An actress from Ravensmead says her role in an upcoming play will focus on serious subject matters such as gender-based violence, apartheid, racism, identity crisis, classism, substance abuse, politics, discrimination, stigmatisation, crime and poverty.
Lisa Gombard will star in her first professional play, a comedy called Curl Up and Dye.
“This is my first professional play, however, previously I was part of an amazing team at Arepp Theatre For Life. We toured around schools in South Africa. From performing puppetry shows for foundation phase kids to life orientation based plays for intermediate and senior phase. We toured extensively in the Western and Eastern Cape. I loved performing for the kids, as they have such a pure and genuine energy about them. I really enjoy working with children and would love to someday be a teacher,” says Gombard.
While it is Gombard’s first professional play, she appeared in the acclaimed movie Barakat.
“Barakat was my debut in the local film industry. Some of the cast members were people that I grew up watching. I played the role of young Fadielah, who plays the younger version of June van Merch’s character, Fadielah. It was awesome and such a great experience and opportunity working with my industry peers such as Bianca Flanders, award-winning writer and director Amy Jeptha and producer Ephraim Gordon. The Film has also won and been nominated for multiple awards. As well as being selected as South Africa’s official submission for Best International Feature at the 94th Oscar Academy Awards in 2022,” says Gombard.
Future plans
Gombard is looking forward to the future.
“I envision myself being a successful actress, as performing arts is my chosen career. I don’t just act, I dance as well. ‘Curl up and Dye’ is part of my journey in becoming successful in my art. I have a loving family and friends who support me in what I do and I appreciate and enjoy their love and support.
“I am a God-fearing woman who is a very happy-go-lucky type of person, with a flair for anything related to food and the arts. I’m level headed, practical, down to earth, ambitious, a self-proclaimed-cook, sucker for romance and stubborn to a fault,” she says.
More about the role
The character Gombard plays is Rolene, a hairdresser in a Salon called “Curl Up and Dye International” set in Joubert Park, Johannesburg.
Rolene is a coloured woman who struggles with her identity and who suffers from many forms of abuse.
For Rolene, it’s always been that constant struggle with her identity as a coloured woman living in a white area.
The salon is her safe space, where she feels like she can just be.
She is revealed as a woman who has been living a lie her whole life.
“She is an absolute mess and all of her ‘shame’ is being exposed here. She projects her shame onto others to gain control and take charge. Rolene, like most of us, is just a broken woman, who carries the weight of her trauma on her shoulders every day. She is this broken soul trying to get a hold of her life, but also facing the reality of how difficult that is. The fact that this play was written and set in the 1980s and is still very much relevant till this day says a lot about us as a society and how much we still need to improve as a country.”
Curl Up and Dye will be performed at the Olympia Bakery in Kalk Bay until 24 December.
You can buy tickets on Quicket.
