7de Laan

7delaan is quite simply the most entertaining soap I have ever watched this side of Britain's Coronation Street.

The show combines broad slapstick with melodrama with lashings of musical comedy and guest appearances by major South African writers (Andre Brink inter alia) and musical artists (Karen Zoid inter alia).

The only time I can remember the show touched upon tragedy was when the character Aubrey was killed off. As the audience was well aware, the actor playing Aubrey, Randall de Jager, had been killed senselessly during a break in at fellow actor's Helene Lombard's house which he had been house sitting.

This calamity provided a rare social realistic aspect to 7delaan. For the most part, 7delaan steers clear of race issues and concentrates on the diverse cultural lives of its characters to reflect the rich diversity of South African life. The leading hunk is the congenial Nico Panagiotopoulos, a swarthy Greek. Another non typical Boer is the charismatic Pedro C a m a r a, a Portuguese Namibian, speaking perfect Afrikaans. Much is made in the scripts of inter racial socializing but which rarely occurs in broad South African society; inter racial dating remains off limits.

Now the punch : the show is nominally performed in Afrikaans, the lingua franca of much of South Africa but only spoken as a home language by a fraction of South Africa's population. Yet it is sub titled in English which has paved the way for the show to be popular among all language groups. Even the occasional English dialogue is subtitled in English, making this show accessible to the hard of hearing, in a country yet to realise the need for closed captioning.

Initially the producers were reluctant to show black characters in other than an upwardly mobile light, casting them as entrepreneurs and professional people. A long standing running joke was the invisibility of Evelina the oft referred to but never seen domestic worker of the Terreblanches.

More recently, the show has introduced more socially realistic characters in the form of domestic workers Maria (Themsi Times) and Aggie (Mimi Mahlasela). Together with a low paid white shop assistant, Marko Greyling played by Francois Lemsley, they often indulge in exclusively Basotho conversation for which even the Afrikaners watching need to resort to reading the English sub titles.

Most of the younger cast members speak in a mixed English Afrikaans patois. Only older members of the cast strive to keep their Afrikaans language "pure". At any one time, there will generally be one cast member delivering their lines in English whilst others in the conversation speak Afrikaans. There will be other times when the English speaking world intrudes and the normally Afrikaans speaking actor will display their chops in English, with unpredictable results.

Whilst the younger actors tend to be cast for their looks, particularly the men, the women are generally cast for acting ability. Viewers of American soaps would be startled at the large girth of many of the ingénues. There is an emphasis on not showing large bosoms, with an exception for comedic effect. Flat chested actresses may apply.

There is a tendency to cast professional musicians. Francois Rautenbach, Fiks Mahola, Vuyelwa Booi and Waldemar Schultz among others.

There are world class talents in the cast. Anna Mart v.d. Merwe who has appeared as Christelle is the "go to" actress on the South African stage. When not directing episodes,as part of a 4 member team, actors Chris Vorster and Pierre van Pletzen are clearly brilliant in their acting. Vorster tends to underplay, whilst van Pletzen is a wonderfully gifted comedic actor whose physical comedy skills are best seen in his stage work. Van Pletzen never breaks character as the geriatric Oubass. Probably responsible for the best dramatic moments in the series is Wilna Snyman playing matriarch Madel Terreblanche. Snyman has remarkable dramatic timing and control.

Vinette Ebrahim is another wonderful talent and provides leadership to the young(er) actors working with her.

The recurring guest star Terrence Bridgett would be a star in any country. Only 7delaan could manage to have the outrageously camp character Jerome establish his "boudoir" under the kitchen table in church elder's Oubass apartment. The old and new South Africa in a head on crash.

Also worth applauding is the director Henry Mylne, known for keeping his actors moving.