A young woman named Renske, in London, all of twenty and wishing to learn all about art, finds herself at a class run by Cyril Mann, forty-nine, disillusioned with fame but playful and charismatic.
The class has just finished, but as she offers to wash his brushes, and he invites her to his flat to “see his etchings,” a curious relationship develops, which endures for eighteen years. Reader, she married him.
The Girl in the Green Jumper is a play by Gail Louw, based on the memoir by Renske Mann. We know from both book and the current exhibition of Cyril Mann’s artwork at Piano Nobile that Renske continues to champion her late husband’s work.
Indeed, at yesterday’s performance, both Renske Mann and Gail Louw were in attendance, so it was a nice bonus to be able to see the subject in life and in imitation at the same time. The casting is excellent in capturing the real Renske’s spirit.
Referring to a portrait Cyril painted his young muse, the title of The Girl in the Green Jumper is intriguing and also acts as a shorthand to their difficult relationship. The painting itself is sad, beautiful, and full of longing.
As Renske matures from a naive and trusting ingenue to an independent professional woman, Cyril becomes needy, suspicious, and unstable. This is not your typical love story, yet it is written and presented with affection.
Cyril Mann died in 1980. His work shows the influence of Turner and Van Gogh, yet they are much more personal, raw, and honest. In later life, he produced self-portraits, which are intense and troubled.
Under Christian Holder’s direction – he also designed the set of a one-room flat – Peter Tate and Natalie Ava Nasr display a great sense of chemistry and trust in acting out the Mann marriage.
This play is no picnic, rather providing a window into the private life of two strong personalities who held each other together and tore each other apart. A man who seeks obedience, a woman who seeks freedom.
There are frank moments around passion, power, and perseverance in The Girl in the Green Jumper, with Tate being especially intriguing as Cyril, a man not easy to like, but yet presented with respect.
Nasr is convincing as a woman who starts as both the innocent and the spider drawing in the fly, moving swiftly into the older artist’s single bed and promising to fund and promote his work.
We find out little nuggets of information about private matters: Cyril’s need for submission; Renske’s slow realisation of her sexuality (she now has a long-time female partner). Things neither can fulfil for the other.
Helena Hipólito’s video mapping shows us the paintings at key moments, although this means there are significant stretches left unillustrated in this way.
I liked the human elements of caring for each other, swapping jokes, and revelling in the beauty of art while admiring the freedom Holder gives his actors to explore their roles freely and fearlessly.
Also of note are the snatches of music which punctuate the scenes like “Ne me quitte pas” and “Let It Be Me” to “You Are So Beautiful” and even “My Old Man’s A Dustman”. It’s an effective shorthand to fill in the gaps.
The Girl in the Green Jumper is far from the age-old May to December tale of an older man seducing a younger woman. It is a complex study of the collision of art and love.
The Girl in the Green Jumper is at the Playground Theatre as part of the Gail Louw Season, and plays until 24 Mar with tickets here.
****
Image credit: Helena Hipólito
Thank you for this wonderfully perceptive write-up, Louise. I’ve followed you for years and admire your work enormously. The theatre world owes you! And that includes us all at the Playground.
Thank you, Renske – lovely to finally meet you yesterday.