An actor with a diminishing career, enlists the help of his dead father and grandfather to overcome a curse that has stalked this family for generations, pushing him to the edge of insanity, as he attempts to rescue his son from this ever-lurking, inter-generational, vengeful 'thing.'

SYNOPSIS:

Back history: Circa 1875, an impoverished immigrant-settler family from Germany arrives in South Africa, and is awarded a piece of land acquired by force in a frontier conflict, by the British government. Through the use of “local voodoo”, the original occupants of the land – indigenous tribesmen - summon an evil time-travelling entity to drive the German family off the land. We will come to know this entity as Nicholas, a human embodiment of St. Nick, aka the devil.

Series Commence: In 2008, aged 50, a biracial descendant of this talented German / African entertainer bloodline born on African soil – a once-popular actor - discovers through his own research into his family history, that things have not gone well for the men in his family throughout recorded history, up to and including his own life story to date. So he starts to write an autobiographical play about this subject, in an attempt to purge his own life of, and put an end to, this perceived generational curse. Such unprecedented action immediately puts him on Nick’s radar as a continuing problem to be dissolved once and for all. Concomitantly, in commercial theatre circles, the play will simply become a “self indulgent masturbation to be avoided”.

Evil Entity Nicholas (1) vs Ageing Actor Kurt (0).

Kurt figures this ‘curse’ as the possible reason for his professional demise and deep seated self-hate, in a society intolerant of ‘yesterday’s disposable celebrity’. He decides it’s his mantle to put an end to this curse once and for all, for the sake of his own children and their future generations to come. This contest is made more difficult in a country that despite its proclamations of justice, freedom and equality for all, has become more and more racially polarised, culturally conflicted and economically precarious.

Is Kurt losing his mind? Or is this mental condition simply a common phenomenon that plagues unrecognised genius?

Once this sanity/insanity line is crossed the ageing actor needs help, where no help is available. So he elects to write the stories of Sonny and Basil into his one-person play, as self-therapy and public entertainment. Realising his desperation, to his aid comes the ghosts of his grandfather Sonny (a saxophonist turned WW2 vet); and his father Basil (a suppressed singer turned 1950’s Whaler). Both of whose deaths came at the hands of the very same evil Nicholas-The-Fatherfucker, in their own times. Revealing themselves to Kurt marks a major reality shift in the narrative. But Kurt’s only actual weapon is his (their) talent, and the theatre stage. (A hotly contested cultural space in a very dysfunctional society).

In this newly engaged struggle against evil, Kurt’s young son Aston, a cricket prodigy from age 5, is drawn into the fray. While at the same time struggling to understand his crazy actor father, Aston dreams of rising to national notoriety in the game of cricket. At age 15, the boy joins his dad on a road trip to perform the play for it’s premier at the National Arts Festival – as his dad’s roadie and general lackey. On this road trip the ghosts reveal themselves to the young great-grandson, who struggles to come to terms with what is happening here! (“You’re making me crazy, dad.”)

The association of four generations of men, albeit with shifting racial identity in one family bloodline, make a formidable team. They confront this curse head on, like never before, as they tackle the challenges on either side of the veil that separates the realms of life and death. All the while the plays’ audiences remain oblivious to the battles happening on and off stage. And thinking that they are simply watching a play, the standing ovations abound. However, the challenges of creating career traction haunt this performer as he appears to be losing his mind with each passing day.

Unable to survive this powerful combination of Great-grandfather Ghost, Grandfather Ghost, Actor Dad and Sportsman Son, Nicholas recedes. Sonny’s work is done and he retreats to eternal rest, perpetual light. Basil decides to hang around a bit, just in case. Nicholas now singles out Aston as a solo target, now a grown adult man aged 23, separated from Kurt on his first journey away from home, to Europe – in his new career as an entertainment technician on a cruise ship sailing the Mediterranean Sea.

Watching over Aston as he travels is Basil, since Kurt is “okay now.” By pure coincidence, and through the careful observation, Basil discovers that Nicholas cannot tolerate any direct contact with water – and is restrained by any possibility of such contact. It happens as Aston ascends the gangway to embark on his first maritime tour, with Basil watching from the deck. He sees Nicholas try to follow Aston on board, but the ship’s cleaning staff spray high-pressure water all over the hull, which splashes very close to the gangway. Too close for Nicholas’ comfort. The water spray causes Nicholas to retreat to the dock, thereby exposing the hydrophobia weakness of this monster to Basil. Hydrophobia to a point of ‘death.’

Meanwhile back at home, thinking all’s well that ends well, Kurt starts to enjoy a more normalised life, assuming that sanity has returned to his troubled soul. The play has been bought by a local Banking Group to assist in their staff diversity workshops, and the money is good. Kurt takes up surfing. And every time he enters the ocean, he whispers an apology to the gods of the sea for Basil’s unfortunate occupation of killing whales for a living when he was alive, just so that his own children had food on the table.

One sunny afternoon in perfect but mellow surf conditions, Nicholas appears on a luxury speed boat, and attempts to ride right over Kurt while he is surfing. He takes rifle shots at Kurt. Sure death is imminent in the process. But in a completely unexpected turn, a massive Southern Right Whale breaches the surface right next to the luxury yacht in full breach. It turns in the air, and lands squarely on top of the speed boat – smashing it to smithereens and dumping the evil Nicholas into the ocean. It collects this ‘body’ in its mouth, and just before diving to the depths of the ocean with the evil monster in its belly, it makes direct eye contact with Kurt. Kurt believes he hears a voice say: “It is finished. All is Forgiven.”

Evil Nicholas (0) vs Rejuvenating Actor Kurt (4). Amen!

Word gets around in the Spirit World that people who died mysteriously, without dignity, with unfinished business, now have a new hero on the block. A once-catatonic actor has the ability to tell their stories, to bring them posthumous justice, and restore the dignity of their families. An agency is opened with the slogan in the window: “Ring The Bell if You’re Not Real.”

This bell will not stop ringing for many years to come – with people like Jimmy Hoffa, Louis van Mauritius, right up at the front of the queue of hundreds of ghosts outside the agency doors, wanting their stories to be told, to have their deaths to be exposed and resolved.

Choosing who gets to enjoy the benefits of Kurt’s ‘supernatural service’ is going to be a journey of rejuvenation for all – more especially for the once-diminishing Actor, to reinvent his stage career and fight invisible battles with the likes of the invisible Nicholas elk – who lurk through the visible world looking for lives to destroy – the lives of good folk – past, present and to come.