Category: author

RINGMASTER SYLVAINE STRIKE GATHERS THE BEST AROUND HER FOR A FLOURISHING SPRING AWAKENING

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The ensemble wih the love-struck couple (Scarlett Pay and Dylan Janse van Rensburg) in the front.

REVIEW BY DIANE DE BEER

Pictures: Claude Barnardo

SPRING AWAKENING

Based on the play by Frank Wedekind

Books and lyrics: Steven Sater

Music by: Duncan Sheik

Featuring: Dylan Janse van Rensburg, Scarlett Pay and Jonathan Conrad with Gemma Bisseker, Killian Blerk, Jude Bunyan, Tatum Grace Coleman, Jayden Dickson, Noa Duckitt, Skye Themeda Goss, Ché-Jean Jupp, Gabriella Knight, Jasmine Minter, Tumelo Mogashoa, Hannah Norcott, Nandipa Nyivana, Benjamin Stannard, Tjaart van der Walt, Gerhard van Rooyen (graduates and under-graduates) and playing the two adults, also former students of LAMTA (The Luitingh Alexander Musical Theatre Academy), Francis Chouler and Natalie Robbie

PRODUCERS: Anton Luitingh and Duane Alexander

LIGHTING, SCENIC AND COSTUME DESIGN: Niall Griffin

SOUND DESIGN: David Classen

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR AND ASSISTANT MUSICAL DIRECTOR: Anton Luitingh

CHOREOGRAPHIC SUPERVISOR: Duane Alexander

VOCAL DESIGNER: Annemari Milazzo

MUSICAL DIRECTOR: Amy Campbell

CHOREOGRAPHY: Anna Olivier and Naoline Quinzin

STAGE MANAGER: Sarah Wolhuter

DIRECTOR: Sylvaine Strike

VENUE: Pieter Toerien Theatre, Montecasino

DATES: May 5

Spring Awakening a production for current times.

Perhaps Spring Awakening is the reason Sylvaine Strike is only now directing her first musical. It was destined to happen with this particular show – and she does it magnificently.

If anyone was up to this specific task, she was. Even more than I knew, because I was unaware of her teaching responsibilities at LAMTA, Luitingh and Alexander’s Musical Theatre Academy in Cape Town that invited Strike to direct.

In her programme notes, she explains that  her  students understood her approach “tackling the very controversial themes – from a physical rather than a psychological perspective – possible, and ensuring that the sexuality, heartache, and rebellion we activated during the rehearsal process always came first and foremost from the body. This was apt seeing that the impulses of adolescence also spring from this turmoiled yet effervescent well. Whether we explored the private agony of self-consciousness; the damage of self-doubt; the wreckage of hormones on both mind and soul; the pain of parents’ inability to accept a child as they are; or the blossoms of sexuality growing their gentle tendrils of yearning and fantasy throughout adolescence …”

Much of the magic is in the movement.

Her mantra was to seek a physical way to manifest these feelings and to create the characters from that specific place.

And even though I didn’t know any of this before watching this production, it was the movement and the choreography that grabbed and gripped me throughout. It was so clever and crafty to use this in both solo and ensemble numbers and even with the very specific movements of the two adults to exactly capture their strictly restrained and fastidiously maintained lives.

I kept wondering who the choreographers were, as they who would have been completely aligned with Strike’s vision because of her very detailed rehearsal process. Not surprisingly, but also with kudos to the producers and director, they picked two of their talented graduates Olivier and Quinzin, who did an amazing job both incorporating and executing their work to perfection. It adds currency and electricity to the performances that translate masterfully.

But that was just the start of the cohesion of the whole. Again the programme notes capture it best when explaining the electrifying adaptation of Wedekind’s Spring Awakening into a contemporary rock musical, which Strike rightly salutes as the key to the current success of the piece. She is convinced (and I agree) that the sheer brilliance of Steven Sater’s lyrics and Duncan Sheik’s music makes the return of this classic possible and heightens the relevance of the themes as long as there are adolescents in this world.

To pull it off though, it needed the razor-sharp vision of Strike, her pinpoint accuracy in the detail and, more than anything, the artists she surrounds herself with, assigning them to their specific fields of expertise. Even though she and designer Griffin had never worked together, she trusted her instincts and tasked him with all three design elements: lighting, costume and set, all of which establish the feel and the atmosphere of where and how the story unfolds.

 It’s brilliant. From the set that transforms with only a few movable parts to the costumes that speak volumes in their simplicity but also carry an underlying theme, as he experimented with the authenticity of the fabric, to the lighting that enhanced what he had already established with the set and the costumes.

All of this would have been superfluous without the right cast. It starts with their youthfulness. Undergraduates and graduates of LAMTA, most were already familiar with the director’s ethos, and it shows. Performances are spectacular and some of the solo moments quite breathtaking.

Spectacular singing with individual tones from Johnathan Conrad and Dylan Janse van Rensburg.

There’s too much to take in and remember in one sitting, but the performer I couldn’t turn away from was the unusual Johnathan Conrad. It needed someone like Strike to cast correctly, but it was as if the theatre gods had handed her a mini Mick Jagger in looks and talent. As the overwrought and picked-upon Moritz Stiefel, his every move, the singing and the presence never faltered  –  a wonderful foil in a complex production.

The love-struck Scarlett Pay (as Wendla Bergman) and Dylan Janse van Rensburg (Melchior Gabor) are radiant as the couple who cannot resist one another, and their singing captures their hearts’ desires magnificently. Another standout was the luminous Noa Duckitt as Ilse Neuman.

Two standout performances from Noa Duckitt as Ilse and Johnathan Conrad as Moritz Stiefel.

The music holds the show and the singing had to soar for the show to come alive. Again, musical director Amy Campbell teaches at LAMTA and wisely she was in charge and harnessed all her skills to get this working perfectly. More than anything it is the individuality of the different singers surrounded by the more gentle ensemble singing (more often than not) that rocks this one.

Finally it is Strike who pulled it all together. You can have all the talent in the world, but if the story isn’t told with one voice, it has diminishing impact.

Strike doesn’t miss a beat. She has gathered artists young and old around her to tell this striking story that affects us all at some stage in life in the best way she knows how. It has purpose, it holds you in awe from beginning to end, and you are engaged in and enraged with these youngsters as they fight for their right to live their way.

I was spellbound.

SPRING AWAKENING BLOWS INTO GAUTENG’S PIETER TOERIEN THEATRE, MONTECASINO LIKE A BREATH OF FRESH AIR

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PICTURES BY CLAUDE BARNARDO.

Niall Griffin dying the costumes wearing protective gear.

When Niall Griffin was invited to take on most of the design elements (set, costumes and lighting) for the Sylvaine Strike-directed Spring Awakening, he was nervous going into the process because living up to the expectations of a legend can be daunting. He tells DIANE DE BEER about the experience, which he describes as the highlight of his career:

Spring Awakening, presented by Cape Town’s Luitingh Alexander Musical Theatre Academy (LAMTA) as their first book musical, also marks the first time that Sylvaine Strike has directed a musical. 

Based on the controversial play that was written in the late 1800s by Frank Wedekind, Spring Awakening delves into the lives of a group of adolescent students discovering their changing bodies, their sexual identities, urges and desires, all while navigating the oppressive and draconian societal norms of the day. 

Under Strike’s visionary direction, this reimagined production (with a very young cast) brings the gripping and emotional story to life as it explores complex themes such as self-discovery, repression and the power of rebellion. 

Niall Griffin, a designer with a mission.

And while there was initial anxiety, once the work began, Griffin knew instantly that he was on safe ground. “The care, respect, trust and sense of magical play that Sylvaine instilled in our journey together are unmatched in my career. I think we both felt an immediate understanding of each other and were both amazed at how perfectly our style and ethos merged,” he says.

“We care immensely for our process, our casts, our team and our audiences, sometimes to our detriment, but finding someone with that same level of care has been one of the greatest gifts of my career.”

Being familiar with the level of detail Strike approaches when making a play, all of the above sounds like a match made in heaven.

The vibrant young cast in Spring Awakening

Accepting the challenge was a no-brainer for a designer who is also described as an industry legend. “There are musicals and then there are musicals. Some are light and frivolous and the perfect escapism and then some hit you harder in a place that truly moves you. Spring Awakening is the latter for me. The little rockstar hit that came out of left field to take Broadway by storm,” is how he describes it.

“It deals with things that we’ve all been through or are going through, both good and bad. All too often, in this day and age, we are driven into false beliefs and horrific mental health issues because we carry such shame from our experiences. The show, as heartbreaking as the story is, leaves one with love, compassion and a sense of togetherness. The human condition is not singular. We are not alone. We all need a little more love in our lives… and who doesn’t love a bit of Victorian-era deliciousness?”

Describing the process, he explains that what began as an exercise in replicating period fabric developed into an exploration on how possible it was to create an entire show from natural fibre. “Our planet has rapidly become saturated with ‘the synthetic’ and I believed this show needed authenticity in every aspect if it was to have the impact it deserved.

“The entirety of the show’s design is manufactured from purely natural fibre. Costumes began as neutral cotton that were dyed with natural dyes. The set is sustainably sourced wood and hessian made from vegetable fibre. It has been an incredibly educational and rewarding process.”

It is that process that piqued my interest, especially when basically the whole look depends on the outcome. Griffin understood that taking on the full production design across set, costume and lighting was a huge undertaking and not for the faint hearted.

“My driving force is to find a seamless synergy between all departments. What I term ‘one organism’. While taking on full production design is huge, it does make knitting a visual together far easier. Even though this show was Sylvaine’s and my ‘maiden voyage’, it was clearly destined, as our sensibilities and aesthetics couldn’t be better matched.”

And there’s the key, something they obviously both understood. “Theatre design to me, at its core, is about designing emotional response. I needed to immerse myself in the emotional journey of the piece, the high and low tides, in order to find its design core,” he notes.

For him texture is far more than paint and dye. “I spent a long time with the score and libretto and, to quote the Gen Z’ers, ‘felt the feels’. This is how I approach the majority of my design work, from a place of emotional honesty. It’s about finding the heart of the piece.”

Describing his process in more detail, he began with the sets, followed by costumes and finally lighting:

“When it comes to scenic design, my favourite moments in theatre are when a space manages to completely morph its texture, feeling and setting without all the ‘big toys’ and flash. A threatening storm can become something else, in mere moments, with a shaft of light breaking through the clouds. I wanted the space to morph seamlessly so that the emotional flow wasn’t interrupted by a clunky scene change. Finding the balance between something that can feel both oppressive and beautiful was a challenge. Using exposed wood was a no-brainer for me. Wood is a material that carries its growth with it forever. Its rings and knots and imperfections are part of it. This felt poetic to me.”

When it came to costuming, he wanted to create a uniform that felt prescribed by an oppressive regime, “a regime trying to erase the individual and force uniformity. I felt this would underpin the narrative journey of our characters rebelling against the blind norm by illustrating how prescribed uniformity cannot erase the burning fire of the individual.

“Every costume, from head to toe, has been lovingly made from scratch. They are all individually hand dyed and aged, and this is where I started to sneak the individual into the uniforms by aging and breaking down each individual’s garments with their own personality. Some of this detail may not be evident to the audience, but it was important to me that the cast could experience their costumes in this way. I truly believe that what the cast feels in their costumes translates into their performances.”

Lighting delivers the final flourish. “Sometimes, at the speed a musical moves, the audience needs to understand an emotional shift quickly, and this is where lighting was vital to me. I wanted the world to feel murky and rich, like an oil painting come to life.”

If the successful runs in Cape Town are an indicator, this has all been achieved, as the visuals will attest.

And Griffin has his final say: “Making theatre, especially non-replica productions, in South Africa in the current climate is hard work. Creating an entire musical from scratch was a feat second to none. I have a team of remarkable artisans that I work closely with and whom I would be nothing without. They all share my level of delivery standards and they all jump into the deep end with my crazy ideas. A tribe second to none. I couldn’t be prouder of the product, and watching audiences experience it in Cape Town has filled me with so much joy.”
* Performances run until 5 May 2024 at Pieter Toerien’s Theatre at Montecasino with shows from Wednesdays to Saturdays at 7:30pm and matinees on Saturdays and Sundays at 2:30pm. Tickets cost from R200 through Webtickets. Please note that Spring Awakening contains mature themes, partial nudity, sexual situations as well as explicit language. No persons under 13.  

SOPHIE JOANS, AN ISLAND OF INSPIRATION

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The luminous Sophie Joans in a solo performance of a play she has written.

Theatre review of ÎLE finishing this weekend at Sandton’s Theatre on the Square by DIANE DE BEER

PICTURES: PHILIP KUHN

ÎLE

WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY: Sophie Joans

DIRECTED BY: Rob van Vuuren

DATES: Today at 7.30pm; tomorrow at 5pm and 8pm

When you’ve been around in the arts for as long as I have, it’s always an unexpected  thrill to discover a new talent.

Solo performances are obviously a handy talent to have in your bag of tricks because of the precarious nature of theatre and the performing arts. If you have to rely solely on managements, festivals and directors to keep your career going, it could be disastrous  –  and tough on your anxiety levels.

With the ability to write and perform, you can create your own work, pack a bag and travel from stage to stage or whatever entertainment platform you prefer. If you have presence, which is something that’s difficult to explain, (you either have it or you don’t), it’s a gift that should be cherished.

Sophie Joans has all of the above and more. It’s a powerful package. She’s also obviously smart to not go it completely alone but to have the skilled Rob van Vuuren on board, someone who has made the stage his home, as director.

She bounces on stage bubbling with energy and enthusiasm and launches into a travelogue with Mauritius and her mother as the main destinations – and right from the start, she holds your attention with a smart and hilarious script. She taps into the ever-fraught relationship between mothers and daughters, where the one is wise if weatherbeaten and the other knows all the answers and doesn’t want to be prompted on how to proceed in life.

We all recognise family foibles in some fashion, but this is where the writing is witty and wise. Yes, it sounds hellish and many of us will think of our mothers and their lesser indiscretions with relief, but the way Joans reflects on and rants about her family is so cleverly charged, even when it dangerously skirts the edges, that  there’s always something to hold onto as the younger Joans finds a way to explore her mother’s sometimes ferocious guidance.

It’s all about family narratives, the way mothers and daughters pass on a specific legacy that never seems to change. We all know how damage is done by those who have experienced that same pain themselves. We just have to look at the world we live in today to find all the examples needed.

While all of this might seem way too serious for someone who started in stand-up comedy, with some tweaking she has turned her sights to a more specific stage. Having just come from an arts festival, I know how  exposed the stand-up stages can be, so she obviously knows how to handle a critical crowd.

This is something quite different. She presents Île as quite a personal story, enters the stage with very little but two large boxes which she moves around, and is aided by the best weapons: her words and her warmth.

She’s a storyteller, someone who holds her audience with confidence, and with a generosity and a gentle yet gregarious approach to her performance. She aims straight for the heart. If you can possibly make it in the time left over (it only runs till Saturday), Joans is a winner.

And I can’t wait to see where and how she goes from here. We’re a rather small theatre community, so when someone with such obvious performance genes hits all the right notes, it’s a time to celebrate and embrace.

She has travelled this play from small beginnings to world stages so obviously she has made a huge splash, but for me she’s the new kid on the block. And I could not be more delighted!

Thanks Daphne Kuhn (producer and artistic director of Theatre on the Square), your theatre smarts are always appreciated.

SOCIAL MEDIA RUNS CIRCLES AROUND CLUELESS USERS, TURNING THEIR LIVES UPSIDE DOWN

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Pictures: Daniel Rutland Manners.

Mother (Charmaine Weir-Smith) and son (Nicholas Hattingh) in selfie mode…

DIANE DE BEER

EXPELLED

Expelled is described as a family drama which focuses on the largely ungoverned world of social media.  Alex, a matric pupil at an elite school, gets caught up in a viral scandal and is suspended. Once shared, lives alter in seconds, what’s seen cannot be unseen.  The ramifications for his family are profound.   

Rosalind Butler’s new South African play

PRODUCERS: How Now Brown Cow Productions in association with The Market

DIRECTOR: Craig Freimond

CAST: Anthony Coleman, Charmaine Weir-Smith and Nicholas Hattingh

VENUE: Mannie Manim Theatre at the Market, Joburg

DATES: Until March 31. Performances will take place Wednesday to Saturday with evening shows at 7pm and matinees on Sunday and Saturday at 3pm. There will be additional schools’ performances at 11am on Thursdays during the run.

Living in an online world.

There are few people who won’t be aware of the devastation of social media on normal lives. We all know there’s the good and the bad but taking into  account the recent banning by the US Senate of the Tik Tok app on government devices, the results are too often disastrous and, apart from this surprising development, with few guardrails.

It is with an eye on the pitfalls that Rosalind Butler wrote this play which Freimond had huge fun putting on stage and screen – which it lends itself to. If you want to know how to get younger audiences to theatre, this is it. You’re talking their language and the play offers the chance to play with different generations and their approach to social media.

With phones an additional accessory, few people can resist writing and sending off messages in abundance and often with more haste than hesitation, which would be a tool to keep in mind. Once you push that button, the harm’s done.

Parents: Charmaine Weir-Smith (right) and Anthony Coleman.

And in this version it’s all done in full colour and with the scenarios taking real issues which will cause havoc as they go viral. We’re living in a world where too many are completely unaware of the sensitivity of certain issues.

Families allow schools to dictate norms while these institutions see their roles as strictly educational, refusing to meddle with the morals of their young charges. It is a recipe for disaster, especially with all the tools available in today’s communication circus where everyone is encouraged to participate.

Butler’s text races off at breakneck speed, almost mirroring the record times messages are sent and read while disrupting and destroying lives. There’s very little chance of pulling back once the release button has been activated. And while we all know and understand the world we live in – fast and furious – we still don’t stick to the safety precautions.

It’s a topic that encourages a contemporary social media approach and Freimond with his cast go at it full tilt. Nothing has to be explained or embroidered because we all know the playing field with all its inviting yet often devastating intrigue.

Phone gymnastics.

The cast is perfect as they play their characters and their often-vacuous natures to perfection – all at different tempo yet with a serious approach only possible in our deranged contemporary landscape that encourages these public meltdowns with humiliating outcomes. Weir-Smith’s mother and wife has captured a type we all recognise, so wrapped and isolated in her own tiny world, she’s completely unaware of the destruction she leaves in her wake.

In turn her husband (Anthonty Coleman) is blinded by his own importance, with his wife and son marginal figures in his corporate universe.

Their son (Nicholas Hattingh) is focussed on the love of his life with no understanding of the effect his public vitriol might have on his mostly invisible life.

We can all see the avalanche of disaster which will soon obliterate this family teetering on the edge already, but, fortunately because of the very nature of social media, many mini scenarios are being replicated all around them.

Because we’re all au fait with social media, it’s fun to witness something so familiar unfold as we recognise and might even have participated in similar scenarios. A good edit (a cut of approx. 15 minutes) would have avoided repetition and landed a near perfect play. It might come across as fun and games, but we all recognise that in many lives it could also be deadly serious.

FOR THE LOVE OF BOOKS, READING AND AUTHORS

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With Vrye Weekblad and journalist Deborah Steinmair establishing new book festivals in the wake of their success in Stilbaai, followed by the first one in Gauteng in Cullinan earlier this year and most recently in Clarens in the Free State, DIANE DE BEER, invited as an interviewer at the last two, gives her impressions of book festivals in general as VWB announce their next Cullinan festival from 10 to 12 May 2024::

Pictures: Deborah Steinmair

A man and his dog cartoons by Dries de Beer (Fatman).

Getting together a crowd of book lovers is no easy thing in these days of social media and streaming  –  there’s just too much on offer  – but if you choose your specific book festival well, take the time and spend the money, it is a glorious get-away where you get to mingle and meet like-minded people and listen to a handful of authors talking about their latest work.

While my preferences won’t sound objective, as I was invited to participate as an interviewer at the last two festivals, what appealed to my sensibility was the curation of the festivals.

In conversation with two illustrators, Hanli Deysel, myself and Angela Tuck

First off, smart of the powers-that-be at Vrye Weekblad to know that Deborah, someone with a fantastic knowledge of books, an author herself, and a brilliant columnist, also has a deliciously quirky sensibility which then becomes part of the programme.

If you’re having a festival in the Free State, Antjie Krog is a name that would be impossible to ignore. But then to ask her to read from her latest delightful Vetplant Feëtjies (Vetplant Fairies), creatively written and illustrated, together with some poetry from her latest collection Plunder (also translated and published as Pillage) was genius.

It’s obvious why she won the Herzog Prize for poetry twice, most recently in 2017.

Just selecting at random:

It no longer comes to me

Everything is iron    everything has congealed

I read how others write:

Clove brown, Prussia blue, and creamy, creamy your neck

Your long, long, long legs fill me with fury

But to me?

To me it simply no longer comes

once I belonged to the ones on fire

now my voice wants to drift

it trembles repulsively clammy with care and forgiveness

For me, personally, she should never stop, with a mind that’s razor-sharp, older yes, but that also makes it even more wise and witty. What does she have in mind next?

And, cleverly, Deborah knew how to pair two wise journalists. It was a great idea to get two Free State born journalists/writers Max du Preez and Antjie Krog talking and reminiscing.

Max du Preez and Antjie Krog in conversation.

Both grew up in Kroonstad and Antjie spent more of her time there, while Max talks about missing this part of the world, while also celebrating his home city of Cape Town, where he says everything works.

And then he launches into a few famous authors who have left the country, some, he says, with a Nobel Prize under the arm …

And Antjie wonders about living in a country where no one knows who Gerrit Maritz is.

Max, who had passed through Winburg on his way to Clarens, wishes to become the champion of this neglected town.

But Cyril, they say, has said that the people shouldn’t be treated like charity cases. Everyone has something to give. Yet Max laments the process of Africa that is slowly engulfing the town, even if not quite done yet.

Antjie suggests that if you want to change or fix a problem, you have to bring the township with you. But Max questions how to criticise this country while contemplating the damage you might have caused. Even if you joined the struggle. You still have the privilege of whiteness which is something everyone needs to acknowledge.

As is obvious, it was a conversation between two people who know one another, who have similar backgrounds so that they can exchange thoughts and grievances without too much explanation.

And they progress…

“Wonderful things are happening in Afrikaans,” says Antje while sympathising with the Indigenous languages that suffered under apartheid.

We all have to acknowledge that we had more of everything: more Afrikaans radio stations and TV stations, more magazines and newspapers than any of the other languages. Now we have to do it for ourselves.

Joylyn Philips

And it is happening with Vrye Weekblad and these kinds of book festivals. And again Deborah’s special touch emerges as she includes young poets and authors like Joylyn Philips, who launches into song when starting her poetry presentation.

Bibi SlIppers

Or the bright-eyed Bibi Slippers who cunningly whets the appetite with readings from her then soon-to-be-published poetry book, which was recently launched.

Dianne Du Toit Albertze
In performance.

Yet, no one can rattle the rafters like the gloriously fragile Dianne Du Toit Albertze or, as they would say, Lady D. It was joyous to see them perform almost randomly dressed to kill in a shattering red dress which immediately screamed attitude, and then to back it all up with the talent of someone who knows they can take a stage while speaking in tongues … and they do.

This fresh breath of youthful exuberance during the gathering of the poets as the final salute of the weekend, captured it all. The dazzle and dare of Deborah is what makes you an ardent fan of her outspoken columns, all of which you wish you had said. And she brings that same flair and fanciful fanfare to a book festival  –  which is why these Vrye Weekblad festivals are worth watching out for. And a grand addition to the Afrikaans literary scene.

Yes, I know it’s mostly in Afrikaans, but Deborah knows about diversity even when limited most of the time, to a specific audience.  

So get booking on Quicket for the next one, you won’t be disappointed and it’s in driving distance from Pretoria and Joburg!        

Last year’s festival at the stone church in Cullinan.

PROGRAMME: The Vrye Weekblad-CULLINAN-BOOK FESTIVAL 10 – 12 May 2024

Will be held @Church venue. Books to be sold by Graffiti on the premises, food and drink will be on sale. Book at Quicket.

Queries: deborah.steinmair@gmail.com

Friday 10 May:

17:30: En tog die deuntjie draal (and still the music plays): Gielie Hoffmann chats on the birthday of singer/songwriter/poet Koos du Plessis with his wife, Mornay, about Erfdeel. His songs are also performed.

Saterday:

08:30: Skarminkels en speurders (Rogues and detectives): Phyllis Green speaks to Sidney Girlroy, Marie Lotz and Irna van Zyl.

09:30: Van rekenaarskerm na silwerskerm (From the computer screen to the movie screen : Mercy Kannemeyer chats to Zelda Bezuidenhout and Henriëtta Greyffenberg about the filming of Die dekonstruksie van Retta Blom.

10:30 The Near North: Louis Gaigher chats to Ivan Vladisivic about his latest book.

11:30: O, die vrolike, O die SALA! (Oh the happiness, oh the Salvation) Diane de Beer in conversation with Onke Mazibuko about his celebrated YA novel, The Second Verse.

12:30 Lunch

14:00: Vaders wat haper (Fathers who stutter): Jean Meiring chats to S.J. Naudé about Van vaders en vlugtelinge

15:00: Vywervrou woeker: (Pond woman works): Ilse Salzwedel chats to Chanette Paul about her character driven series.

16:00: Zonderwater en ver van die huis: (Zonderwater and far from home): Deborah Steinmair talks to Karen Horn about her novel about Italian prisoners of war: Prisoners of Jan Smuts

17:00: Psigopatiese nasie: (Psychopathic nation): Anneliese Burgess speaks to Karl Kemp about his book Why We Kill.

18:00: Kopstukke (Think pieces): A sizzling political debate about the election and other topics of the day with Piet Croucamp and JP Landman.

Sunday

10:00: Boekevat: (Devotions): Kleinboer, Lucinda Neethling and Pieter Odendaal read and sing their poetry in the beautiful stone church.

TWO DIFFERENT FILMS, “POOR THINGS” AND “THE ZONE OF INTEREST” ARE BOTH IN LINE FOR OSCARS

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For film fanatics, this is the time to catch up with the Oscar-nominated films with the winners to be announced on March 10. It will add some extra fun to the whole movie experience. DIANE DE BEER opted for Poor Things andThe Zone of Interest from the current crop on the Ster Kinekor circuit and, apart from excellence and originality, the appeal was that the two films could not be more different.

Let’s first have a look at their Oscar nominations: both for Best Picture; Emma Stone from Poor Things for Best Actress; Mark Ruffalo from Poor Things for Best Supporting Actor; Best Adapted Screenplay for both Poor Things and The Zone of Interest; Best Production Design for Poor Things; Best International Film for The Zone of Interest; Best Editing for Poor Things; Best Cinematography for Poor Things; Best Costume Design for Poor Things; Best Makeup and Hairstyling for Poor Things; Best Sound for The Zone of Interest; Best Original Score for Poor Things.

And these are a strong indication of the kind of movies we’re dealing with. Let’s start with the fun, energy and exuberance of Poor Things. Emma Stone and director Yorgos Lanthimos are forming a powerful partnership following their first encounter The Favourite and it is as if this second creative endeavour was given permission by the success of the first to go all out – and they do.

Apart from the obvious deliciousness of the story depicting steam-punk retelling of a female Frankenstein, its also the landscape that Lanthimos picks and paints in which to tell the story.

With the emergence of our weird and wild scientist Dr Godwin Baxter’s (Willem Defoe) Bella (Stone), colour plays an important emotional role. As she grows into what she believes her role to be, everything becomes brighter and more visible and there’s also a quality of wonderment that runs from start to finish – both for the characters and for the audience.

Much of that can be attributed to Stone and her director, who have obviously taken the plunge and permitted themselves to tell the story that’s important to their minds – a woman with a mind of her own unfettered by the rules and morals of a society (read: men) that knows it knows best. In their world (and still today), they decide about a woman’s mind and body and the way she has to live.

From Stone’s elaborate wardrobe, her acting mobility and scope, the language in which they depict this adult fable-lesque adventure, the almost romp- and rakish elements enhanced by the beautifully bizarre yet unusual performance from the usually more affable and straight-down-the-middle Mark Ruffalo, all of these take you along on this madcap Alice-in-Wonderland – but a much more specifically driven – trip.

As the title suggests, Stone as Bella is the one in command and the one driving the process of her emancipation. In fact, she isn’t even aware she needs guidance or permission for anything in her life. She is prompted by her senses, her joy in experiencing life without any guardrails and completely unaware of the fact that the men who enter her sphere expect compliance and a dogged determination to adhere to their every command.

There’s so much more going on, but this is a film that should overwhelm, be allowed to enter your imagination and take you on their flight of fantasy. Enjoy – and then meditate on the radical directions they explore: a woman with a mind of her own!

And then for something completely different. Think World War 2, the Holocaust and the many stories told from every which way to explore the nightmarish horrors of that time. The Zone of Interest adapted from a Martin Amis novel by the same name, had to give us something new, something different to have any impact with one of the most gruesome acts in recent memory and one familiar to most of the world.

How to put the viewer into that space of horror in a different way? That was director/writer Jonathan Glazer’s task and mission. And the word that grips you from start to finish is chilling.

Glazer understood that he could tell the story without showing the victims which has been the focus of so many magnificent depictions previously. There’s Schindler’s List and The Pianist, to mention the obvious.

Rudolf Höss (Christian Friedel) is the commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp. With his wife Hedwig (Anatomy of a Fall’s Sandra Hüller) and their houseful of children, they are living the ideal family life in what is sketched vividly as a bucolic idyll.

Yet looming in the background of their comfortable home is the camp. The smoke never stops rising, soldiers are spotted on occasion, the mistress of the house reprimands one of the staff with a warning of what her husband could do with her ashes, and Rudolf leaves every morning for work in his smartly pressed Nazi uniform on top of a magnificent steed.

This carefully choreographed, painfully pristine world of the Höss family does not miss the tiniest detail to deny the horrors that lie just beyond their perfectly  crafted  home life. Denial is a powerful tool that is deftly applied in many situations to deal with something happening to everyone’s knowledge, yet, by turning their heads, the all-powerful reality is completely dismissed and ignored.

Thát is chilling. How often in these scary situations do we hear that explanatory phrase: we didn’t know? That is why this film knocks you sideways while watching, impacts brutally and then lingers.

Hüller, arguably Europe’s hottest actress of the moment, apparently didn’t want to participate in this film. She’s magnificent and I’m thrilled she did. But it is easy to see why you wouldn’t want to immerse yourself in that dark period of Germany’s life. These kind of suppressions, oppressions and killings constantly repeat themselves across the world in many different yet no less intolerable fashions. Look at our current situation in the world. That’s why this is such an important and impactful cinematic experience. It’s smart in the way it tells a story of the past with what is happening in our world today, as cleverly injected as the camp was in the lives of the determinedly optimistic Nazi family.

LAST CHANCE TO FLY TO PANTOLAND WITH HONEYMAN AND HER FABULOUS PLAYERS

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By Diane de Beer

Janice Honeyman’s Peter Pan at Joburg Theatre’s Nelson Mandela Theatre

Cast: Richard Richard (Smelly Smee), Ben Voss (Mr Darling and Captain Hook), Kensiwe Tshabalala (Mrs Darling), Kiruna-Lind Devar (Wendy), Matthew Berry (John), Diego Hamity (Michael), David Arnold Johnson (Clementina Coconut), Manyano Ngoma (the dog, Nana), Virtuous KIandemiri (Thokolina Tinkerbell), Sandi Dlangalala (Peter Pan), Lesedi Rich (Sam Spaginyol), Gareth Meijsen (Seb Scumdawg), Dirk Joubert (Sparkey), Gugu Dhlamini (Curley), Sarah Leigh (Nibs), Brian Ngobese (Tootles), Bo Molefe (Slightly) and Tania Mteto (Princess Lotus Lily) and the ensemble

Associate Director: Timothy le Roux

Production Designer: Andrew Timm

Lighting Director: Johan Ferreira

Sound Designer: Akhona Bozo

Choreographer: Khaya Ndlovu

Costume Designer and Co-ordinator: Mariska Meyer

Dates: Until December 24 (so get going!)

If you have seen as many pantomimes as I have, you need some incentive (especially when you’re no longer the target market).

For me there were two big ones; Janice Honeyman and my two favourite little ones. Just the fact that I can still stomach a pantomime has everything to do with someone who is completely ruled by her inner child when writing and staging the annual panto.

Not only does she know how to negotiate an audience of young and older children but she also shares her panto story with loads of fun clues for those with many more years on the planet to keep their minds spinning once they’ve seen enough of all the silliness and have had enough festive cheer.

She has also found a compromise with the LED screens and all the bells and whistles they add to this production, while holding on to some of the more old-fashioned sets and designs, which breathe life into the rapidly developing technology.

It’s a miracle just to watch her each year as she finds ways to build novel glitz into the show. She has established her nimble dance to deliver the goods – and that she does with sparkle – time and time again. Small wonder they can’t let her go as she just keeps pushing those stakes higher and higher each time.

This is probably somewhere in the region of my 30th Honeyman panto production and the fact that I can keep going and writing willingly, says everything.

This time it’s Peter Pan and one of the delights which has been been happening for a few decades is the transformation of the South African stage. I know some might ask whether we still have to touch on these colour issues, but it is especially the popular shows that had to get it right and had the most impact. Of course Ms Honeyman did just that. And it easily gets better every year.

                     David Johnson as Clementine Coconut.

She has created many stars and again, a few are stepping out smartly to show their stuff. I have to confess, I have always been a David Johnson fan. Perhaps he’s not the obvious choice for the panto dame, but that’s another of Janice’s tricks up her sleeve. She doesn’t opt for the obvious and then she delivers another bit of magic by getting a performance that’s different, yet works. Clementine Coconut could have some fun with her costumes which already delivered the goods and to boot, Johnson added some swish and style to his panto tart.

                    Ben Voss as Captain Hook

Ben Voss, another panto and Honeyman regular, did double duty and delivered a devilishly evil Captain Hook with a smart swagger and punch, which might have scared some and tickled others, and then quietly slipped into the shoes of the more demure Mr Darling.

         Virtuous Klandemiri as Thokolina Tinkerbell with Sandi Dlangalala as Peter Pan.

If you have a very traditional view of what and who Thokolina Tinkerbell should be, Honeyman flipped that applecart as well and gave us the sparkly Virtuous (could there be a more apt name!) Klandemiri as well as the light-on-his-feet Sandi Dlangalala who starred and shone as as Peter Pan in this debut performance.

                  Michael Richard as Smelly Smee.

Michael Richard added a performance with flair and wisdom enhanced by decades of experience as Smelly Smee and the youngsters in the cast kept the energy up and the artistry pumping.

It’s a gran show. This time we sat on the balcony and it was fascinating to get this different yet complete view. I know many people regard the lower level as the better seats. My small companions had seen last year’s panto from the front row.

                          The full splendour.

But in the end, the balcony offers a complete appreciation of the Honeyman approach. It allows you to focus on the whole rather than individual performances for example but also accentuates the detail that comes together in the design. It’s easy to understand why Honeyman draws you in time and again.

AUTHOR JUSTIN FOX IS A NOMAD WHO CONCEDES THE TRAVELING BUG IS WHAT DRIVES HIM IN LIFE

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Author Justin Fox, as DIANE DE BEER discovers when speaking to him about his latest book, Place South African Literary Journey (published by UMUZI) at Garsfontein’s Boekeplek & Kuierplek, has a mind as restless as his wanderlust:

The cover is a painting by Erik Laubscher titled Overberg Landscape.

When you are sent a book and asked by a publisher to help with the launch in your city, your first instinct, especially if you don’t know the author, which I didn’t in this instance, is to hope that you won’t hate the writing or the book for that matter.

Up to now, I have been blessed and again, Justin Fox’s Place is one that I thoroughly enjoyed. I loved the writing, found it a wonderfully original concept and the reading very accessible.

What this author did was to select nine authors whose writing he found to be determined by a specific landscape or place, capturing the spirit, hence the name and the idea. Think, for example, of  someone like Herman Charles Bosman and your mind automatically reaches for the Marico or Dalene Matthee’s passionate love affair so inextricably linked with the Knysna forest.

Zakes Mda with his Heart of Redness is nestled on the Wild Coast, JM Coetzee has Michael K traveling and hiding in the Moordenaars Karoo and Olive Schreiner’s Story of an African Farm has its footprint in the Eastern Karoo.

The Lowveld is Jock of the Bushveld’s stomping ground, Deneys Reitz’s adventures, Justin narrowed down to the invasion of the Cape with Eugene Marais finding solace with his baboons in Waterberg.

The only one I wasn’t familiar with and the author with whom Justin perhaps identified with most strongly is Stephen Watson, who had a strong affinity with the Cederberg.

Wondering if he had qualms about not having the perfect representation, he admitted it was something he thought about, and he did try.  He had to rely on authors who had a special affinity with a particular landscape or region, which was reflected in their writing.

With this mix, he also spread the love throughout the country geographically and in the end, that’s what determined his choice.

When first reading the book and seeing that it was In Memoriam of Uys Krige, I wondered whether he was related to actress Grethe Fox, whom I have encountered in my theatre writing. And of course, she is his sister and joins him (as he writes) on one of his author adventures.

They are indeed a family truly invested in the arts. Justin’s father is the architect Revel Fox and his mother is Uys Krige’s sister, then there’s also a filmmaker … and the list goes on. And then he divulges the family secret. His grandmother Sannie Uys was determined to guide everyone in the family into the arts.

In fact, she felt this so strongly that  it was highly frowned upon if someone decided to turn to medicine or law, for example! Especially in terms of for the richness of the arts, wouldn’t this country flourish if there were more of these kinds of grandmothers? Anyone linked to the arts in even a minor way will know how a life is enriched.

The Geelbek Blockhouse also features in the book.

The wealth of artists in one family when taking a peek at their family tree starts to make sense. That and Justin’s particular bent and imaginative mind. There’s not much he hasn’t tried in the artistic sphere of witing. He is listed as a travel writer, novelist, poet and photographer and, as the former editor of Getaway magazine, he could easily include most of his passions in his daily life. And now, having left them, it’s easy to see how he keeps doing what he does – writing mostly books.

For Place, for example, he travelled to all the places of his chosen authors so that he could not only write from his research on the authors but also experience the place for himself. And that’s what makes this such an intriguing read. It’s as though he has aimed his skills sharply for this endeavour – and it serves him and his reader well.

Even someone like Dalene Matthee’s favoured region (which is close to where I spent my youth) came with new insight from this reading. And probably much of this can be linked to the fact that Justin has “itchy feet”, but also that the research is what really inspires him. It is what he enjoys most and what obviously informs and enriches his writing.

Having travelled the length and breadth of Africa during his former life as a journalist also brings much knowledge to bear. And then probably his writing was further nourished and polished by his doctorate in English at Oxford as well as his time as a research fellow at the University of Cape Town.  But don’t expect to find a bookish approach to his storytelling or his writing. The way he uses language is one of the joys of the reading experience.

His latest endeavour or, perhaps more accurately, the one he is hoping will receive more attention is the two books already finished and hopefully a handful to come of his fictional World War 2 novels with Jack Pembroke as the hero. Justin describes himself as a Jack of all trades, but that’s underselling his expertise.

He ascribes his writing in so many different genres (google his writing history) as “getting bored quickly”. His favourite author is Patrick O’Brian whom he describes amusingly as “Jane Austen at sea”, as well as crime stories, and then of course he loves reading anything about World War 2, hence the fictional series in which he focusses on adventures from the war, unfamiliar to many. The current one with a South African focus is a battle that has been forgotten by many.

His next focus is African islands which he hopes will have the same impact as Place, which has already sold out.

The Fox Family (Justin left) on a Greek sojourn, one of his earliest travels.

“I’m a nomad,” he says, and he concedes he has the bug worse than most.  And while writing per se is not his happy place, the research, edit and travel to promote his latest invention all find favour. And that’s where his drive comes from and his determination to escape into another adventure – whether fiction or non-fiction. I’m crossing fingers that the current book, Place, will be so popular that the publishers consider a colour version richly illustrated with Justin’s photographs. That was the only missing element for me. His writing takes you to the places he describes so imaginatively and there are a handful of black and white pictures. I realise it was an issue of cost, but still …

A CELEBRATION OF KKNK’S TEKSMARK IN GAUTENG

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Pictures: Reinhard Bodenstein

Ketsia Velaphi in Tankiso Mamabolo’s Don’t Believe a Word I Say.

Teksmark has been running for a few years now in Cape Town (see previous post) and recently KKNK CEO Hugo Theart decided it was time for Gauteng (with the helpof the well placed Foxwood team providing the venue) to show their stripes – and predictably, they came out in full force. DIANE DE BEER picks a few personal favourites:

Teksmark has been one of my favourite outings from the start because it keeps me in touch with new (and often young) playwrights, what they are thinking about and how they find the words to tell their story.

It has also opened the KKNK’s profile to embrace a much larger slice of the arts and in this somewhat geographically challenged country of ours, we need everyone in the arts community to reach out and hold hands. We have amazing stories to tell, but the audiences are limited and the cohesion of the arts community, nationally, is important.

Director and playwright Obett Motaung (centre with microphone) in conversation with CEO Hugo Theart and his cast.

Obett Motaung cleverly started with a catchy title, A Street Taxi Named Desiree, and plaed with just that. The play is a series of sketches with taxis as the hot and happening topic.

What he does especially smartly is use all the South African tropes that everyone will recognise even those who never use taxis. Coldrinks? Does anyone not know what that means when for example a traffic cop or policeman stops you?

Or the rules that are there, yet not for taxi drivers? The fact that everyone recognised these foibles in the room, says much about the South African landscape.

And this is also what made this such a smart piece of writing. It grabs you with laughter yet slips in quite a few serious issues, again, instantly recognisable.

Christo Davids (playwright) with his cast for Laaitie Mettie Biscuits.

We all know or perhaps think we know the problems special needs individuals face on a daily basis. Some of that is captured in Christo Davids’ courageous text which has him facing rather than ignoring the problems.

His play titled Laaittie Mettie Biscuits is about a differently-wired young man who gets into trouble with the police and because of a misunderstanding and the difficulty society has of dealing with anyone or anything that isn’t “normal”, things quickly get out of hand.

And making the point even more sharply, following the reading, most of the discussion was focussed on the need of a Down syndrome individual to be cast in the role. Anything else would defeat the purpose of the story, no matter the challenges.

Asked about his reason for writing the play, Davids explained that he hoped to spark a different conversation or at least, thinking about people who because of different physical or mental challenges have to operate in a world that didn’t easily acknowledge and make provision for them.

Holding a mirror to society is one of the many positives of theatre and no more so than with this truly brave attempt. Let’s hope that we see it given life on stage.

Tankiso Mamabolo selling her delightful Don’t Believe a Word I Say.

Playwright Tankiso Mamabolo’s says Don’t Believe a Word I Say was written as a play on memory and how we often embellish these remembrances over time, to protect us from trauma or to fill in the gaps that have appeared over time.

She had everyone delighted when she pointed out that the play was written in the style of ADHD, wrote it in fact in exactly the way she thinks – and luckily for those of us watching, she has an imaginative mind worth interrogating.

What do we choose to remember and what devices do we use to reach back? These are the issues she spotlights.

“I have a team of black women dissecting, reminiscing and recreating black girlhood in a way that utilises humour without dehumanising black girls and instead focusses on the nuances of their vulnerabilities with the complete understanding that they are complete bad asses. I wrote a play about my childhood that gives voice to parts of black girlhood that are often overlooked eg, we also can be hopeless romantics despite of the world and what is happening around us.”

And in the process, she gave everyone a lesson in how to present their play. This is someone who knows what to do with an opportunity and I can see it paying off – as does her play.

It’s fun as Tankiso explained, she was featuring young black women, usually an ignored section of society – and think about that! She already has an audience right off. And with her talent, there will be more. She’s got what it takes.

Farce has never been my favourite medium but if anyone can pull it off, it is Nico Luwes. And knowing all the rules to get things off on the wrong foot, which is the key to any farce, Nico also made sure the best ingredient for this kind of performance was in place – the cast.

A cast to die for with playwright Nico Luwes (right)

He pulled out all the stops with Koebaai, ou Koba!: Henrietta Gryffenberg, Tobie Cronje, Elzabé Zietsman, Pietie Beyers, Rina Nienaber, Gert van Niekerk, Peter Terry and Ryno Hattingh, all veterans in the business and some not seen on stage for a very long time.

But the names are recognisable and an audience is out there waiting. They will be salivating to see this ensemble – and we could see why. Yes it will cost, they won’t make much money, but they will draw the crowds.

That’s the thing about this kind of theatre. Because it is sometimes viewed as an easy ask, not enough attention is paid to the staging and performers. But if you do it right, you have a winner as the director/playwright proved here.

Op die hoek van Styx en River is Nora Per Abuis Met die Dood Oorgeslaan by Henque Hymans with David Viviers and Gretha Brazelle.

When everything comes together in a play, it always makes you smile. That’s what happened with Op Die Hoek Van Styx en River is Nora Per Abuis Met die Dood Oorgeslaan written by Henque Heymans staged with actors Grethe Brazelle and David Viviers who meet at some point between life and a transfer to another place.

Their conversation is all about misunderstanding. The instructor is bored with a conversation she has regularly, while the listener doesn’t know that she’s died. This sudden meeting has her completely perplexed.

It’s confusion which turns into a conversation of much merriment and originality.

And … Action! with Jane Mpholo (playwright) and Ronda Mpiti.

And as I run out of space,  I want to include two more remarkable participants: Jane Mpholo’s  And…Action! who wanted to sketch South Africa in full colour but in a bantering, light way, yet still including bite; and another example of how the Teksmark works,  Ek Sal Jou Leer Om Die Melk Te Deel, a play that was accepted previously and now with some work, was featured again most successfully. With a theme of mothers raising the children of others, while not having enough time with her own, it’s something that touches all South Africans in different ways. And again, it makes everyone think especially playwright Lwanda Sindaphi who kept reworking.

Anele Situlweni (sitting) and Maude Sandham in Ek Sal Jou Leer om die Melk te Deel.

As you can see, it is about the people and the plays, the topics that are addressed and argued about, the potential that is discovered and nurtured – and in conclusion, the general health of the theatre industry.

How can we not celebrate?

(Thanks to KKNK, NATi, Foxwood and ATKV.)

KKNK INITIATIVE TO DEVELOP TEXTS AND OFFER PLAYWRIGHTS OPPORTUNITIES, TEKSMARK, ONE OF THE MOST EXCITING ARTISTIC ENDEAVOURS

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Pictures: NARDUS ENGELBRECHT.

The delightful cast from Khanya and her Golden Dream.

The 8th Teksmark in collaboration with NATi, the Baxter Theatre Centre and the Het Jan Marais Nasionale Fonds again presented a wealth of 18 scripts by 20 playwrights, performed by 60 actors with 18 directors which was showcased to potential investors with lively discussions following every performance. The brilliant brainchild of Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees artistic director Hugo Theart, generating 125 texts through the years with 36 text ideas becoming fully fledged productions. DIANE DE BEER gives her impressions of her favourites at the most recent market held as always at Cape Town’s Baxter Theatre from August 30 to September 1:

*To follow is a report on the first Gauteng Teksmark which was held earlier this month.

With established writers like Mike van Graan, Philip Rademeyer and Ingrid Winterbach featuring, some celebrated Teksmark virgins like Andi Colombo delivering a second time round and a handful of new finds, all round, it was as always a revealing event.

Some contemporary issues were addressed, some writers ventured into new territory and others expanded on familiar themes yet tackled with a fresh eye. Covid didn’t necessarily feature, but it did offer quite a few playwrights the time to write a new play, which just shows that there is always a silver lining.

Ingrid Winterbach (centre) speaking about her play Moedswil en Muitery with director Gideon Lombard and interviewer Kabous Meiring.

Take insightful writer Ingrid Winterbach for example, probably serious will always be somewhere in the description about her novel writing. Yet when she decided to turn to playwriting again, it was playfulness that became the focus.

With a show of skilful writing, she looked at our past, Jan van Riebeek and his wife Maria in fact, and had some fun as she put a fresh spin on the arrival of the early colonialists with the stated intention of planting a flag.

But we all know there was much more planting intended than what was divulged – and it’s here where she has some fun with her wise words, which she so craftily uses to play devil’s advocate.

Part of the fun of Teksmark is that Theart in discussion with the writers assigns a director and then actors to specific plays and often this is where a meeting of true minds can make real magic. This was indeed what happened with this one as director Gideon Lombard bought into the text and his sassy cast with Wessel Pretorius (who is becoming the Tobie Cronje of his generation) setting the tone for the rest of the team including Hannah Borthwick, Geon Nel and Lombard.

It’s going to be a hit with audiences as the writing, directing and acting all promise sublime merriment.  And then we haven’t even started with setting and style yet.

Prolific playwright Mike van Graan always keeps the South African pulse beating vigorously.

The prolific Mike van Graan hit a high note (while his latest My Fellow South Africans aimed at the ’24 elections was running concurrently at Gauteng’s Theatre on the Square see https://bit.ly/3PdseY7) with his Teksmark offering.

Typically titled The Good White, what I find so appealing about his current work is that he sharply hones in on touchstones in our political life that everyone is aware of but few speak about. And there are no holy cows here.

Some weren’t happy with what they referred to as stereotypes, but in the current state of the world (and it has really come to that if you look around), if our writers don’t have some serious fun with some sharp truths that makes for wincing if weirdly wonderful introspection, how else do we deal with it?

In The Good White, it is especially the older generations that will react because it zooms in specifically on a struggle white man, that rare species who was part of the cause pre ’94. He was considered one of the good guys, as there weren’t that many.

Now he is teaching at University but the students are unaware of his model past and his struggle credentials don’t absolve him anymore and he constantly finds himself moving on quicksand. It’s hilarious if perhaps too close to the bone for some, but that’s always the Van Graan medicine. It cuts deeply across the full spectrum, which means everyone pays and performs.

And clever of him to throw this one into the lion’s den at Teksmark. Why not hear what prospective audiences have to say before it goes on stage?

He has found his niche and no one else is doing it this focussed, and with such fierceness and regularity. Until they listen, I will keep shouting, is his premise.

Packing up in Dying in the Now with Celeste Loots

Two of the most promising texts came from Andi Colombo who had previously made her mark with her first work Dying in the Now and like then, when I wrote about the gentleness, generosity and probing text, she has done it again.

Her writing and the ideas she plays with are exciting and something you want to hold close. Hers is a rare talent which is paying dividends and hopefully she will be encouraged to keep writing

This time she takes a place, Verlorenvlei, which she visits and knows and has obviously given her heart. The name already says it all.

Emma Kotze and Shaun Oelf in Andi Colombo’s Verloren.

Verloren started as a short film which won a Standard Bank ovation prize and Colombo decided to expand the text for the Teksmark. It’s poetic, it catches you by the throat and she deals in issues that are crucial yet in a way human- rather than issue-driven. She is a playwright with a wonderfully rare talent who has stolen my heart.

And someone entering this realm, Nell van der Merwe, captured many hearts not only with her playwriting but also with her obviously overwhelming passion for theatre. It’s all in the writing. There’s a classic feel about her approach to language which is captivating and stops you in your tracks.

It’s almost not about what she’s saying, but how she says it. Whimsical and wise, dealing in myths and fairytales, which she feels is a way to play with the politics of people. And basing her text on Leipoldt’s Die Laaste Aand, Dryfhout deals in much that has gone wrong in this country as it looks at heritage, the entitlement of the ruling class and the changing perceptions and acknowledgement of the painful past inflicted on people.

Others that also made their mark included Sibahle Mabaso with Khanya and her Golden Dream, a family production with many lessons embedded cleverly in the text; Jason Jacobs and Devon Delmars’ Kontrapunt, which is an exciting shift for Jacobs and a clever idea which should be explored further; Praat Gou Weer by exciting theatre contributor, Khanya Viljoen, who interrogates internet dangers; and then included in quite a few texts was gender based violence, the South African scourge which cannot be tackled enough.

As with all the previous years, the excitement was tangible, the texts tantalising and the productions just a taste of their eventual potential. I cannot wait to see which of these will be developed to take on the bigger stages.

What has been clear apart from new playwrights emerging, many who found initial success just keep going and some established names have discovered what an explosive platform this can be. It is constantly expanding and the results simply mean that theatre gains.

Well done to Hugo Theart and his amazing team for this initiative which benefits and reaches far wider than the Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees. And to Baxter CEO Lara Foot for the support.

Read more next week about the first Teksmark held in Gauteng early in November.