THE ROOM

THE ROOM

0 performances between Feb. 25, 2019 and March 9, 2019
Performance / Theatre
Written and directed by Brent Palmer. Performed by Jenny Stead and Mornè Visser
70mins
mornevisser.jpg the room.jpg jennystead.jpg

An unsettling yet darkly funny love story between a sassy sex worker and her smooth talking client. Mike is a successful and somewhat sleazy classic car dealer, he has the gift of the gab but he’s lonely. He desperately wants to woo Lillian and whisk her off to an exotic Greek island. Lillian, allergic to any form of rescuing or emotional connection, makes it clear to Mike that she will not go. Mike hears Lillian; but being a man who thrives on closing deals will not accept ‘no’ without a good fight. 

THE ROOM deals with themes of love, family and isolation. It is about two lonely people trying to get by, attempting to forge a connection, both with hugely tumultuous histories behind them. While the play is emotionally weighty and carries a clear sense of pathos and tragedy, there is also a thread of comedic yet sobering banter that permeates the whole piece.

My intention as writer was to flesh out the vulnerability and humanity of the characters in a context that is complex; it’s at once carnal and liberating but also highly restrictive (I would imagine). I was moved and intrigued by the taboo world of the sex worker's domain. I wondered 'what if' a client wanted to disrupt that contract. What would happen? What would happen if real chemistry existed? What would she do? Many stories such as this exist in our popular culture but I wanted to walk this well trodden path and tell this kind of story through my lens

JENNY STEAD: 

Jenny obtained her honours degree in Drama from the University of Stellenbosch during which time she was nominated for a Fleur du Cap for Most Promising Student. After graduating she won the Vita award for Best New Actress for her performance as the chain smoking, cocaine snorting, troubled copy writer in Fiona Coyne's smash hit comedy 'Glass Roots'. Jenny has forged a career playing diverse roles from the tragic Ophelia in Stephen Berkoff's 'The Secret Live Life of Ophelia' to the ditzy Brooke in the hilarious 'Noises off'. Jenny won a Fleur du Cap for her performance as a dying succubus in Reza de Wet's 'Breathing In', followed by a tour through the USA and Europe with the New York Collonade's production of the politically charged, 'Truth In Translation'. Jenny was nominated for a Fleur du Cap for Best Actress in A Musical for her portrayal of Janet in the Rocky Horror Show which played to sold out houses for over 300 shows. Her 4th Fleur de Cap Nomination was for Brent Palmer's The Visit in 2018. Her film and television credits include 'The Poseidon Adventure', 'Starship Troopers 3', the Golden Globe nominated 'Restless' and a recurring role in season 2 of ICE but is best known for her NSFW NBC grindhouse tv series 'Blood Drive' where she plays a middle American, eyeball sucking, suburban housewife, serial killer!

MORNÈ VISSER:

For the past 25 years, Morné Visser has worked on various stage, film and television productions.

His hightlights include winning The Best Actor award at the 2016 Silwerskermfees for, Dis ek, Anna; a film that went on to win over 9 international film awards. In 2018 he starred in Netfilx, The Kissing Booth, which was the most rewatched film on Netflix in 2018. Other 2018 highlights include his role in, The Forgiven, with Forest Whittaker and Eric Bana; directed by the twice Oscar nominated director, Roland Joffe. His film, The Harvesters, was also selected in competition at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival. 

Television credits include international productions, Outlander, Black Sails and the mini-series King Solomon’s Mines and The Poseidon Adventures both for Hallmark Entertainment. 

Mike and Lillian is his Alexander Bar debut. 

BRENT PALMER:

Brent is a London trained actor who has worked extensively as a playwright, actor and comedian for just under twenty years. 

As playwright many of Brent’s plays have won or been nominated for Fleur Du Cap awards. His play WITNESSES (2005) won a best director award for Mathew Wilde. His play BENCH (2012) and THE VISIT (2017) were both nominated in the best new play category. From 2004 to 2008 Brent wrote and performed a one man show called CORNER HOPE & VREDE to great reviews

As an actor Brent has worked in television, film and theatre including THOSE WHO CAN’T (SABC), TALI’S WEDDING DIARY (SHOWMAX), A STEADY RAIN opposite Nicholas Pauling (FUGARD THEATRE) Louis Viljoen’s KINGMAKERS (FUGARD THEATRE) and Florian Zeller’s THE FATHER opposite Marius Weyers (FUGARD THEATRE)

Brent has also worked in Geoffrey Hyland’s productions of Macbeth at Maynardville (2003) and Women beware Women at the Little Theatre (2007). He also worked with Roy Sargeant in his production of Hamlet at the Artscape Theatre (2005) 

As a stand up comedian Brent is a regular feature at Cape Town Comedy Club and has appeared alongside many well noted comedians such as Trevor Noah, Mel Miller, Cokey Falkow amongst many more. He has also used his comedic talents to direct successful shows for comedians such as Nik Rabinowitz, Siv Ngesi, Gaetan Schmit, Stuart Taylor and many more

His comedic short film PICTURE PERFECT HEIST won a SAFTA for best short film (2015) and is currently in pre-production for a feature film