With two festivals, Aardklop in Gauteng and Woordfees in Stellenbosch, following one on the other, everyone was keen to see what would happen both on stage and in the auditoriums post Covid. Would they come, was perhaps the most worrying. DIANE DE BEER visited both and was excited by the bounce back of the arts on the festival circuit – with the audiences to support them:

If you look at the winners of this year’s Aardklop productions, it is the veterans who grabbed all the awards.

A very surprised but bursting with pride Elzabé Zietsman reigned supreme with three wins for Femme is Fatale.

I remember when I first saw this in-your-face production at the Vrye Fees last year – it hit hard. In a  country where gender-based violence reaches pandemic-like numbers, you need to grab audiences by the throat. And that’s exactly what this singer/actress does with a magnificent gloves-off script and an attitude that dares anyone not to  take notice.

From her initial on-stage look until she strips down to throw the horror of what is happening to individuals in this country in your face, she doesn’t make a wrong move. It’s attention grabbing for all the right reasons and takes someone as experienced, brave and talented as Ms Zietsman to swing high and low with your emotions.

It’s one of those performances that will stay with you forever and it is her intention, even before winning for Best Musical Performance, Best Music-Driven Production and Best Overall Winner, to find a way to take the show to schools across the country. And in her acceptance speech, she sung the praises of her accompanist Tony Bentel – with reason.

Hopefully, this has empowered her plan of action and promotional campaign. If she can’t encourage change with this one, the world is a really sad place.

Sandra Prinsloo’s performance in Moeder also never flagged. Again, I’ve seen it many times, mostly for her performance and an astonishing script as well as a near-flawless production directed by Christiaan Olwagen.

I’ve said a few times that his place is on stage, it’s where he shines brightest, even though he will probably prove me wrong sooner rather than later.

But he has such a good eye, a filmic vision and the heart to realise that Prinsloo could and should play this woman. It’s one of her best performances ever and I’ve seen many. At the festival I heard people often praising her performance in Masterclass because, of course, Ms Prinsloo hardly ever appears at a festival in just a single production.

I hope she leaves notes for her younger counterparts about concentration, focus and stamina. And again, as so many times in her life, she was rewarded for an astonishing performance in Moeder with the production named the Best Theatre  Production as well as Best Production by an independent group of art lovers, Aardklop Hartsvriende (Friends of the heart).

A scene with Bettie Kemp and Dawid Minnaar in Mirakel.

Another stalwart, David Minnaar, played her flawed partner and, as always, he knew how to pitch just the right tone as the errant husband, but it was in Marthinus Basson’s tour de force Mirakel where he was given a part which especially revealed his comedic qualities.

It is one of Reza de Wet’s lighter works although the message is as hard-hitting and relevant as anything she has written. But Minnaar with Basson as his champion walked a fine line with great relish which added to the performance.

I felt that he was enjoying the play as much as anyone watching it. Because of the travelling theatre company and its dramatics that rule this play, he could charge with dramatic fervour through the hysterics of the flailing players all trying their best to make their lives and livelihood work.

It captures that world which has remained almost unchanged with such dexterity as only a De Wet/Basson partnership can achieve thus allowing a Dawid Minnaar to soar and win as Best Actor and Basson to pick up yet another Best Director award.

An ENTRANCE by the delightful Eben Genis while the company’s leading couple sleep on.

In the same play, Eben Genis (above) also announced his welcome return to the stage to great delight of theatre goers and was warmly received with a Best Supporting Actor award. It is his subtlety, his nuanced excursion into this world, which is a reminder of the fine actor he is.

The Best new Afrikaans text was claimed by Philip Rademeyer who wrote and directed Goed wat wag om te gebeur, the Afrikaans version of The Graveyard starring Gideon Lombard, Antoinette Kellerman and Emma Kotze.

It deals with Hendrik’s return to his childhood home where he struggles with past demons including violence, blame and addiction, all the while trying to suppress his anger and hurt with drink. The only niggle was a text that would have been even better with some clever culling, and this was probably the most common culprit in too many productions.

At a festival where the experienced artists were the ones who often captured the audiences and my praise, I was again overwhelmed by Nataniël’s Ring van Vuur. It is no secret that he is one of my most cherished performers, but there’s reason for that. And again he proved me right with a show that was simply sublime. Not only did he give one of his best performances, he also introduced me to guitarist Loki Rothman whose name was familiar, but no one had ever mentioned his particular flamboyance on a guitar.

Not only does Nataniël give us a quality show, he is also generous with the artists he introduces to a wider audience. That’s the sign of a great and confident artist. I know most music fans will be familiar with Rothman’s prowess on the guitar, but because I am mainly a theatre writer/critic, I have never had the privilege.

Most of these productions made sharp u-turns as they winged their way down to Stellenbosch with the much larger Woordfees, welcoming audiences as Aardklop was waving goodbye.

And again, there was much to praise with a festival bulging with new presentations and productions, enough to have everyone smiling. It’s not about the one or the other. Both have equal right to their audiences, they shouldn’t compete and if I have to make deductions about attendance, both have a strong following for their particular brand. Mostly it probably has to do with where audiences live and how far they’re willing to travel. Convenience, I suspect, will be the determining factor.

As a working journalist, I was blessed to go to both.

And if I have to start with a production that had me thinking, shocked me to my core because of content yet filled me with admiration for the inspirational Jaco Bouwer and cast for tackling such a daring and dangerous text – in the best sense of the word.

Melissa Myburgh (left) with Tinarie van Wyk Loots pictured with Myburgh (right) in the startling Die Vegetariër.

Bouwer, one of our most exciting directors has been working in the television and film world for the last while and has been missed because of his brand of theatre, which always pushes boundaries and challenges audiences to engage with tough issues rather than turning away and tuning out.

From the moment you enter and witness the amazing set of Die Vegetariër, your mind starts racing. There’s something pristine and perfect about the space and yet it’s a slaughterhouse, which is an ominous sign even before the action starts.

But in typical Bouwer fashion, he hits you in the solar plexus from start to finish and while you might be reeling throughout trying to contain your emotions racing ahead, it’s the unflinching text and cast that stay with you as you keep unravelling the lives of the people who share their stories.

And you keep coming back to the slab of meat you keep staring at as you enter and the meat hook that just hangs there menacingly until it captures the crux of what you are witnessing. It’s hardcore, but in the world we live in with gender-based violence such a scourge (as already mentioned), we have almost become immune not only as individuals but as a society.

The cast – Stian Bam, Wilhelm van der Walt, Tinarie van Wyk Loots and Melissa Myburgh – are staggering in this brutally honest portrayal of life for far too many as physical and psychological abuse becomes the common language in relationships. And the young Myburgh deserves a special mention because her character’s youth embodies vulnerability and defencelessness in all its harshness and is the most exposed.

It’s not easy to watch, but because of the approach of everyone involved, from Willem Anker’s adaptation of Han Kang’s The Vegetarian to Bouwer’s brilliant conception and the way he seamlessly pulls it all together from the enveloping visuals to the overwhelming performances, it’s simply a privilege – and one that stays and niggles at you forever.

On a different spectrum but as challenging, Jay Pather’s Hold Still with an extraordinary text by Nadia Davids tackles refugees, one of the toughest issues in today’s unravelling world as we roll from one crisis to the next. And if you look closer, refugees are at the centre of most of them. Think Gaza.

But what she does is take a model modern couple and make them face today’s harsh reality. There’s a reason refugees cause such heartache and often horror. There aren’t solutions or none that is workable, so many simply turn their backs.

It’s gritty yet glorious theatre as two veteran actors (Andrew Buckland and Mwenya Kabwe) star as a delightful couple who lovingly banter away until the very essence of their family relationships is blown apart. Both these actors take your breath away with performances that are in your face and completely in the moment. They’re complemented by the two youngsters in the cast, Lyle October as their son and Tailyn Ramsamy as his friend in search of refugee status, hence the dilemma.

As the mother so aptly confesses:  they sold their son a story about their moral selves which they themselves had come to believe. It’s real world issues, tough to work through and easier to ignore, yet this is the perfect platform to grapple with our reality today.

And the third piece that blew me away was Geoffrey Hyland’s Maynardville Shakespeare production, which I am thrilled to announce is coming to Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino in November. If you see nothing else this year, don’t miss this production.

It is simply glorious and will have you screaming with laughter from beginning to end. I cannot imagine a better introduction to Shakespeare than this play that symbolises everything that this fantastic playwright is about. It’s entertainment writ LARGE and simply the perfect end-of-year production with an astounding cast put together magnificently.

My only qualm is that it was first staged at Maynardville, Cape Town’s glorious outdoor theatre venue, and I saw it at the Libertas amphitheatre in Stellenbosch, but with Hyland’s astonishing artistry, I’m sure you won’t even notice. Never before would I have thought that I would be so happy to see a Shakespeare at a festival. That it was included in the programme, was simply a stroke of genius.

Just go – and tell everyone around you not to miss this fantastic show. You won’t regret it and start this festive season in the best possible way. (See full review once it has opened with a run from 8 to 19 November.)         

• I have singled out only a handful of productions which I saw at the festivals. There are many more to praise, but I grabbed those few that grabbed both my head and heart and wouldn’t let go …                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

DIANE DE BEER

Pictures: Claude Barnardo

THE PROMISE

ADAPTATION:

Author Damon Galgut with Sylvaine Strike and suggestions by the cast

DIRECTOR

Sylvaine Strike

CAST

Chuma Sopotela, Rob van Vuuren, Kate Normington, Frank Opperman, Jane de Wet, Jenny Stead, Albert Pretorius, Sanda Shandu, Cintaine Schutte

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR AND ARCHIVIST

Kirsten Harris

SET AND LIGHTING DESIGN

Joshua Lindberg

MUSIC DIRECTOR, SOUND DESIGN AND ORIGINAL SCORE

Charl-Johan Lingenfelder

CHOREOGRAPHY AND INTIMACY CO-ORDINATOR

Natalie Fisher

COSTUME DESIGN

Penny Simpson

VENUE

The Market Theatre

DATES

Until November 5

One has to admire artist Sylvaine Strike’s process when she decides on a project. It’s all systems go and in Strike’s world, the focus is unfailing.

She spent 18 months hard at work on this extraordinary piece of theatre, which has finally reached The Market Theatre.

But there are a few things to take on board before you arrive. It’s based on a book, Damon Galgut’s The Promise, and that means that it is her interpretation of Galgut’s writing and script, even if he was closely involved throughout.

Also, it is two hours 40 minutes long and for many less-experienced theatre goers, that might be quite

 an ask. One has to be theatre fit.

Albert Pretorius and Sanda Shandu as two policemen

But for me there’s no question that it has to be seen, and a very packed and excited audience obviously in anticipation was ready and waiting on opening day. Even when we arrived to collect tickets there was an audible buzz and it was lovely to experience a theatre event of this kind. The last one was the August Wilson production at the Joburg Theatre last year.

Five minutes into the production, I already had a smile. For this one, Strike created her own theatre language in which to tell her story and for me, it couldn’t have been further from the language and storytelling of the book, yet both had a very individual and personal flavour which I loved.

I almost felt as though I had walked into a kind of grotesque fairy tale for adults and, while the approach might have felt comical to some, it was anything but because of the content and the story it was telling.

It was also clear that as individuals, those watching the play would have to buy into the concept – and for me that wasn’t a tough ask. It’s why we watch theatre, to catch those productions where those participating take risks to give audiences a storytelling experience that’s novel and best suited to a particular text.

The Strike brand has always been about her individual style and, while she pays close attention to the text, her language is much more than just something we listen to. She uses the stage and everything visual as part of the ensemble and then she adds very specific movements and rhythms as well – as in this instance, a soundscape by genial music man Charl-Johan Lingenfelder with a kind of music/sound box on the side of the extraordinary stage designed insightfully by Joshua Lindberg, who was also responsible for fantastic lighting (so delighted that the family name lives on in our theatre landscape).

And that in itself sets the tone for this topsy-turvy world the Swart family inhabit. The matriarch of the family, seemingly the one that held them steady with a strong hand and a moral compass, has died. Thus we find all of them in turmoil as they come together for the family funeral (one of four that determine four periods in a country gone mad).

But there’s one obstacle  –  Amor (Jane de Wet), the youngest sibling, had heard Ma (Kate Normington) extract a promise from Pa (Frank Opperman) that he would give Salome (Chuma Sopotela) her house on the furthest corner of the farm, mainly because she was the one who diligently and lovingly looked after the mother in her illness.

A familiar scene in many white South African households and the rest of the family simply disengage while Amor keeps at it relentlessly – determinedly – as their conscience. The ensemble of nine work well together as a group and individually, although I suspect, audiences will have different favourites.

Amongst the men, my favourite performer was Albert Pretorius who even though his many different characters often had a comical edge, he manages such a fine artistic line and knows just how to hold it back. Frank Opperman also captured his different characters masterfully. Rob van Vuuren is at the heart of the piece as Anton Swart.

Chuma Sopotela is the key of the piece as both Salome and the storyteller, and in both roles her strong presence holds The Promise, both in the production and at the centre of the story. She was the perfect fit.

Each one of the performers added to the whole. Because many roles were played by each actor, some characters worked better than others, and who you like or discard will be a personal preference. I don’t think with the adopted style there’s a right or wrong, it’s a preference thing.

So how did it all come together. It’s a HUGE production. I suspect, especially while writing this review, that one needs more than one or two viewings to truly appreciate the breadth of the drama and staging. I can simply stand back in awe.

What for me personally would have worked better, would have been to lose most of the second half (obviously not the end). Up to the interval, everything worked perfectly, but then it started to unravel. A trim of an hour would have been my ask and would have served the actors and the story better.

It was as if sustaining the production for swo long was too big an ask and detracted rather than added to the final product.

Should people go? What a question! It’s a theatrical experience. There’s a cast that does exquisite work, moments that will take your breath away, a set, costumes and lighting that all contribute to the bigger picture and, finally, a director who puts herself out there, pushes as far as she dares, breaks boundaries and develops ways of telling stories that keep you riveted.

You might not love every minute, but you have to admire the artistry, the vision and the theatricality with scope that’s daunting yet inevitable when Strike decides to do it. And we’re the beneficiaries.