“DEURnis”: a made-up word for a “doorway to compassion,” with “deur” meaning “door” and “deernis” meaning “compassion” in Afrikaans. 

For the first time in history, as the unique show approaches its 10-year anniversary, that doorway to empathy will be leaving South Africa as the show makes its international premiere at the Scene Dock Theatre. What makes “DEURnis” so unique is that it is an interactive experimental theater piece, where one audience member and one actor are paired in a room for an approximately 20-minute scene to unfold.

“I didn’t set out to premiere it internationally. When talking to [‘DEURnis’ creator] Johan [van der Merwe], he mentioned that next year is the 10-year anniversary of ‘DEURnis,’ and that they’re planning to do a documentary about it,” said Lara Botha, project director for the show and a sophomore majoring in acting, stage and screen. “Johan was the one who suggested it, I asked him if I could do a different one-woman show… He was like, ‘Oh no, don’t do that one. You guys should do ‘DEURnis.’’”

In addition to simply bringing the show to an American audience, Botha was also responsible for translating the original text from Afrikaans to English. 

“There’s always something that’s a little lost [in translation], but I think that’s one of the reasons why I wanted to be so involved in overseeing the entire project, because now I have an opportunity to also communicate that to the actors,” Botha said.

The show is being put on by Aeneid Theatre Company and contains six individual monologues, but when experiencing it, audience members must choose between Package I — consisting of ROU (raw), TOETS (test) and BROEI (hatch) — or Package II — consisting of NAT (wet), KOUD (cold) and WITVLAG (white flag). Audience members are also required to sign a waiver upon arrival due to the show’s sensitive topics and intimate moments.

“It’s really about highlighting how theater can challenge how we tell stories,” said Peter Zhu, ATC’s artistic director and a junior majoring in narrative studies. “We can tell these stories and address these things in such distinct, specific and impactful ways that ‘DEURnis’ is the perfect way to give us insight into: This is a way you can examine intimacy in performance, so specifically and so powerfully, that you just can’t do with any other medium.”

Putting this show on and making it work for USC was not an easy feat, especially since the show is traditionally adapted for a space, not around a space. But van der Merwe has been very helpful with all answering questions and providing the support that Botha has needed.

“I have regular calls with him, asking him for his guidance and his advice, because the way we’re doing it here is not how it’s typically done,” Botha said. “Usually it’s written for the space. So they pick a space, and then the writers would write new pieces for that space. The writers would also write it for a specific actor that they know.”

But the difficulties have not been a roadblock, as the team has continued to work hard and create the show for the USC community and beyond. According to Zhu, the key is knowing there are challenges but working strongly together to solve those challenges.

“It just comes down to expecting that there is going to be stuff that we don’t know to figure out, and then going in and being like, ‘Okay, I’m here. Let’s just all do this together,’” Zhu said.

From a purely conceptual and logistical perspective, the show is certainly a challenge. Audience members have, at times, found it difficult to wrap their heads around the idea of a one-on-one show, but another challenge has lied with the actors.

“A big part of my process was bringing the truth to [my character], and also bringing this terrible story to life, that while this specific story is not true, it’s still true to so many people out there,” said Aaron Eichenlaub, a sophomore majoring in acting, stage and screen who plays Johnny in ROU (raw). “I do hope that it’s really uncomfortable for [the audience], because that’s what this is. It’s very uncomfortable. And I think that’s the point of a piece like this, is to bring awareness to it.”

Eichenlaub, along with five other actors, will be performing his piece nine times a day for the duration of the two-weekend run. In addition to traditional memorization and blocking, he has focused on mental preparation, ensuring that he remains aware of his identity while playing this character.

“You can talk about it all day, but I think it’s such a feely thing, when you’re in the chair and when you see it happen, or experience it happening to you for the first time. It’s so unlike sitting in an audience seat in a traditional theater sense,” Botha said.

“DEURnis” was unlike any other show, especially at USC.

“I think empathy has gotten a reputation as something that’s easy and a fluffy emotion, but real empathy is actually really uncomfortable and really hard,” Botha said. “‘DEURnis’ kind of forces you. It holds your attention for 20 minutes to go on this roller coaster with someone, and by the time you walk out, you’ve truly experienced someone else’s story.”

“DEURnis” runs at the Scene Dock Theatre through May 3.