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Shannon Esra’s versatility has blessed viewers with such characters as Samantha Hugo in Lioness who was falsely accused of a crime, undercover investigator Caz O'Donough in Snitch and lawyer Angelique Scott in Isidingo. Interestingly, she first appeared on the SABC 3 soap as a troubled young woman named Yvette in her younger years.
But the trailblazing actress is most celebrated for her iconic defence attorney role Sandra Stein who goes down in history as South Africa’s first ever crossover character across multiple productions having appeared in The Queen, The River, Legacy and a few others. Sandra currently has viewers at the edge of their seats in Mzansi Magic’s Law, Love & Betrayal (Season 2).
Sandra Stein: A first for South African TV
South Africa's last bi-production house crossover when Kwaito, Kat and Seakamela appeared on 7de Laan for three episodes in 2021.
Lindiwe Dikana (Sindi Dlathu) and Harriet Khoza (Connie Ferguson) had crossed over between The River and The Queen three years earlier, however the telenovelas emerged from production houses with a reportedly collaborative partnership.
What makes Sandra so iconic is that for the first time on Mzansi’s small screen, a record was set by her ability to navigate various soapies and telenovelas produced by unrelated creative teams. Hers is a multi-production crossover, and never in South African history has a character existed across so many TV shows.
“Sandra is very utilitarian and a lot of our local stories sit under a big judicial umbrella. She becomes very versatile because she’s an exceptional defence attorney.”
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Not much is known about the enigma that is Sandra, which Shannon thinks intrigues people. The backstory, desires, motivations and childhood memories of this critically acclaimed character are only known to Shannon who has created them.
Viewers were teased with a sneak peek into the essence of Sandra in Legacy, after Shannon shared the character’s background with head storyliner Gillian Breslin.
“The fuller the character’s story, the more we can inhabit and play little things that a lot of people may not be aware of,” she says.
For Shannon, this adds another layer to Sandra’s texture.
Education and flexibility
Shannon’s portrayal of all these women whose stories are sometimes as gripping as they are jarring, epitomises the actress’s sentiment about the importance of training.
“I’m not necessarily saying it’s vital for someone to go and study drama because it’s quite expensive, and some of the curriculums are not very robust. But being unable to afford tertiary education doesn’t mean you can’t find other ways to educate yourself. There's a plethora of information out there,” she says.
She describes an actor’s job as exploring the human condition, saying actors need to be curious about what motivates people whether on a conscious or subconscious level.
In 2021, Sandra (Gomora) and Samantha’s stories unfolded simultaneously on the small screen, again demonstrating Shannon’s adaptability.
“Sam’s character was already developed, while Sandra was a guest starring role without her own arch, but rather facilitating the plot for the other characters. Sam’s journey was diversely different from Sandra’s.”
“I sometimes joke about how, if Samantha had a Sandra Stein she never would have gone to jail. But then we would not have had a story.”
Intellectual property
Where a lot of art is the intellectual property of the originator, the IP in this case rests with the broadcaster MultiChoice. Shannon explains that this is why Sandra is able to move around various dramas created by multiple creative teams and production companies.
There have been whispers for Sandra to cross over to SABC 1’s Skeem Saam, however, this would require a different set of rules and possibly even cause certain complications.
Explicit licensing or assignment rights to use the trademarked character would be required for the SABC to introduce the attorney to its own programming.
Shannon playing Sandra on different sets should not be misconstrued for typecasting because this is something known as “character continuity.”
It’s inaccurate to say Shannon has just been playing a lawyer, as these are different dimensions of Sandra.
The actress emphasises the importance of opening up the industry even more for women, as the roles they play are sometimes stereotyped.
Shannon has considered the eventuality of one day having to let go of Sandra, but believes there’s still space for the character to continue defending clients in court the way only Sandra can.
Just like the viewers, Shannon is open to the idea of a Sandra-focused show where this iconic character took the lead and really introduced herself to the public. But something for viewers to contend with is whether this would be fixing what's not broken or character development for Mzansi's beloved Sandra Stein.
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