| What: Ms.B-haved Writer/performer: Sue Diepeveen and cast of voices Director/story editor: Natasha Sutherland Lighting design: Wicus Louw When: October 25 to November 1, 2025 Where: The Drama Factory, 10 Comprop Sq, Henry Vos Close, Asla Business Park, Strand, Western Cape Booking: With credit card www.thedramafactory.co.za or call 073 215 2290 Parking: Yes – secure on-site Tickets: R200/R180 for seniors and students Group discount: R170 a ticket for groups of four or more – WhatsApp 0732152290 |
Can we talk? Watching Sue Diepeveen perform in her darkly funny play, Ms.B-haved, reminded me of the tag line/catch phrase of the late, great, comic, Joan Rivers. Uhhm, well yeah but make sure, you are using the correct lingo. Diepeveen plays Sally Burkett, a teacher who was once loved and who has been deemed to have mis-behaved. Will she redeem herself out of her home office, where she must cajole and woo online students, across Zoom and other social media platforms? It is an intriguing play that has got me thinking about a lot of issues, which go beyond the classrroom.
In Ms.B-haved, the audience is gathered into the Time Out Zone, aka the Naughty Corner, to laugh with Sally Burkett through the panic and anxieties of her situation. She muses that she survived dial up internet. She has mastered Spotify. She is fully engaged in technology; on it, with it but flummoxed at the situation she finds herself in. She is flummoxed by the ever changing language. For instance, parents are no longer ‘parents’. They are ‘caregivers’.
At the heart of the play, Diepeveen is posing: What does it take to be a teacher nowadays and deal with parents – uhhm – caregivers? Yes, it is important to regulate the classroom, parking lot and ubiquitous WhatsApp groups. The WhatsApp group has usurped the parking lot chat group, in many ways and that is the reality – technology and the screen is the dominant force in our landscape. But, within that, what about human connection, when hugging and touching is off limit? There is good reason – to keep children safe – from predatory teachers. Absolutely, but how does one transcend rules to bring human connection into the mix? I am being cryptic because I don’t want to plot spoil the reveal of what has consigned Sally to teaching purgatory – back to the horrible days of online teaching – during the pandemic. Teachers had to master technology that they were unfamiliar with, such as Zoom and get with it, fast.
Diepeveen, the owner and producer at the Drama Factory knows the teaching sector. She taught for 25 years. Her teaching career included running a private drama studio, teaching drama extra-murally in studio and at schools. In addition, she taught curriculum drama in private and government schools. She no longer teaches as running the Drama Factory takes up her time but she continues to associate with contemporaries who are teachers. She hears their stories as they grapple with dealing with rules, regulations and lingo and the technology it is bundled under.
It is not easy being a school teacher, that is for sure and this quirky play is a cautionary tale. Parents/grandparents – aka caregivers – please see teachers, beyond the “other”. We are not talking about the predatory teachers out there. We are talking about the teachers like Sally Burkett who see teaching as a calling, the “good” and “loved” teachers. But oops, we can’t say “loved”, okay. We can’t say that teachers are passionate about their work; oops no, wrong word.
In the play, the gaze is on the domain of school but the play ignites issues on how we behave in domestic spaces. Is it going to get to a point, where we will have to put up signs in our homes that traces of nuts may be on the kitchen benchtop? Should we ask for the signing of NDA forms (non-disclosure agreements) before hosting a dinner party? May we hug each other? Go see the play and you will see where I am going with this. Sally Burkett is the kind of teacher, one wants in one’s corner – as a caregiver or learner.
The fabulously energetic Sue Diepeveen channels the feisty warrior teacher – moving from bean bag (love that bean bag) to desk, to floor, donning props to excite her online students – trying to find the mirth through the panic and anxiety. Terrific physical comedy, timing, under the careful direction of Natasha Sutherland (also the story editor). I love the simmering energy – like a volcano about to explode – and the pops of colour from the furniture which looks like it was ordered online from Takealot.
Diepeveen’s energy ignites the space in her lair in the home office. Her characterisation is terrific as she channels a range of characters. I love the use of pre-recorded voice overs which bring in the different characters in the story, through voice Thank you, Sue Diepeveen for not using a screen, and depicting the scrolling of WhatsApp messages. This is pure theatre – playing with space, props and voice. The script uses elements of stand-up comedy and puts us at ease so we can as I say, laugh through panic, with Ms. B-haved in the Naughty Corner, Time Out Zone, whatever you want to call it.
✳ Featured image – the home close room, Ms.B-haved, written and performed by the feisty, fabulously energetic Sue Diepeveen. Pic: Robyn Cohen/TheCapeRobyn, October 26, 2025, The Drama Factory
