The quiet hurt of being different: MOFFIE comes home to SA

The South African

16 hours ago

This September at The Baxter, MOFFIE returns home in a new one person stage production, an invitation to remember, reflect, and reckon with a part of our past that still lingers in many South African men today.
As a director, I've always been drawn to stories that live below the shadows, that are missed. MOFFIE is one of those. At its core, it's the story of a young gay man conscripted into the South African army in the 1980s, a place where being different was dangerous and being gay could cost you everything. It's also a story about a pointless war that wasn't even a war, the so-called Angolan Border War, that swallowed up teenage boys and turned them into silent men. Behind it all was a system, state sanctioned, militarised, and brutal, designed to teach hatred. Hatred of self, of others, of anything that didn't conform. It shaped a generation, and many of us are still living with the consequences, whether as someone who served or someone who inherited the trauma from those who did.
This new stage production, based on André Carl van der Merwe's novel and beautifully adapted by Philip Rademeyer, is not a staging of the film. It's an exploration of André Carl's book and the words he wrote, based on his diaries from his time in the army as a conscript. It's a deeply personal examination of that experience.
Beloved and award-winning actor David Viviers steps into the role of Nicholas, a young gay conscript whose story unfolds over one hour of memory, reflection, and reckoning. My hope is that this story will offer audiences a space to reflect, to sit with discomfort, to find recognition. Maybe even a chance to release. Award-winning actor David Viviers steps into the role of Nicholas. Image: Supplied
Many of us know men who went into the army as teenagers and came out changed, some in ways they've never spoken about. Some of those men are still here. Some of them never made it home at all. The brutality of the apartheid system didn't end with the border war or with South Africa's hard won democracy. It seeped into families, relationships, and entire communities. And for queer South Africans, the cost was even higher, rejection, erasure, and the constant threat of violence.
MOFFIE doesn't offer neat conclusions. It's not about blame or redemption. It's about bearing witness, about asking what it means to survive something you were never meant to talk about, and driving home the message that these men trying to mould us into something we're not, they must not be able to touch us.
This piece has just come off a critically acclaimed five star premiere season in London, where audiences, many of whom knew little about South African conscription, and some who went through it, were floored by the emotional impact of Nicholas's story. But it's here, at home, that this work truly belongs.
We've attempted to build something that's intimate, stripped back, and raw. Niall Griffin's design cradles the performance in light and shadow. Charl Johan Lingenfelder's sound design immerses the audience in the sounds of the SADF in the 80s, an experience he personally lived through. This isn't about spectacle. It's about feeling something deeply.
I don't know what MOFFIE will mean to you. Maybe it will remind you of someone you love. Maybe it will stir something you've kept locked away. Maybe it will just open a door to empathy. That's enough. That's everything. Join us for this powerful and timely production.
MOFFIE is presented by the Common Humanity Arts Trust in association with The Baxter Theatre and runs from:
2 – 27 September 2025 at the Baxter Flipside Theatre in Cape Town, with performances from Tuesday to Saturday at 19:30, and matinees on Wednesdays at 15:00 and Saturdays at 15:30.
Tickets range from R150 to R240
Book now at: The Baxter
This article was written by: Greg Karvellas, a South African theatre director and producer. His work focuses on bold, emotionally driven storytelling, often exploring identity, memory, and belonging. He is the former Artistic Director of The Fugard Theatre and currently works across South Africa and Europe developing new stage productions.