Portraits of a time in Bohemia – Written and Sung by Christof van der Berg – Review by Frank L.

Bohemia is not the place in Europe famous for glass but that time in a young man’s life when the important pleasures of the human soul come into view, how with friends the desire to discover those pleasures, nurture them and indulge them but conscious that that particular time of your life is finite in duration. It is the time in life which Puccini so brilliantly evokes in La Boheme. For Christof van der Berg, Bohemia is not the Left Bank of the Seine in Paris in the middle of the nineteenth century but the area outside Cape Town known as Constantia at the beginning of the twenty-first century. He and a group of friends with creative talents lived, loved, drank, danced and worked upon their dreams.

Lillie’s Bordello theatre is a space entirely in tune with the atmosphere of Bohemia. It is from a nineteenth century era of red plush wall paper, many closely hung gilt framed pictures and leather armchairs and sofas. Mimi in Paris in the nineteenth century and undoubtedly her friend Musetta would have been familiar with such a décor. And indeed some of Mimi’s familiar companions to an extent do indeed occur in Christof’s gentle, warm and deeply sensuous Bohemia, even if money is a problem as it was in Puccini’s La Boheme. Before the portraits are revealed by Christof, another young song writer and definitely a chanteuse, Zeinab Elguzouli, with tumbling raven locks, accompanied by one Leopold on the piano, sings a selection of her own songs on the relevant theme of love lost and won.

Christof is a gifted wordsmith who has written a series of songs to describe the ambience of his Bohemia. To do so he draws skilfully, lovingly shaded portraits of some of his close companions and as new friends permits each of us to share in their fears, hopes and dreams. He is himself of slight build, with a magnificent shock of thick, black hair and with a light dark beard and goatee which reveal from time to time a smile which must have helped him greatly in his Bohemia and still works its charm. He creates a warm aura about his Bohemia and indeed himself.

However it is the songs, his impressive voice and his splendid piano playing which are the stars of this “time in Bohemia”. His performance seemed to be over before it had begun. His friends whom he had so skilfully drawn had become our friends. But nothing is forever. A “time in Bohemia” had sadly to end as it did in reality even for Christof. A splendid evocation of a time just past, just out of reach.

Portraits of a time in Bohemia by Christof van der Berg launched at the opening of the Library Theatre in Lillies Bordello on 26 February and will run for the month of March. For bookings: connect@lilliesbordello.ie