Maria Benschopf offers ‘nothing to laugh about’ at Theatre Guild

Maria Benschop’s sketch Nothing to Laugh About that takes a satirical swipe at everything from drug accused Roger Khan to Carifesta, opens at the Theatre Guild next weekend as fresh social commentary that had been long overdue.

She offers up a string of parodies, which in her own words, “evokes laughter in retrospect”. Maria is a first-time writer and though she is nervous there is enough visible passion and a keen commitment that indicates she may do just fine. As a plus, she has Henry Rodney wearing the director’s hat.

Henry admits that like Maris, he had initial fears and doubts, but immediately shrugged off the feeling after reading the script. He credits her as being fairly good for a first-timer, adding that the potential is there for her to grow into a stronger writer.

Maria is good with satire, he says, while pointing out that she has a way of looking at things and analyzing them that is interesting. He smirks as he relates this, but quickly points out that Nothing to Laugh About appeared effortless for her. “She must be onto something,” he added.
Maria told The Scene in an interview this week that the intention was to take a few things in the society that are topical and present them with a witty edge. She means issues such as narco-trafficking, the failed war on bad manners, infidelity, cultural debacles etc.

She disclosed that the original idea was not to present the material in play form, but rather as a short television series. Funding for the project turned out to a sore issue and she was forced to re-think her plans. In the end, she decided to do the show at the Theatre Guild and give back to the Guild.

“I thought about it and said why not give back to the Guild which is back with us after such a long time so the proceeds from the show are for the Guild’s restoration programme,” she added.

Maria said the show is serious as it is funny, explaining that it brings to the fore issues that are of critical importance to the country. But she noted that the time has long past for people to lament on the various issues, and that it is perhaps time to have a laugh.

Henry supports this point. He said the show is not out to get anyone; there are no targets just a few choice subjects. He said too, that a little satire can be good since it allows people to discuss issues in a lighter way.
Though there is a segment on Carifesta, Henry was keen to use a string of young, emerging actors who all benefited from technical training as part of the preparatory workshops for Carifesta X, which was held in August this year.

“Interestingly we have a cast of seasoned but more so fresh actors many of whom were part of Carifesta and they are able to crack jokes about it,” he added.