The play occurs at Miss Hellen’s home.

Miss Hellen Martins, a senior woman, finds solace in

her artistic work since the passing of her husband. Her Home in Niue Bethesda is the safe space
where she displays her collections which include sculptural images of mermaids and owls. The
collections have attracted the attention of the locals and foreigners. The art highlights Miss
Hellen’s struggle with present and past issues- loneliness, love, beliefs, passions- in her life. The
art also highlights the mood in the South Africa during 1970s when apartheid and isolation
reigned supreme. Her home was the only space she could freely express her thoughts and
attitudes.

Elsa Barlow, a school teacher in her early thirties, is miss Hellen’s friend and confidant. Their
bond is more like a mother daughter one given the age gap. Unlike the locals, Elsa treats Hellen
as a normal being who deserves love and respect regardless of the person she is perceived to be.
Elsa visits Hellen from Cape Town without notice after receiving a suicidal letter from Miss
Hellen. Miss Hellen is distraught by the emptiness, darkness, and doom that surrounds her life.
Her Mecca no longer excites her, and darkness is slowly consuming her artistic glow. The play
depicts the cycle of life in solitude that is characteristic with moments of confusion, despair,
happiness, suicidal thoughts, creativity and innovation and depression amongst others.

Taken by surprise, Miss Hellen is annoyed by her friend’s lack of courtesy. A confrontation
arises between them. Elsa makes a pretend departure before coming back again. The house is in
dire need of a makeover and cleaning, and so is Miss Hellen. In the later conversations, Elsa
shares her frustrations, experiences and recaps the events that have occurred in her life. At this
moment, the writer points out the political climate at the time of the play. Elsa faced disciplinary
action for sharing liberal views with her pupils. Strict segregation laws were a common practice,
challenging such laws openly was equivalent to breaking the law. Elsa’s liberal beliefs made her
treat people of people equally. She demonstrates this by helping a black woman who was
trekking for a long distance with a baby on her back.

Elsa stands out as the more as, the more talkative one while Miss Hellen is more reserved in the
play. Elsa shares her love escapades and how she had an abortion. At the same time, Hellen
reminisces her past love discussing how much she misses her late husband and her passion for
creating art. From the discussion, the author highlights Hellen’s loneliness, creativity, passion
and confusion in solitude. Miss Hellen’s story is that of someone trying to hold on dearly to
something she can no longer control.

The other purpose of Elsa’s visit is to ask her not to move into a retirement home despite the
pressure from locals. Locals had segregated Miss Hellen based on their perception of her
character as expressed through her art and choice of lifestyle. Elsa relies on Miss Hellen for
guidance and inspiration and is afraid of losing a close friend to the home. On the other hand,
Hellen’s main fear is the darkness that is consuming her light. Elsa eventually convinces her not
go to the home.

The author figuratively brings out the apartheid mood through the use of solitude and the use of
characters of the same race as the main act.