: Brosjure’ 2018).
8. Between 24 January and 23 March, the group collected approximately 27 h of spoken/
verbal research. The entire creative process went on to middle June. The first performance
was during the first week of August, 2017.
9. Although aspects of physical theatre practice were inevitably utilized in the creative process,
the focus of this article is on the visual metaphors created for the production. The develop-
ment of these visual metaphors in conjunction with the physical theatre aspects, did at times
function within the choreographic idiom, emphasizing embodied movement and represen-
tation. The specific choreography and choreographic techniques used, while sometimes
referenced when pertinent to a particular point, would require a different academic focus
to explore in full and consequently falls outside the limited scope of this article.
10. See Lakoff and Johnson’s analysis of the phenomenon on how metaphors evoke cognitive
images from verbal cues. Their reading of ‘time is money’ (1980, pp. 7–9) is especially
enlightening in this regard.
11. See Baluch (2006, pp. 105–112) for a more thorough analysis of the relationship between
intent and reception with regards to metaphoric sign systems.
12. LEERDER 1: Daar is hierdie meisie in ons graad wat nie haar bene skeer nie, maar sy doen
dit as ʼn statement. […] Maar as ek dit vir ʼn ou vertel – ek dink ek het al – dan’s hy soos, ‘Dis
weird.’ En dan bring hy goed op van … hoe dit verkeerd is hoe meisies nou wil ʼn punt bewys.
Daar’s nie ʼn punt om te bewys nie. LEERDER 2: Ek het – toe ek die navorsing hieroor
gedoen het – vir my broer gesê. Maar hoekom – soos wat dink jy nou hieroor? Hy’s van,
‘dis gross.’ En ek’s soos van, ‘Ok, maar hoekom?’ ‘Dis gross.
13. […] Ek soek dik, lang hare wat op my boude hang, selfs wanneer dit in ʼn bokstert is (of wel,
die plek waar my boude veronderstel is om te wees). Ek wil nie meer soos ʼn liniaal lyk nie.
Ek soek net ʼn bietjie heupe en dan lyk ek hopelik minder soos ʼn seuntjie. Om eerlik te wees,
hou ek daarvan dat my boobs nie té groot is nie – iets minder om in toom te hou. My puisies
bly egter nié in toom nie – nie as ek nie my velpille elke aand kwart-oor-nege drink nie. Ek
háát die feit dat ek in elk geval die verdomde goed moet drink. […] Ek haat hoe pateties ek
voel as my ma my in ʼn sakkie in laat asemhaal wanneer ek nóg ʼn angsaanval kry. Ek wil net
kan opstaan, normaal wees, en gelukkig wees sonder om pille te drink. Ten minste is ek nie
vet nie. En mense lag partykeer vir my grappe.
14. It should be noted that there is only anecdotal evidence for this opinion. A concrete study of
the proceedings and content of these classes have not been done, however it is clear from the
learners’ response to these topics in rehearsal, that issues of this nature are rarely discussed.
15. I deliberately do not use the word ‘curriculum’ here because the content of the curriculum
and the manner in which it is taught in classes, are different matters.
 South African Theatre Journal 19

16. Is masturbasie net vir ouens? Wonder meisies ook daaroor? / Vat alle meisies aan hul boobs
as hulle stort? / Kyk ander meisies ook na ouens en wonder hoe hy in bed sal wees? / Is dit
normaal om skuldig te voel oor aktiwiteite wat jy gedoen het met ʼn ou, al was dit nie jou
skuld nie? So al was jy basies gemanipuleer?
17. All the references to men are limited to their interactions with the all-boys school in Stellen-
bosch – Paul Roos Gymnasium – which the learners consider their ‘broerskool’ (brother
school). Most of the discussions where male perspectives are involved, should be seen in
the context of this relationship.
18. BROER: […] As ‘n meisie ‘n slet is, is dit letterlik net … sy’s maklik. Soos, letterlik … sy’s
maklik. As ‘n ou dit doen – vir ‘n ou is dit soos om ‘n berg op te klim en vir ‘n meisie is dit
soos om ‘n berg af te loop.
SUSTER: So ‘n ou bereik iets en ‘n meisie val af.
BROER: Basically.
SUSTER: Why?
BROER: As jy daaraan dink … As jy nou vandag ‘n ou moet vat, sal dit vir jou flippen
maklik wees.
VRIEND: [Aan SUSTER:] Hopelik doen jy nie.
BROER: Ja.
SUSTER: Hoekom doen ek dit hopelik nie?
BROER: Dan gaan ek hom bliksem.
19. […] Ek is bietjie badass want ek het my foon teruggesteel uit ʼn ou se sak in Citrusdal se
videowinkel, maar ek is ook bietjie lafhartig want ek het gehuil toe my regisseur vir my
sê ek is ʼn walrus. Ek’s ʼn bietjie Moses en ʼn bietjie Josef en ʼn bietjie Simson … en Eva?
Ek hou nie eens van appels nie! Get over it, dominee Emile. Nobody cares. Dalk was sy
honger? As sy niks geëet het nie, het julle al weer in die Huisgenoot gesê sy’s anoreksies
en dan het Aniel Botha nooit haar digbundel Pirouette geskryf nie. So wie wen eintlik as
jy meisies probeer kategoriseer? Ek is seker maar ʼn verwarde wese soos wat ek is, met
klomp teenstrydige eienskappe en ambisies. Maar ek weet nie of ek dit só moet stel vir
hierdie vraag nie. Meeste van hierdie dinge is maar eintlik net ek as mens.
20. In this way, the performance also mirrored the creative process – texts generated earlier in
the process, was visualized earlier in the performance, and text generated in the later part of
the process, was placed in the second half of the production. The exception is the final
sequence – ‘alpha queen.’
21. Die feit dat ek kan fokus op my punte om ‘n toekoms en ‘n loopbaan te bou, is omdat
vrouens ouer as ek huishoudelike take doen wat ek nie hoef te doen nie.
22. Ek voel insecure oor meeste goed, really. Ek is insecure oor hoe my stem klink, want dit
klink vir my soos ʼn sesjarige. Ek is insecure oor my skrif, oor my bobene, oor my puisies.
Ek is insecure oor my ability om met mense te praat want ek voel soos ʼn rot. Ek is inse-
cure want ek vertrou maklik. Ek is insecure want ek voel soms ek is nie waardevol
genoeg nie. Ek is insecure want so baie mense het my al in die rug gesteek, so ek
voel soos ʼn failure. Ek is insecure oor my punte want ek het net-net in Bloemhof
gekom en nou bly ek nie by die standaarde wat vir my gestel is nie. Ek is insecure
want ek voel ek hoort nie hier nie. Ek is insecure want insecurity is my middelnaam
en moet maar seker dit uitleef.
23. ʼn Alpha Queen is ʼn aap. Aggressief. Soos dierinstink wat inskop in haar bloedstroom.
Soos PMS maar ʼn 100. ʼn Bom wat ontplof en haar ʼn enorme rot maak. Sy hunt
haar man-targets deur hulle openlik te ruik en verslaaf te raak aan hul geur. Sy soek
ʼn target – ʼn boom om los te laat en eet enige ding voor haar. In the jungle she is
robbed of her identity. ʼn Plek waar sy nie gerape word nie, maar haar eie begeertes
rape onoplosbaar in haar dierlike gedagtes en staan in subteks met Raka. Raka is die
Alpha Queen se stiefboetie. Sy soek tog in hierdie wilde gedrag ʼn comfort zone want
sy besef dat wat sy is, nie genoeg is nie. Dat wat sy is, sonde is. Dit is verkeerd: hoe
kan sy – ʼn vrou – dierlik wees? Sy voel sleg. Oopgeruk soos ʼn meisie gestroop van maag-
delikheid. In ʼn wêreld vol gelyke leuens besef die Alpha Queen dat haar titel korrup is.
Daar is slegs ʼn alpha male. Sy is iemand wat die realiteit aanvaar, maar skelm in sonde
haarself as ʼn dier beskou. Dalk ʼn slang …
20 A.K. Gerber

ORCID
André Kruger Gerber http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2800-3532

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