Review: The Agents, brilliant satirical comedy, cautionary tale to chart our own mandates

The Agents is a darkly biting satirical comedy which received rave reviews at the Fringe at NAF (National Arts Festival, Makhanda) and in Johannesburg. The rave reviews and accolades are totally warranted. It is a wow. The play is on in Cape Town on the Pick of Fringe platform, curated by Caroline Calburn of Theatre Arts and Sue Diepeveen of The Drama Factory. They invited their favourite productions from NAF Fringe to Cape Town. The Agents is on at Theatre Arts and The Drama Factory until August 25, 2024. Several houses (an apt word as it is rooted real estate) have sold out and others have limited availability.  Try and get seats.

The Agents is screamingly funny and entertaining. It is a smart play, with a superbly crafted script, zany performances with clowning, mime and physical comedy and satire which zips and thrusts. The set is beautifully fabricated (framed glossy images of show homes and strip of tatty Astroturf – fabulous). The hideous wigs and wardrobe are a hoot. It is an action packed play. Toni Morkel in the director’s seat has knitted everything seamlessly together, choreographing each scene.  

On the face of it, The Agents is about a trio of unscrupulous estate agents who will do anything to upsell property to buyers, so yeah it is a look at the absurdity and irreverence of the industry.  However, underpinning this story is a wry take on property, capital and capitalism and most importantly – land. The jittery estate agents – brilliantly played by Kyla Davis (Brenda), Lisa Derryn Overy (Linda), and Roberto Pombo (Venter) clutch onto their mandates as they feed into fear, paranoia and anxiety of their clients who are looking for a safe haven. Buyers are seeking a bubble to call home, hermetically sealed off from the dangers – real and imagined. The world is troubled. True. You may go where you think it is safe, but what is the cost and where do we all fit on, in terms of our capability in enabling loss and rupture for others?

I expected the Agents to be a series of shticks and vignettes, taking the mickey out of merchants of real estate. It does that – with hilarious impressions by the trio of property merchants but there is a riveting narrative arc – a compelling story. A couple Jacques and Tanya have their first date at a showhouse for loft living. They are after an authentic lifestyle – with coffee shops and sushi and a school for their offspring (Phoenix) and pet (Biscuit – love that name). The play follows their journey. I won’t plot spoil but suffice to say that I was captivated by their story – their yearning for a Dream Home, safety, security and how it dissipates. In one scene, The Agents poignantly and movingly tracks child bearing aging and reaching one’s sell-by date.  Beautiful theatre. Ahh. This is juxtaposed against the mirth and hilarity in the narrative. I wanted to cry – as I laughed.

The Agent characters are exquisitely expressed by Davis, Overy and Pombo with their faces almost becoming cartoons as they channel the madness of these agent dudes. Their frenzied physical vocabulary heightens these larger than life Agents. They dance – yes they do and cavort around like Duracell bunnies. The energy is visceral and urgent. Brenda (Davis) is the alpha Estate Agent, bossing newbie Linda (Overy) and reducing Venter (Pombo) to tears. It is a masterclass in physical comedy, mime and that dovetails with the excellent script- devised by the actors. The accents are sooo Joburg – a portrait of upwardly mobile Jozi-ites scrambling for the Dream.

The Agents is a dark, dystopian story, with a level of tension on steroids. The humour and laughter line provides release and relief for a story which drills cuttingly into conversations that we need to be having around land, ownership, accountability for our country, our world. It poses uncomfortable questions. We should all be very anxious and afraid of what is at stake. It is an urgent cautionary tale – so funny it cracks you up- fun but also with the punch of satire which slices through the laughs and makes one think.  One thing is for sure, when I next meet an estate agent, I will start laughing. The take-home though, is for all of us to consider our dreams of authentic living. Don’t be captured by agents- of any kind. I am getting a bit cerebral here but this play delivered way more than I expected, I thought it would just be a fun evening at the theatre. The Agents is a gem of play- a cautionary tale, a call to chart our own mandates. The play received an Ovation Award at NAF. I would have given it a gold Ovation.

✳ Featured image: Lisa Derryn Overy and Kyla Davis in The Agents, Robaby Productions. Pic by Mark Wessels.