Stitches in time

Award-winning veteran of the stage and screen Sandra Prinsloo has been touring the country with the play Die Naaimasjien. She speaks about what the work means to her.

What is Die Naaimasjien about?

It is a deceptively simple play wherein Magdaleen, an 81-year-old woman, lets us into her world of memories and her farewell to her beloved sewing machine. It is a play full of laughter and pathos with an emotional twist at the end.

Who is Magadaleen, the woman behind the Bernina sewing machine?

She is a feisty character who feels displaced in a modern world and who tries to come to grips with a great loss in her life, the death of her son. Her personal journey is one of triumph as she moves from a position of intolerance to one of understanding and acceptance.

How much do you have in common with her?

Although I am not nearly in Magdaleen’s position yet – I have recently cared for and lost my two ageing parents – I have great sympathy and a sense of sadness when I think how marginalised and lonely senior citizens become.

You have won several awards for this show – clearly it has a special resonance for you?

Receiving awards for one’s work is very nice, but what really moves me is the emotional response from the audience and the way they identify with the character.

And it is the first play of author Rachelle Greeff – she obviously knew exactly what she wanted to tell with this tale, and how to write it?

Rachelle is a wonderful writer and she really pressed down on a raw nerve-ending with this play. I have heard younger people vow to contact and visit their parent(s) every week, after seeing the work.

You are well known to TV audiences – as well as being a very famous stage actor. You have chosen to tour with Die Naaimasjien, your first solo show in 15 years. Is this a nice break from TV?

Die Naaimasjien is in its third year and it has been a great joy to do every one of the 170 performances. I still did two television series and three new theatre productions this year as well – so not much of a break.

You’ve also performed the show with English surtitles – this is not common in South African theatre, is it?

As far as I know it’s only the Fugard Theatre that does this. But I think it’s a wonderful way of exposing English-speaking audiences to Afrikaans work

You and John Kani were once berated for a cross-racial embrace on stage (in Miss Julie). We’ve come a long way since then. What do you think of the state of theatre in South Africa now – healthy?

Thank goodness, yes we have come a long way. But I still feel theatre should be more integrated and we are still suffering from a lack of government funding.

What do you enjoy watching the most, in terms of local theatre? Who is doing the stuff that moves you?

Young people like The Mechanicals are doing exciting work both modern and classical. But to be honest, I have truly been too busy to see much theatre this year.

And what do you have up your sleeve, for the future?

I have several projects simmering for next year both in TV and theatre but would rather talk about them later.

Lastly – do you sew yourself? Have you ever owned a Bernina?

I can sew, and my mother was an excellent seamstress who made all my ballet costumes. I still have her sewing machine (not a Bernina, I’m afraid), but I really don’t have the time or the inclination to sew.

l Die Naaimasjien is at Die Boer, Durbanville on September 24 and 25. Call 021 979 1911. - Cape Times