AUTHOR GERDA TALJAARD CAPTURES REALITY IN HER MESMERISING FAIRYTALE DIE GRAFDIGTER

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In her latest book, Die Grafdigter (Tomb poet), author Gerda Taljaard plays imaginatively with language and story and it is the unusual title that gets your  mind racing. DIANE DE BEER speaks to the author about this remarkable novel:

Author Gerda Taljaard with her dog Iggy Pop.

It is the fairytale quality of the story meshed with a realism that keeps you questioning from beginning to end. That, as well as the double destination of motherlands with Russia and South Africa as the main focus, hooks you from the start.

I’m writing about Pretoria author Gerda Taljaard’s latest book Die Grafdigter, which has those in the know in the Afrikaans literature world talking.

She writes, she says, for the same reason she reads: to escape harsh reality. With this one, she wanted to explore a completely different universe from her own. And what she picked was the world of Chekhov, Tolstoy and Dostoevsky with snow-covered landscapes, lakes and forests.

She remembers an uncle who could tune in to Radio Moscow during the apartheid years, a time when Russia and its people were referred to as the rooi gevaar. “I think he and my father were keen to find out what was behind the Iron Curtain,” she says.

During one of these radio adventures, she heard a most evocative piece of music, which she tracked down many years later. “It is an original Ukrainian song titled Ukrainian Poem written by O. Kolichev and performed by the orchestra of the Russian army. “It immediately captured my imagination,” she explains. “I could see the steppe, mountains and frozen lakes in my mind’s eye. That was the original spark!”

She also points to a time when she was very young and had to share a bedroom with her grandmother for six months. “Naturally against my will,” she hastily adds.

It was only much later that she realized what an impact it had and how richly she was rewarded by a woman who had a wonderful way with rhymes and riddles as well as macabre fairytales like the Baba Jaga stories.

“With her facial expressions and voice maneuvers she conjured up a magical world for me. These included tales from the subconscious, emotional, irrational and primitive streams of thought. It means you could capture people’s deepest fears and desires in an authentic way.

“Jung said it best when noting that myths show life more accurately than the sciences can.”

And then there’s another plus, Taljaard’s language. As a South African who speaks Afrikaans but writes in English, I was mesmerized. It’s the flow of the story being told in a language that’s familiar and accessible, yet completely novel. “Afrikaans is part of my being,” is how she explains the astonishing use of her home language. “It’s the language that formed me and in which I am driven to write.”

She loves buying old dictionaries in which she finds many unfamiliar Afrikaans words. “I am astonished by how many words I discover and how many simply disappear from our vocabulary. And these are exactly the words I need to give new life,” she says.

“Afrikaans, like Zulu, is a very poetic language, which is the aspect I want to elevate to aesthetically tell my stories.” And she does this with great gusto and success, resulting in an extraordinarily pleasurable reading experience. I had huge fun discovering all these novel words and phrases I had never heard before.

As far as the choice of countries in this tale, it is the many points of contact between Russia and South Africa which first caught her attention: the oppression of the majority by a privileged minority; the isolation by the rest of the world, followed by freedom and reform and the hope of a democracy; the disappointment caused by corruption; the stop and start between progress and decay; equality and inequality … and there’s more.

Because she uses a child to tell much of the story, the balance between reality and imagination is blurred, which adds to the glorious fairy-tale quality and also keeps the reader off balance throughout. It feels as though there is a constant battle between good and evil, which again locks strongly into the reality of what is happening internationally today.

She introduces two thoughts which illustrate what she is hoping to achieve with this wondrous book:

We should show life neither as it is, nor as it should be, but as we see it in our dreams. ― Anton Chekhov, The Seagull

While you are living, part of you has slipped away to the cemetery. ― Elizabeth Hardwick, Sleepless Nights

And then, of course, the title, Die Grafdigter (The Grave Poet) which immediately propels you into a far-away landscape.

Roughly translated, this is how it starts:

It is the beginning of an endless winter. A grandmother and her granddaughter find themselves in the heart of a forest.

They are desperately looking for food when they spot a reindeer. The grandmother, or Baboesja as her young charge Mila calls her, tells her that you should look a deer in the eye. If you then cannot find the courage to shoot it, you aren’t hungry enough.

These are life lessons for the young girl who will have to fend for herself someday. But her elder is so thorough that Milla’s world is filled with a richness that never absconds.

Nothing simply happens; it is as though you are there. For example, the twilight drapes itself across the house, grows like an ink smudge over the kitchen and sleeping quarters and stretches beyond the sideboard on which Baboesja places the reindeer’s head.

It is detailed yet subtle, never overwhelming – to find that balance with such rich language is a feat. It could so easily lapse into writing that is more about the language than the story and that is the quickest way to antagonize readers.

That’s what I found so astonishing and why this is a book that will be read again and again as the story keeps unfolding with rich meaning.

She doesn’t simply write that it rains; rather, the wind hurls sleet against the windows and without saying it directly, the names of the two characters, the ferocity of the storm, and the reindeer, all point to the place this story is set.

It’s sassy and smart, seemingly without much thought as it sweeps you along in an icy cold wilderness where a young girl is being fiercely protected by a cantankerous older woman, raised in a manner that is determined not to hide the harshness that might be waiting in her future.

And yet, because of the fairytale-enhanced dreamworld that constantly appears, the writing also evokes a visual quality that magnificently illustrates these characters we are accompanying and getting to know.

Taljaard is someone who has developed a unique voice that matches her storytelling qualities. I thoroughly enjoyed her last book Vier Susters, because I am one of three sisters and there was much to identify with.

This one knocked me sideways because it was so original and yet so relevant in a world where war is raging all around us and threatening a life’s order we have become accustomed to navigating.

It’s as though she not only read the zeitgeist smartly but also latched onto a future which feels more frightening every day.

THE OPERA SINGER HAS PERFECT PITCH

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REVIEW BY DIANE DE BEER

THE OPERA SINGER

PRODUCED BY TONY FLACK, TROUPE THEATRE COMPANY AND THE THEATRE ON THE SQUARE

STARRING FIONA RAMSAY AND OWAIN RHYS DAVIES

WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY JANNA RAMOS-VIOLANTE

VENUE: THEATRE ON THE SQUARE, SANDTON

DATES: 17 to 19 March (7.30 to 9pm), 20 and 21 March 5 to 6.30 pm and 7.30 to 9pm) with similar schedules from 24 to 28 March

A NOTE FROM JANNA RAMOS-VIOLANTE

I wanted to write THE OPERA SINGER because I am deeply interested in the stories we tell about greatness and in what those stories leave out.
We celebrate artists at their peak. We applaud them, photograph them, quote them. We call them icons, divas, legends. But we rarely stay long enough to ask what it cost them to become that, or what remains once the applause has faded. We are very good at consuming brilliance. We are far less comfortable sitting with the human being behind it.
THE OPERA SINGER is a woman who gave everything to her art. Not symbolically. Literally. Her body, her relationships, her youth, her possibility of an ordinary life. She was rewarded with adoration, but adoration is loud and fleeting. Love is quieter. It stays. That distinction became central to the writing of this piece.
Opposite her stands Theo, a journalist. Not a villain. Not a hero. Simply a man who believes, or hopes, that truth can be captured in words. Journalism in this play is not an attack, but a question. Who owns a life once it has been written about?
What happens when private pain becomes public narrative? When does documentation become theft, even when intentions are good?
I am interested in the uneasy space where art, journalism, and celebrity meet. Where the hunger to understand collides with the need to protect. Where truth is slippery, memory unreliable, and identity something that keeps shifting depending on who is looking.
This is not a play about opera. It is a play about devotion. About the choices we make in the name of calling, and the parts of ourselves we quietly abandon along the way. It is about fear, and discipline, and the seduction of being seen. It is also about ageing, and what it feels like to exist in a world that no longer knows what to do with you once your prime has passed.
I hope this piece invites you not just to watch, but to listen. And perhaps to leave thinking a little differently about the lives we admire, the art we consume, and the cost we rarely see.

What joy to have the supreme Fiona Ramsay back on stage in a production written by her regular collaborator Janna Ramos-Violante. And welcome back to her as well on a local stage, living as she has in Europe these past few years. We’ve missed her sharp and incisive voice.

She’s written a thought-provoking play that encourages Ramsay to show her remarkable artistic prowess. There’s so much to admire here, the writing, the staging and the acting – all in ascendancy throughout.

But even more than that, it is a play that’s mesmerizing from start to finish as it draws the curtains on that hidden side of being an artist. Who isn’t intrigued by these backstage secrets, the hidden lives of performers who have to step on stage and share the most intimate details in a story written by someone else?

Through the years Ramsay has given her audience extraordinary characters she has inhabited with her whole body, soul and voice. And this time she brings the flamboyant ageing opera star to glorious life. She looks and plays the part to perfection.

It’s a delightful production that allows the actors (Ramsay and Rhys Davies as Harrington, who brilliantly captures the fan/foil to the irascible fading artist) to play out different scenarios as the artist and the journalist face-off, reflecting the nature of their relationship.

She also shines what she describes as a questioning light on the role of the journalist, who hopes to invite the audience to experience truly great acting or criticize the way a performer might be telling a particular story.

And yet,with the arts always fighting for their very existence, for everyone involved, specifically those with passion, it’s a delicate balance. If you’re not truthful (good or bad) about a particular production, who will trust your guidance in the future?

But who can claim the right to make that judgement? And yet, each one plays a particular role, and hopefully in the end, it’s all driven by a passion for the arts.

As a performer, director and playwright, Ramos-Violante has always had a very strong voice. She interrogates her world with a sharp eye and gives different points of view for her audience to digest. She is intimately familiar with that world and knows all the pitfalls, most of which have no solution but come with the territory, which doesn’t necessarily make it right or wrong. As in many professions, it just is.

She has always had an interesting take on things, writes brilliantly and, in this instance knows her subject. She throws it out there and gives the experienced Ramsay free rein which she claims magnificently.

If you’re interested in theatre and the arts, this is soul food. And especially in these times when everyone is battling for your time and presence, it’s marvelous to witness good old-style theatre with content which has never been more relevant.

STAR POWER AND ORIGINALITY IS MARTY SUPREME’S SECRET WEAPON

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Review by DIANE DE BEER

MARTY SUPREME

DIRECTOR: Josh Safdie

CAST: Thimothée Chalamet, Odessa A’Zion, Fran Drescher, Gwyneth Paltrow, Tyler Okonma, Sandra Bernhard, Abel Ferrara

VENUES: Ster Kinekor

 Marty Supreme is a star effort.

The theme of table tennis didn’t thrill me, so I skipped this movie until I heard an interview with the two stars, Chalamet and Paltrow. I was intrigued. 

Then Paltrow came out of self-imposed retirement for her role, which also says something.

Chalamet impressed in Call Me By Your Name, but it was especially the Bob Dylan movie, A Complete Unknown, that caught my attention and that I loved. Paltrow has been away from the screen for some time, yet this role tempted her and she’s back.

It’s the story of Marty Mauser, a shoe salesman with an ambition to become a world star – by using his charm and his ping-pong skills. You have to meet this exuberant, frantically frenetic young man to run with his story. And run you do.

It’s not only the story, but it’s also the performance and the pace, which hardly allows you to catch your breath or debate the deals that are struck to get this young man to his first high-profile tournament in England. This is where he hopes to kickstart his dream of becoming the world champion.

And while Marty is scheming and dreaming all the way, it is as though he is constantly hanging by his nails from the 10th floor of an apartment building. Forget the image a table tennis tournament might call up in your psyche, it is the choices made by director Safdie that are the real star of the show.

Everything screams originality, and that’s where they really hook me. It’s the way this almost throwback grifter’s tale unfolds, unravels and then picks up speed again as Marty fixes or flinches his way through the latest calamity. It’s not that he means to cheat his way to the top; it’s that he believes if given the chance, he could really make it. It’s his belief that it is owed him that lends his enterprising jockeying the appearance of acceptability. 

When he really wants something, he takes it. And then wiggles his way out of the latest precarious pickle he has singly manufactured to reach his dreams. He is never allowed to forget that he is trespassing in a world that shuns him. Yet, he pushes through.

The fact that Chalamet, with his superstar appearance, was cast is a stroke of genius. You need his talent to pull it off as an actor. They managed to downplay his dreamy, glamorous side, which makes a huge difference. It’s subtle but smart.

Paltrow also plays her part in a role that suits her to a T. She is old-time glamour, she doesn’t have to represent it. And, again, smart choice; it is one of her best performances as she takes risks and pushes boundaries, which she pulls off simply because of who she is – in the film and the real world. 

Lots of contradictions there, but they make it work, especially in today’s world where everything is about appearances, who you are and whether you have money.

It is all the little things that add up to turn this into a story that’s fun, yet keeps the focus on the underlying serious issues. It could all have been a huge mistake, but because of the attention to detail, it works. 

This is Safdie’s first solo effort as director. He had previously written and directed with his younger brother Benny as the Safdie Brothers before they decided that they wanted to follow their individual dreams. If this is how Josh launches his solo effort, his future is one to watch. 

FROM BEETHOVEN TO THE BEATLES, THIS TRIO ROCKS THE RHYTMS WITH THE CLASSICS AND JAZZ

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South Africa’s own Charl du Plessis Trio are celebrating 20 years with concerts throughout the year, as well as the launch of their 10th CD. DIANE DE BEER highlights their celebrations of what has been an extraordinary career for this musical trio:

Steinway Artist Charl du Plessis is joined by long-time collaborators Werner Spies (double bass) and Peter Auret (drums) for a reflective journey through two decades of crossover music-making –  both on stage and on their latest album.

As one of the most unique and recognizable musical ensembles in the country, they have built a special audience who enjoy their crossover of classical and jazz tunes with very unique Du Plessis orchestrations and a style that these three individual artists have created together.

Travelling wide, both locally and internationally, they have built a following from Zeerust to Zürich, Stellenbosch to Shanghai, and for those of us watching, follow a punishing schedule that few could imitate.

The way they have perfected their unusual operation, skillfully streamlined the way they rehearse, travel and perform, which allows each one of them to perform on different platforms, is phenomenal and something that budding artists could study.

The Trio was formed in 2006 with Charl and Werner on board while Peter, the latest member to join nine years ago, has worked with them for 18 years as a recording engineer. “Initially, I established the trio because I wanted to play ‘real jazz’,” explains Charl.

The crossover route came later, almost organically. “It was never the plan to mix classical and jazz music.” And that probably is the key to their success – the unique combo. As Peter points out, it isn’t as if there aren’t other musicians doing a similar thing, but it is the unique infusion of the three styles and their musicality that holds the key.

Their many years of working and travelling together has turned them into an unusually tight group, which is visible and audible in their music. That is their strength and as a bonus  their professionalism on and off stage. They have discovered a niche, which has been honed, growing an unusual brand all their own.

Just their instruments, how they choose on which one they play, (Charl, for example, travels with his piano, you have to see it to understand).

He first came to Pretoria as Nataniël’s accompanist and knew that he would have to create and work at his own career. The Charl du Plessis Trio was a result. Not only does he have a double doctorate (classical and jazz music), he also found two magnificent musicians with whom he could develop a specialist genre because of their different skills.

The programme for the anniversary features instrumental favourites, works by classical composers, and a selection of Charl’s original compositions. “Virtuoso improvisation and finely balanced ensemble playing offer an intimate listening experience and a tribute to highlights from their 20-year history.”

The latest CD, which was recorded in Joburg a month ago, is their 10th. Their previous one was recorded during Covid (can you believe, five years ago) titled It Takes Three.

This one offers the music they performed over the past five years, a little bit of Mozart and Beethoven with a jazzy edge and several Beatles songs. “That’s especially what we have been performing most recently, and the traction of the Beatles music was high; people really loved it!”

The title of the album is Take a Sad Song and Make It Better which Fab Four fans will immediately recognise. And that is the perfect representation of their music for these three musos: “We take sad classical music and jazz it up,” says Charl, who is thrilled with the balanced mix of music on this latest addition.

Performance schedule:

*Knysna February 22

* Fairtree Atterbury Theatre March 21/22 (with the launch of the CD on the first night)

* KKNK April 2

* Henley-on-Klip May 9

* Robertson Stadsaal June 5

*Baxter Theatre  June 6

* Hermanus Fynarts June 7

* Stilbaai   June 8

* Johannesburg Linder August 30. 

FOR AUTHOR MARITA VAN DER VYVER AND HER HUSBAND ALAIN, HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS

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Author Marita van der Vyver who has been living in France for most of her adult life recently returned to her home country to promote her latest book My Jaar van Vrees en Vryheid (My Year of Fear and Freedom), and hopefully the Afrikaans version will be translated soon. DIANE DE BEER interviewed her with a live audience:

Marita van der Vyver, Picture: Jaco Marais.

“I think if you lose your language, it’s because you want to lose it,” says Marita in response to my remarking on her excellent Afrikaans after so many years spent living in France. “Your language will always be part of you,” she admonishes.

And that’s the thing about this author, she’s been around and done many of these travelling book tours, which though a welcome financial opportunity, can probably be exhausting. Having done many of these as the enquiring journalist, my empathy always remains with the authors, but I also enjoy these conversations because they’re usually keen to promote their writing.

I was delighted when I realized the book I was sent by the publishers was a memoir rather than fiction. Either would have been fine, but I was looking forward to reading about her travels.

When she and husband Alain decided to embark on this extraordinary journey, many things were in play. “I didn’t know whether the marriage would still be intact following this adventure,” she admitted.

And at the start of their expedition, a book wasn’t on her mind. As a writer she always takes notes and to generate an income she wrote for Litnet, Daily Maverick, Sarie as well as Vrye Weekblad, which was still publishing at the time of the journey.

She never stopped capturing moments along the route. Back home there was a sigh of relief because the marriage had stood the test; in fact, their relationship was stronger than before.

That was what turned her head to a book. In the first chapter she explains the reasons for the journey, which was the result of the confluence of many incidents. Writers, she tells us, always live things twice. “You live it in the moment, but then you’re always standing back and observing, living it a second time when you write about the experience. Only then do you know what you truly felt about it.”

“Once I was writing, I could really understand what I had experienced,” she explains. She admits to being very honest and once you read the book, you will understand and agree.

Initially she was going to write a travelogue, but regular first readers (honest friends), encouraged her to delve more deeply into their lives. This wasn’t an easy time and without her husband’s permission, she would never have drawn back the curtains so sharply, revealing much more than many would care to share.

This is also what makes this such a fascinating read. Wherever you are in your life’s journey, relationships play out in many different ways, but there are always incidents that will remind readers of their own lives. That and because Alain wasn’t only a willing participant but also the comic relief (“he’s funny naturally,” says his wife).

Travelling, as we all know, can be huge fun, but it’s also hard work and often extremely trying to make your way in foreign lands.

When writing, Marita is always very protective of her family. Yet writing a memoir depends on the author opening up, making themselves vulnerable. But her husband easily agreed and their relationship and togetherness contribute warmly to the enjoyment of their journey.

Yet, it also meant that she had to share the details about her husband’s depression and addiction. During Covid, as for so many freelancers, her income evaporated. Being an Afrikaans writer who is trying to make a living in Europe includes many different jobs. She has to do functions, writing schools, talks to various groups and more. All of this was impossible due to the pandemic.

Together with the reappearance of Alain’s depression, her world collapsed. Depression and addiction often go hand in hand, but both of these had been under control, until it wasn’t. “There were none of the usual aids, including psychologists or AA meetings, everything was cancelled. His regular psychiatrist had to turn to the physical needs of those struggling rather than mental health issues.”

Suddenly their needs changed drastically, and she thought of something written by James Baldwin in Giovanni’s Room: “Perhaps home is not a place but simply an irrevocable condition.”

That and the way the couple adapted to their year-long journey is what is so deftly and delightfully sketched by Marita, who made all the right decisions to turn this into so much more than simply traveling from one country to the next, and from one continent to another.

Isn’t that just the dream of many people? And yet it always sounds more romantic and achievable than it is. But here Marita and her Frenchman show how it can be done, even with all the odds against you.

And perhaps even more than the travels – and I truly enjoyed and relished every little byway and highway – it’s about two individuals who might be at the end of their time together, trying to give it one more chance.

Who can resist? Marita is a writer who knows how to tell stories and with this one she instinctively realized what had to be done. The fact that Alain agreed to everything tells me much more about their marriage than any book could. How could they not survive?

Because of the originality of the book, I am hoping and holding thumbs that it will be translated for a much wider audience. Not only will it inform you about the way to approach something of this magnitude, but it also proves when two people are meant to be together, their happiness has a much bigger chance of survival.

And what could be a better panacea than going off on a madcap adventure crisscrossing the world. After all, as one of her other favourite quotes by the Egyptian Naguib Mahfouz remind us: “Home is not where you are born, home is where all your attempts to escape cease.”

So lets keep moving …

MARABI HOLDS AND CHERISHES MEMORIES OF OUR PAST – GOOD AND BAD

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REVIEW BY DIANE DE BEER

Pictures: Ngoma Mphahlele

MARABI

DIRECTOR: Arthur Malepo

CAST:

VENUE: Market Theatre

DATES: Tonight (7 pm), tomorrow 3 and 7pm, and Sunday at 3pm. The show has been extended until February 22

The times they are a changin …

And that is why this was such an excellent choice to launch the 50th anniversary of one of our country’s icons, The Market Theatre.

Marabi is the kind of show which celebrates and recalls a past which many would rather forget yet must be a constant reminder of where we come from. When Sebotsane is asked about his character’s name, July, he casually responds that it’s the month he was born.

His interrogator laughs and responds that had he been born later, it could have been August. And we are reminded how even names were loaded during those harsh years.

The balance of this mostly joyous production is perfect. Because it is rooted in the music of the time, there’s a nostalgic element which while telling a harsh story of survival, always leans on the music to hold onto the dreams while fighting the good fight.

That’s what has always been part of this country and its people, especially during the darkest times. Marabi reminds us how life was and where we are today. And that we will always have the music, perhaps the most haunting element of the show.

The cast is a big one with mostly seasoned actors and you need that with this production, which needs the full cast to be accomplished actors, dancers and singers.

Even though we are reflecting on times when most people in the country had no rights, looking back has a certain bravura to it. We’ve made it through. When watching it the first time, that luxury was not available and The Market was one of the few theatres allowed to have mixed audiences … lest we forget.

Director Molepo was part of the original cast and the perfect choice. He gets the mood right, allows a clever text to have impact while softening the blows with a glorious mix of music and movement.

The lighting is also used magnificently, sometimes bathing the stage in shadows so that the singing is the standout performance.

Theatre is such a fantastic barometer of life and what is happening around us. It helps to put the world in perspective, allows the emotions to bubble over in a safe space and, more than anything, reminds us the importance of artists and storytelling.

These are different times, but the world outside our borders is a precarious one. Marabi is a reminder of how much we’ve changed – and also of how much we still have left to do. Yet more importantly, while everyone seems to be moving backwards, we must keep forging ahead. Of course, there are bumps in the road but we have battled many before and won.

This is one for those of us who lived through the past, but also for a new generation who doesn’t quite understand or even believe where we came from. If nothing else, the music should be part of our memories. Even the youngsters in the audience were singing along, which is evidence that we can cherish some key elements of the worst times.

And hats off to the genius piano player who kept us tapping our feet from when we entered the theatre up to the curtain call!

SINGING THE BLUES

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REVIEWED BY DIANE DE BEER

BLUES IN THE NIGHT

Presented by Joburg’s Market Theatre in partnership with Hattiloo Theatre from Memphis Tennessee

CAST: Chastity Alliston, Zan Tarria Edwards, Jamille Hunter and Grant Kee

DATES: Until February 22 at Joburg’s Market Theatre

This Tony-nominated musical states that it celebrates blues, jazz and gospel classics, and their connection is with love, resilience and especially the emotional lives of Black women.

It is described as a scorcher in which the soul of the blues wails out full and strong through hot and torchy numbers. It also weaves the sweet, sexy, and sorrowful stories of three women entangled with a lying, cheating man.

For the record, songs by legends such as Bessie Smith, Duke Ellington, Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen, Alberta Hunter, Jimmy Cox, Ida Cox, and more feature but probably what surprised me more than anything was how little I knew of any of the music performed.

It’s as if we (or perhaps that’s simply the shows I saw) focused on only a few familiar numbers like the title song as so much of the music was unfamiliar to me. But, instead of this being a negative, I found that exciting.

The performers are perfect for this musical challenge. The powerhouse Edwards, with a voice that seems to go on forever, is masterfully complemented by the sweet-toned Hunter and the smoky Alliston, while the solo male singer Kee, carrying the burden for the rest of his absent gender, uses his voice and jaunty presence to do the talking.

Not only was I witnessing an unfamiliar cast, it was also the music that overwhelmed me from start to finish. The first half felt a bit like a journey through the world of blues music, while the second half upped the rhythm as well as the vocals, which gave the audience a nudge to swing with the party.

This is music that was created to illustrate the pain of oppressive times, and like here, music was usually the platform where artists could express themselves. This show was picked specifically for Black History Month, which marks its 100th year in 2026.

The centenary calls for “an honest reflection on memory, healing, culture, as well as the condition and position of Black bodies in a still increasingly divided world.”

This milestone further coincides with The Market Theatre’s 50th anniversary, a powerful connection that presents a rich opportunity for representation and amplification of unheard voices.  It is directed and choreographed by Emma Crystal, with musical direction by Dr. Ashley K. Davis.

And while on relevant dates, this is also the 70th anniversary of the historic August 9,1956 Women’s March, focusing the spotlight even more sharply on that especially neglected group, Black women.

Founder and CEO of Hattiloo Theatre, Ekundayo Bandele, and Artistic Director of The Market Theatre Foundation, Greg Homann, recognised and embraced the common histories between the two theatres in staging socially engaged works that prick at their respective nations’ collective conscience.

“From South Africa to the US, generations of oppressed people have sung their way up against discrimination, racism, subjugation and dispossession as an unstoppable wave. This year as we proudly present Blues in the Night for its African premiere, we also celebrate music’s ability to remind us of our shared humanity despite our fractured times,” shares Homann.

They aim to keep this exchange going – both to the advantage of performers and audiences.

*Playing alongside also at the Market is our own musical theatre classic Marabi, which will be reviewed later this week.

TO ADMIRE YET NOT TO LOVE, THAT IS HAMNET’S PROBLEM

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A review by Diane de Beer of a much talked about film with many nominations for the different award shows:


Jessie Buckley stars as Agnes and Paul Mescal as William Shakespeare in director Chloé Zhao’s HAMNET

Pictures: Agata Grzybowska

HAMNET screened by Ster Kinekor

Director: Chloé Zhao

Screenwriters: Zhao and the author Maggie O’Farrel

Cast: Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, Emily Watson, and the children Bodhi Rae Breatnach, Jacobi Jupe and Olivia Lynes as well as Noah Jupe who plays Hamlet when it is staged in the film

Oscar Nominations: Production Design, Actress in a Lead (Jessie Buckley), Writing (Adapted Screenplay), Best Picture, Music (Original Score), Costume Design, Casting, Directing (Chloé Zhao)

It was exciting to have the chance to see a much talked-about film especially because I still haven’t read the book, something I regret because from the moment it was published, the literary world was buzzing.

Sometimes, though, when seeing a film, it’s an advantage not to know too much and yet it has sadly been a letdown.

I am still going to read the book because now I’m especially intrigued. As I was watching without being totally engaged, I wondered whether this wasn’t going to be one of those where the book rather than the film served the content better.

But I was surprised because Zhao’s Nomadland had enchanted me, especially for the way she used landscape as yet another character rather than a backdrop/setting for her story.



Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley with Bodhi Rae Breathnach as Susanna and the twins (with their backs to the camera).

This time, the story deals with real-life people, although the intrigue about Shakespeare and his life is the constant speculation about the playwright and who he really was. This has never worried me because his writing is so exquisite, remains constantly relevant and in the hands of different directors have been giving fresh meaning, which keeps it going from one generation to the next.

And with this one, Hamlet is arguably the one that most people have connected with even if Romeo and Juliet is perhaps the more obvious one. Here though the story delves into the beginning of Will’s life as a playwright, the way he and his wife Agnes meet, she the daughter of someone described as a forest witch and then his rise in a completely different world.

From the start, I was puzzled by the extreme lushness of the forest surrounds and my lack of engagement with the story unfolding. I have been enchanted by so many Shakespeare productions and am such a fan of the director, who had such a strong sensibility in Nomadland with her casting and telling of that particular story being so authentic and original.

Nevertheless, here I felt the opposite. I struggled to find the emotional heartbeat of the piece even though there was much to suggest it; it felt like too much hard work was visible.

It’s a tough one to explain because there is so much that really works. Jessie Buckley, who everyone is raving about, is lovely and Paul Mescalf was the perfect William Shakespeare, arguably the most difficult role to cast.

Watching the first production of Shakespeare’s Hamlet

Watson, as one could have assumed, is the perfect mother of Will and the three young children, especially the youngster, Jacobi Jupe, in the role of Will’s young son. It’s a performance of depth rarely witnessed in someone so young.

Sadly, not so of the older Jupe, who perhaps had one of the more difficult roles as the one who had to perform one of Shakespeare’s most iconic speeches, To Be or Not To Be.

In the theatre, where this one belongs, it often determines the success of that performance and perhaps even more so here because it is one of the few times Shakespeare’s words are used in the film. It doesn’t work, alas, and that is a real problem. If you’re going to include something everyone will be familiar with, it has to be astonishing.

I’ve highlighted a few of the niggly moments which detracted from this being a story that grabs you emotionally from start to finish. For me, it is still worth watching, because it is beautifully made with some spectacular moments.

Yet it was disappointing though that it didn’t pull me in as it should have. Fortunately, there’s still the book.

SIMPLY LEAN IN

~ debeernecessities


Review by Diane de Beer

Gerard Bester (left) and Alan Parker

Photographs: John Hogg

SOMETIMES I HAVE TO LEAN IN
Choreographer & Performer: Alan Parker
Director & Performer: Gerard Bester
Dramaturg: Gavin Krastin
Text (“Wallflower”): Gwydion Beynon
VENUE: POPArt Theatre
DATES: Today at 3pm

It’s difficult to let people know in time to catch one of the shows at Joburg’s POPArt, because they have short runs, but that’s also the purpose of their theatre.
It’s for an easy yet discerning theatre crowd who like seeing something unusual and probably not available at a more traditional theatre.
It’s one of the delights of theatre that it offers such diversity. And this particular venue is a great example.
This present production has been around for a while starting as a commissioned work for Dance Umbrella in 2018 before playing at the Live Art Festival in Cape Town and most recently in 2024 for the National Arts Festival in Makanda.
Gerard Bester and Alan Parker created this delightful physical theatre piece playing with ideas that possibly featured in their own lives as ageing performers which begins as soon as you pass through that first theatrical endeavour.
Rather than focusing on age, it’s looking at two performers who have been in the industry for some time and are leaning in to find not only themselves and each other but also a way to be creative – not only on stage but also, hopefully in the world.
There’s a sweetness and a melancholy to their approach which might seemingly come across as quite lowkey, yet delivers a strong emotional punch.
It’s the unusual way they both move, sometimes leaning against a wall or in-between each other or simply trying their best to lean over while being held tightly by the ankles.
It’s about bringing those emotions into the light so that you cannot resist embracing the storytelling as well as the performers.
Perhaps co-director of POPArt, Hayleigh Evans says it best: once she saw it a few years back, she knew she had to present it at POPArt. It’s exactly right for this neighbourhood venue that’s easy to access, casual yet professional in its approach and yet another fabulous way to experience theatre at its most pleasurable.
With Bester and Parker’s experience, their easy approach and their individually original style, it’s yet another way to access life and all the challenges thrown our way.
Simply lean in!

To check out upcoming shows and events:

https://popartcentre.co.za

or

CONTACT:
General: +27 83 245 1040
email: popartjhb@gmail.com

ADDRESS:

POPArt is now located at 59 Dorset Road, Parkwood / Greenside East

INDIVIDUALLY AND AS AN ENSEMBLE THE CATS PERFORMERS PURRED PERFECTLY

~ debeernecessities

By Diane de Beer

CATS

Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber

Based on Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by TS Eliot

Associate Director and Choreographer: CHRISSIE CARTWRIGHT

Musical Supervisor: PETER MCCARTHY

Assistant Choreographer and Director: MATT KRZAN

Musical Director: LOUIS ZURNAMER

Resident Director: DUANE ALEXANDER

Sound Designer: DAVID GREASELY

Lighting Designer: HOWARD EATON

Cast: A MARVELLOUS ENSEMBLE OF 20 PLUS PERFORMERS with a FANTASTIC BAND OF MUSICIANS led by LOUIS ZURNAMER

It’s pretty much a flawless production, this latest version of CATS, which has been staged 25 years after the first production was showcased locally.

How far we’ve come and how much we’ve seen and yet, this remains one of the best musicals staged locally with much of the praise due to a fantastic cast and production team including the musicians.

In a production of this size, it takes the very best to pull it off and that’s exactly what we have here. When looking through the cast list I was surprised that I didn’t recognize too many familiar names and yet the full ensemble was phenomenal with not a weak link to be seen.

I’m not going to single out any names because they simply all shone from start to finish and this is not an easy show to pull off. Not a paw or a whisker out of place. And the magnificent, choreographed movement and music sung to perfection made you part of this feline gang revitalizing and reimagining their lives.

Further enhancing the production is the dazzling lighting, which in turn enhances solo performances, spotlights sudden appearance or embraces the production full on.

But the clutter of classy cats are the centre of the attention and this clever musical based on TS Eliot’s poems adds innovative flair to this most unusual musical performed by cats.

That is what makes it so intriguing and mesmerizing and as this production pulls you in, it’s easy to see how hard these performers have worked to get this one right. It’s not an easy ask but they have met the challenge full on and we, the audience, are the winners.

I can hardly remember the production all that time ago but I do know that this is perfectly staged, with a cast that leaves you breathless. As someone remarked, they have been rehearsed to an inch of their lives.

It does, however, take that kind of performance to make this work. If we don’t get swept away by the performances and the music, it simply won’t work.

It is a young cast but one that has mastered the skill of presenting a show that never flags for a second. From the first furry paw and big back-stretching arch, we’re right there in the junkyard where this scrappy yet classy coterie entertains us with their memories and magical mysteries.

Pieter Toerien has long been the puppet master of local musical standards with shows that equal the best in the world. This one does his own high expectations proud.

Don’t miss seeing this breathtaking cast give a dazzling display of how to manage one of the toughest theatrical endeavours with ease. And as much as you admire the ensemble that makes it happen, it is also that the production team have encouraged each individual performance to be a standout.

It’s a musical put together of many magical moments with each individual performer creating their own gold standard. It starts with brilliant casting, young performers who achieve magnificence and breathe life into every move their feline characters make and a production team who reached for the stars.

With these performers grabbing the opportunity to show their best, it also looks towards the future of local musical theatre.

Here’s to the next 25 years!