Dara Beth’s All My Ex-Lovers are Dead is a theatre piece that grapples with the authenticity of representation when non-queer actors perform queer roles.
The play was performed at Bloemhof High in Stellenbosch as part of the 2023 Toyota SU Woordfees on 11, 13 and 15 October.
South African actress Maria Vos plays the non-binary character, They in this one hour performance. Vos herself is a straight woman, resurfacing common questions about the portrayal of queer characters by straight actors.
So, are only queer characters allowed to portray queer characters?
Beth, who both directed and wrote the piece, said that they believe that while performers should have some lived experience of the obstacles or marginalisation that they are portraying on stage, there are spaces for non-queer actors to play queer roles.
Dara Beth, All My Ex-Lovers are Dead’s director and scriptwriter, attempts to use the character of They, who plays a queer 20-something to explore love and relationships. They, played by actress Maria Vos (pictured above) use queer identity as a universal access point for the various audiences who experience the different types of love, says Beth. The play was performed on 11, 13 and 15 October as part of the 2023 Toyota SU Woordfees. PHOTO: Supplied/Woordfees.
Impact on the LGBTQ+ community
“In [All My Ex-Lovers are Dead], I didn’t have to make any decision really, as Dara, who wrote the piece and is directing, asked me to perform it and [they] were very explicit about the fact that my sexuality didn’t matter to them in the context of this piece,” said Vos.
There is a lot of responsibility to play the role of a character that one does not personally identify with, she said.
“There is such a history of not casting queer actors in queer roles, especially on high profile films and TV. That’s slowly being corrected, emphasis on slowly,” said Vos.
The way in which a film or story conveys its content and messaging contributes to the decision to cast a particular actor for that role, said Beth.
“I believe wholeheartedly that the performer should have an embodied experience of that [particular aspect of queer identity],” Beth said, adding that in performance training, actors are often asked to draw from personal experience to evoke an honest performance, said Beth.
While the character, They, performed by Maria Vos (pictured above), in the play All My Ex-Lovers are Dead, a play written and directed by Maria Vos that was performed on 11, 13 and 15 October at the 2023 Toyota Woordfees, is queer and nonbinary, Vos herself is a straight woman. This raises questions about the representation of queer characters by straight actors. PHOTO: Supplied/Woordfees.
Converse opinions
“You cannot know the struggles of a teacher if you are a doctor,” said Kgotso Molefe, assistant administrator at the University of the Western Cape’s equality unit.“You’re almost asking performers to re-traumatise themselves to convey the messages that they’re staging in a performance.”
This translates to a sort of cross between a character and the actor that is portraying them, said Beth.
It is tremendously important to have an authentic representation of queer people in the mainstream media and theatre as there is a long history of this representation being absent or added for effect, said Vos.
However, when presenting and writing stories that do not centre on the facets of sexuality, there is space for non-queer actors to portray these roles, as they are not based on the performer’s identity in the narrative, opined Beth.
Acting in these roles provides a space for people to be open-minded and “fluid” about gender identity and representation, said Molefe.
“It’s always beautiful and inspiring for non-queer human beings to play queer roles because this shows [South Africa’s] diversity and shows that our country is willing to learn about the queer bodies,” Molefe said.
This debate, regarding whether non-queer actors should be playing queer roles, is an important one to have, said Vos. This extends to audiences, critics, writers, casting directors and performers, she adds.
When casting for the play, All My Ex-Lovers are Dead, director and scriptwriter Dara Beth cast actress Maria Vos (pictured above) as the queer character, They, to bring a holistic approach to the character and the character’s performance, according to Beth. PHOTO: Supplied/Woordfees.