In a world where women often find their stories overshadowed, Every Woman, a Namibian jukebox musical, celebrates female resilience, friendship, and empowerment. Written and directed by the talented Senga Brockerhoff, this dynamic production features a stellar ensemble cast that includes JD January, Lize Ehlers, Chantel Uiras, Livinge Dennis, Jennifer Timbo, Mikiros Garoes, Lavinia Kapewasha, and Brockerhoff as a last-minute replacement. Asser Kauzunda directed the lighting while Lila Swanepoel served as the production designer for the living room-style set.
The play, first staged at the National Theatre of Namibia in three sold-out shows, centres around a group of friends who gather for a bachelorette party, each bringing their unique perspective on love, relationships, and personal identity. Through its 1 hour and 22-minute run, the characters navigate topics such as motherhood, marriage, fidelity, and personal aspirations, emphasising the different choices each makes in their lives and the diversity of womanhood.
In an interview, Brockerhoff tells us she was keen on working with an all-female cast.
“I love musicals, and I really just wanted to create an all-female musical. Then I thought that the perfect vehicle for an all-female musical would be a bachelorette party,” she explains, adding that managing such a large cast, herself included, was a major task. Other challenges included budget restrictions, which she says her cast helped overcome.
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Many deeper themes are also explored, such as the expectations to conform to traditional roles and patriarchal rules, the struggles of balancing personal aspirations with societal norms, and the importance of self-empowerment. The play presents a candid look at the challenges women face through humorous banter and breaking out into song and dance.
It is interesting to see women express their innermost thoughts and struggles while also experiencing tension among themselves brought about by their differing views on love and marriage.
One of the strengths of the production is how natural and authentic the characters come across. As they gather for a bachelorette party, they speak to each other with such comfort and ease, and as a viewer, you get the sense that you have been in a very similar setting and conversation yourself.
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Brockerhoff’s writing is witty and clever, and Dennis, playing Maxine, stands out for her comedic timing, bringing the words to life delicately.
It was also interesting to see the diverse perspectives of the cast. Rather than being presented with a monolithic representation of what it means to live in this society as women, we see people shaped in different ways by a range of experiences.
The themes explored were contemporary, relevant, and thought-provoking, while challenging the viewer to hold up a mirror to themselves.
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According to Brockerhoff, she wanted to explore how women “step out into the world differently than men.”
Apart from that, the songs chosen for this group were fun and engaging, even encouraging some participation from the audience. This was all by design.
“I wanted to create a really feel-good night out for the audience, so if they left singing and in a happy mood, we achieved our goal. Then I wanted to leave them with the idea of how amazing women are in their uniqueness and emotional strength,” says the playwright.
Lize Ehlers wrote Moenie/Don’t for this production, and it is like a nursery rhyme meets a very stern telling-off from your mother. The rest of the tracklist includes Weekend Special by Brenda Fassie, Working 9 to 5 by Dolly Parton, Every Woman by Whitney Houston, among others.
Overall, Every Woman is a commendable script that captures the essence of female camaraderie and the complexities of modern womanhood, especially within the Namibian context.
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It would be interesting to know more about each of the characters to understand their arcs and how things turned out for each of them beyond what we saw.
If there’s one line from the production that Brockerhoff believes sums up her message, it is this one:
“Men can just be. Women have to bring their A game to life all the time. You’ve got to be the cleaner, the wife, the nurse, the teacher, the psychologist, the whore, and more. All women have to be every woman all the time,” spoken by Kapewasha’s Vivian.
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