Rescue Remedy
solo drama/comedy
Written and performed by Roland DU PREEZ | Directed by Tailyn RAMSAMY | Lighting, set, costume, and sound design by Roland DU PREEZ & Tailyn RAMSAMY
12+ PG
No one has a comfortable relationship with their father. Rescue Remedy is a queer child’s funny, tragic attempt to meet their dad halfway. Literally, on the N2 highway. Familiar flashpoints of an explosive relationship portray the love, misunderstanding, and anger between father and child – things one can laugh about in hindsight. Rescue Remedy shines a spotlight on queer people in contemporary South Africa, the trauma of a soldier, and mental health. Can father and child set their egos aside? Maybe there’s still hope. Love is reason enough to keep talking.
Rescue Remedy is a one-person play written to understand the often conflicted relationship we have with our fathers. The play features Kind, a sensitive queer youth, and Papa, their old, gruff but loving father. Roland du Preez plays both the child and their father who have to listen to one another, even if it's the last thing they want to do, if they want to save their relationship. At any given moment, the audience may be divided between laughing and crying.
Rescue Remedy is written and performed by Roland du Preez (NATi Jong Sterre 2022, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Waansin) and directed by Tailyn Ramsamy (Hamlet, Hold Still, Romeo & Juliet). The play highlights mental health, the legacy of the Border War, and the experience of queer youth in contemporary South Africa. The story spotlights queer joy blossoming in conservative Afrikaans culture but is universally accessible to anyone who has had a strained relationship with a parent.
Rescue Remedy was first staged in-the-round at Kaapstad Toneelhuis, with an upcoming run at Vrystaat Arts Festival. The play offers an intense intimacy between the audience and performer that lends to the relatable honesty of its story. The play is accessibly split into Afrikaans and English.
Rescue Remedy is a story of intergenerational healing, a love letter from a child to their parent. Audience reviews cite the play as being accessible from the point-of-view of a younger generation as well as from that of an older parent.
The creatives behind Rescue Remedy are new voices: Roland du Preez is a playwright endorsed by NATi Jong Sterre, having gone through the mentorship in 2022-23. This is their first solo play. While Tailyn Ramsamy, the director, has much experience as an actor, this is his first time directing a one-person show.