Category: Shows

THE ROYAL COUNTESS ZINGARA WITH ALL HER GLAMOUR AND GLORIOUS SPECTACLE, IS BACK

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Jonny and Manual in full flight (picture by Spencer du Plessis).

SHOW: La Dolce Royal

DIRECTORS: Valentina and Craig Leo

CAST: A constantly moving spectacle is created with acts that keep changing with a show that is in its second month. To give you an idea:

Timekeeper- Andile Magxaki (SA/Joburg); Weeping Woman – Jenny le Roux (SA/Cape Town); Duo hoop – Jonny Grundy (UK)  Manuel Artino (Sicily); Contortionist – Lunga Buthelezi; (SA/Joburg) Feather balance act – Tatyana Babiy – (Russia); Rope act – Jenny le Roux; Axel Perez – rola bola (Mexico/Las Vegas); Bath act – Jonny & Manuel Havana; Aerial Cradle – Vicki Perez and Juan Pablo (Argentina)

CHOREOGRAPHY: Sam Kotze

VENUE: A glamorously dressed tent

Spectacular singer Megan Spencer(left) and the extravagant colourful Downtown Jonny (picture by Spencer du Plessis).

Get ready to party because that is what happens once you enter the amazing tent of the Royal Countess Zingara.

It doesn’t feel as if much has changed, even though it has been more than a decade since what feels like a travelling group of artists, has been to Gauteng – 2014, if my search is correct. And further reading shows that they first pitched their stylish tent in Cape Town in 2001.

That was why I was quite keen on a return visit. I had been a few times during their earlier seasons and, taking the passing years into account and the way the entertainment scene has evolved, I wanted to know how much they have had to adapt.

It was one of our coldest winter nights and we were wrapped up, but typically this organization doesn’t leave much to chance. The only time the cold got to you was during a trip to the restrooms or back to your car.

Everything inside the tent seemed perfect, and it didn’t feel as if they had changed much of the interiors or the concept. I recalled my initial excitement to what seemed like arty stained-glass windows and the clever composition of the food, with just enough variety and options to please even picky diners.

It is a long night, but they pace themselves, their performers and their guests. There’s never a dull moment. If you arrive early, there’s the fun of getting your face painted for a night of splendour – and no matter how dour your choice of couture, your face will light up the room.

You can also have your fortune read before the time, just in case you want to know about the millions in your future before you empty your pocket on the night.

But once seated inside with 380 guests scattered around the room, there’s more than enough to keep you intrigued. The serving staff, who are there to see that the night runs smoothly for each diner, are all dressed up as if having stepped back in time to ease your journey into this magical space.

The astounding contortionist Lunga Buthelezi

Breathtaking contortionist Lunga Buthelezi 

Think Berlin and the film version of Cabaret. Or perhaps our very own version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream staged with so much success at Maynardville a few years back that it even made a turn at The Market Theatre a few months later.

Some of the characters could also have escaped from the filmset of M*A*S*H or, if you want to go more recent, Harry Potter. And their attitude is as engaging as their attire.

The balance is perfect. While a four-course meal (Executive Chef: Emile Goliath) might sound extravagant, the portions are just right to keep you from wanting more and an exotic cocktail (alcoholic or not) is not excessive and lasts through the evening with a few glasses of water in between. (That is, when you drive rather than Uber).

But to get to the heart of the Zingara magic. It is the performers  – who, on the night, included Jonny Grundy and Manuel Artino, fantastic acrobats who have created a novel approach perfect for this particular venue; contortionist Lunga Buthelezi (from Joburg), who is probably the artist that impressed me most, because of the novelty and the artistry; the classy crooning throughout by The Clorettes, in solo and combination (from left to right, above) Edith Plaatjies, Andrea Anthony, Naz Leeman and Brandon Jonathan and Downtown Johnny (pictured credit Spencer du Plessis), whose name says it all. There are more and, during the run, certain acts are also changed but the style and spectacle is always there.

At the end of the night, I was ready to go home and yet again impressed by the creativity and the charm of this particular venture. It’s great to see something that has lasted through all kinds of fads and phases which has never lost any of its soul and lets you go into the night following an evening of revelry, the pace and passion determined by you.

They provide a venue that embraces, entertainment that holds you throughout, and a menu that works fantastically well while you set the tone.

I think it works especially well if you gather a group of like-minded friends to spend an enchanted African evening.

*The season runs Tuesdays to Sundays at the Melrose Arch Pavilion. Arrive early – gates open at 5pm – to explore the grounds, browse the Bijoux Boutique, get a tarot reading or have your face painted. The curtain rises on La Dolce Royal at 7:30pm and tickets costing from R1 360 per person include a welcome drink, a four-course dinner and the show. Booking is also open for end-of-year functions and special occasions. To book a VIP experience, email Vanessa@zingara.co.za

IF YOU WANT TO HAVE A GOOD HOUSE YOU NEED TO WORK ON THE FOUNDATIONS, SAYS AMY JEPHTA

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REVIEW BY DIANE DE BEER
PICTURES BY THANDILE ZWELIBANZI

A GOOD HOUSE

CAST: Homeowners Nhlakanipho Manqele and Lesoko Seabe (Bonolo), and their neighbours Jose Domingo and Mary-Ann Barlow, and  Christine van Hees and Conrad Kemp

I was listening to two American podcasters speaking about movies and television recently, talking about the lack of current events featured in any of their fictional TV series or films.

They pointed to Nixon and the Kennedys, for example, who have had so much filmed about their lives – in reality and fictionalized – but said nothing similar was being done about the Trump dynasty.

Fresh from witnessing Amy Jephta’s A Good House, currently playing at Joburg’s Market Theatre, it is all about current South Africa and accompanied by a strong local audience, all ages colours and genders, whose participation was as much fun as the play.

Lesoko Seabe and Nhlakanipho Manqele

I know we’re still a young democracy in global terms, but we’re moving on with some maturity as we head for our fourth decade. We certainly have stories to tell, time to reflect, discussions to be had and people who are still willing to talk to one another.

Are we one big happy family? Of course not. We would be idiots to think that is going to happen with alacrity, but we are busy moving away from those early rainbow phases simply to breathe more easily because we are all still alive and kicking.

In the international stakes though, we’re reaching for the top and it certainly isn’t out of our reach. And if anything, even with a group of cantankerous neighbours trying to make their way in Amy Jephta’s A Good House, it was easy to recognize what was developing on stage.

How good it is to smile at the things we get up to, the way we look at each other and the assurance with which we sometimes say something when we assume we know, but don’t have a clue.

From left: Jose Domingo, Mary-Ann Barlow, Lesoko Seabe and Nhlakanipho Manqele.

Three couples have chosen to live in one of the many gated communities which are such a part of our landscape. Apart from sizing each other up from every angle, what they have in common is their worry, in varying degrees, about a shack which has suddenly appeared on the periphery of their much valued and carefully selected suburb of Stillwater.

Jephta was already rewarded for the play when she was nominated for the prestigious international Susan Smith Blackburn Prize that honours women and writing for the stage. It was described as full of wit, humour, insight and exhilarating tension.

For her, it is a provocative exploration of the meaning of place, the contradictions of belonging and the definitions of community. Conversations are as fast and furious as change, according to the people in the room. It’s sizzling with all that predictable foot-in-the-mouth chatter crashing before its landed as husband and wife stare each other down, while carefully trying to navigate this sacred space which they can’t afford – financially or mentally – and have to try to make work.

Jephta latches on to the shifting terrain our country is still experiencing and has fun at everyone’s expense. No one escapes her sharp gaze, as she has picked her characters with care: men not used to even having to think about biting their tongue; women who know it all; those who feel entitled and those who don’t even know what that means; and others too scared to move.

Colour still looms large in our country and unfamiliar relationships still on shaky ground as people have to play specific games to make their world work. It’s specific algorithms, they say, or, in this instance, agendas. The difference is that they are historical and the patterns hardly noticed by those playing, so ingrained have they become.

Christine von Hees and Conrad Kemp.

Yet the fact that we are dealing, on whatever level, is already large in a world that turns its back on its horrific past as if the generations that follow feel it is their right to ignore or even wipe out the scars of those affected communities whose very existence depended on the goodwill of their enemies.

It is the kind of theatre that’s engaging and healing as writers refuse to let go of the ills of the past that have not yet been dealt with. It’s  not just a litany of fingers being pointed at the obvious perpetrators; it’s dealing with a legacy that still has an impact on a country that has survived so much that some say it is enough.

And yet, if you listen carefully, usually those arguing are not the people who have suffered, and thoeirs are the voices that should be listened to.

Jephta is an experienced voice who speaks her mind; her plays grapple with who we are and she bravely has an embracing and nuanced outlook which doesn’t simply take the easy way out. She lines us all up to pull together, no matter where we come from, but hopefully to build rather than break down our future. And all the while, she has us laughing at ourselves.

Congratulations to The Market as well as a production with a stunning writer/director and cast who stand their ground in a space so intimate, you cannot turn away.

LOVE TAKES SOMETHING MORE THAN THE STARS

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REVIEW BY DIANE DE BEER

PICTURES: Daniel Rutland Manners

CONSTELLATIONS by Nick Payne

DIRECTOR: Jay Pather

CAST: Mark Elderkin and Mwenya Kabwe (pictured above)

VENUE: Sandton’s Theatre on the Square

DATES: Tonight, until Friday at 7.30pm and Saturday at 5 and 8pm

CONSTELLATIONS is an intriguing play about a couple and their relationship, told in a way that keeps the audience running around in circles.

How does one approach a story of love between two people in an original way without it becoming too forced or even trite? We have all witnessed many different relationships on stage and screen, and in literature, but the playwright’s sleight of hand is what adds the fizzle and pop to this one.

It’s all about time and different universes where the same scene unfolds over and over again with changes in tone, perspective and behaviour that flow flawlessly and without visible fuss.

It’s about small things that have a huge impact or slip by unnoticed when two people are involved. In Constellations, the playwright plays with ideas to tell a story that is as old as the hills yet finds angles and alleyways to add a different slant.

The key to unlocking the essence of the piece can be found in the interactions between the tiniest particles that turn every action into a seismic event between two people trying to forge a meaningful and possibly lasting relationship. It spotlights the fragility and the different ways people view their world and communicate their actions and feelings – or simply a single thought which can change the meaning of what they are trying to share?

It’s almost as if the writer is gambling with love. Is it even possible? How can they have such a tough time expressing their feelings to one another?

The concept is approached playfully, giving the actors a chance to play around with words and meanings, as would happen when rehearsing a play. Those of us watching will all be familiar with the wicked ways love can play with your heart, mind and sometimes hearing!

Yet even when you have a brilliant script, it is the actors who must breathe life into the words. And here, that is it, the actors and their words. That is what makes it all so enticing. The casting is both perfect and not obvious, but Kabwe (one of my favourite actors) and Elderkin (a new discovery) are the perfect fit with smart direction by Pather, who keeps it simple and to the point. It’s all in the script and how that is managed – and in this instance, magnificently.

It is the way the two actors switch demeanour in an instant, with every sentence making a difference and changing the temperature in the room smartly and swiftly time and again.

It is thought-provoking and charming, and keeps you on your toes. What more could you possibly wish for.

Well, for some, it’s also a compact 75 minutes long, the perfect breather in a long day.

REMEMBERING THE PAST TO HONOUR THE PRESENT

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Review by Diane de Beer

RISE ’76: THE STORY OF JUNE 16TH

WRITER/DIRECTOR: Tiisetso Mashifane wa Noni

CAST:  Deon Lotz (police commander), Sbuja Dywili (policeman) and Ben Albertyn (policeman), the three men at the back

With bottom row from left to right: Mfuneli Ntumbuka (teacher), Alex Sono (male pupil) Zilungile Mbombo (standing, female pupil), and Botlhale Mahlangu (headmaster)

With all of them playing many other smaller characters in the play

VENUE: Mannie Manim Theatre at Joburg’s Market

DATES: Until June 28

Can it be 50 years ago that our nation was confronted with one of its most devastating yet life-changing catastrophes?

In a country as diverse and divided (not only by law) as we were, everyone would have experienced that cataclysmic day differently and arguably, many older folk will think they remember it all too well.

And yet, because of the intimate setting, the small ensemble and the personal gaze of the historical retelling, it unfolds in waves of emotional information that often overwhelm you completely. For the audience, there’s no holding back, no place to hide. Whether you ‘witnessed’ the events or only heard about them many years or decades later, the full impact will catch you unawares.

That is what makes this such a masterpiece. So much has happened since the day the schoolchildren decided to take matters into their own hands. The focus has been dimmed and June 16 is a date remembered, but one that needs to be put out there in blazing colour and minute detail – not just the headlines.

Pupils Zilungile Mbombo (above) and Alex Sono (pupil), Sbuja Dywili (policeman) and Deon Lotz (police commander)

Because it had such an explosive impact and awakened the inevitable revolution, which was destined to follow, it is something that needs to be part of each generation’s psyche – and this certainly achieves that in a most courageous and daring fashion.

Whatever your political persuasion, you will be affected by this remarkable play and the choices made. Itis the full package that makes this work so magnificently, starting with the thoughtful and thought-provoking text.

This is then further cemented by the creative casting, with each member of the cast the perfect fit. And it shows in many different ways because most of them play many different characters, each one capturing the heart of the character they adopt. Ntumbuka’s teacher seems aghast at what she is expected to teach, for example. Imagine, she almost shrieks, that she is expected to teach maths in Afrikaans, a language completely foreign to her. And yet, when she appears as a mother, she’s calmness herself.

And the rest of the cast follow suit, slipping easily into whoever they’re expected to become next. The two youngster Zilungile Mbombo and Alex Sono, deserve special mention because they weren’t even born in ’76 and yet they capture the defiance and courage of that time with the energy required.

As you relive these traumatic times now almost a half-century ago, you cannot help but feel pride at the progress this country, which held such horror for such a large number of its citizens has already achieved. Much bigger countries (in fact, large chunks of the world) are suffering rough times and struggling with the animosity between citizens.

Nothing comes easily, but the work done these past 30 years is obviously paying dividends. With the  introspection that Rise ’76 brings, it reminds us where we come from and how much we have to cherish 50 years down the road on a continent and in a country that not many gave much of a chance to succeed.

Our outrageous systems of the past, with fortunately the most unattainable expectations of disempowerment of most of the nation, should never be forgotten even though we achieved miracles against all odds.

Those of us who lived through it should never lose the sense of wonder as we witness the cohesion that is starting to rear its head all over the show.

Many laughed at the notion of a Rainbow Nation in the early days. And while nothing is ever perfect, from my point of view, if you have a mixed populace turning up to something called the Pretoria Boeremark in the capital city every Saturday, we are doing something right.

And while comparisons are odious, as a nation we have to smile if 50 years on with many countries battling stability, we seem to be going from strength to strength.

ALBIE SACHS THE MAN, THE FATHER, THE SURVIVOR

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Review by Diane de Beer


Pictures: Philip Kuhn

ALBIE SACHS, FATHERS, SONS, AND SOFT VENGEANCE

Presented by Troupe Theatre Company in association with Daphne Kuhn
Playwright: Gail Louw
Actor: Graham Hopkins
Director: Fiona Ramsay

Venue: Theatre on the Square, Sandton

Dates: Until May 24

If you were witness to the birth of the South African democracy in 1994, Albie Sachs will be familiar to you.

Not only was he part of the drafting of a charter for the new non-racial South Africa, but he also fought for the inclusion of a Bill of Rights and an independent judiciary in the new constitution.

On a more visible front, he was involved with the development of the new Constitutional Court building, and it is widely acknowledged that he was the instigator of the magnificent artistic heritage so marvellously displayed all over Constitution Hill.

As the title suggests, that’s not the story told in Albie Sachs: Father, Sons and Soft Vengeance; many of those facts will be familiar to South Africans.

It is Albie the man, the father, the survivor who tells this personal story of a young boy whose life was shaped and politically driven by parents who were both part of the Communist Party while his father, Solly, was also the leader of South Africa’s Garment Workers Union.

He grew up seeing white and black adults interacting as equals. That’s the background.

But here is a man who was also a father and a freedom fighter, somebody who lost an arm in a car bomb in Mozambique, where the South African secret service was actively trying to obliterate their antagonistic fellow South Africans.

And this is where the play is focused. Albie, instead of being crushed by the apartheid regime, viewed his scarred limb as a symbol of strength. It also pushed him onto a world stage where he became an icon of the liberation.

These musings of a man whose life was determined by the laws of the country of his birth, come to life in especially conversations with his son Oliver and that is how the story unfolds. It’s fascinating stuff which is magnificently explored by Graham Hopkins, who allows Sachs to emerge as a full-blooded human being.

It’s in the clothes, the way he moves and takes on the persona with a subtle touch. Seamlessly, he acquires the accents he uses for particular characters with astounding Hopkins flair. He moves through the 90-minute monologue in the blink of an eye without losing his audience as he tells the story of a man and a country fighting for their life.

It’s not an easy play to stage, but with the experienced Ramsay both as director and as actor, found imaginative ways to approach what could have been clumsy rather than crafty. Solo productions can easily fall into the trap of trying to add movement into a too static production, which then detracts from rather than embraces the text.

And then the play. Telling an Albie Sachs story could have been many different things. He is such a remarkable individual, a South African we were lucky to have during a momentous time in our nation’s future development as a democracy.

There were so many ways to swing with this one, but opting for the personal, the impact on his life of events he had no control over, is where the focus lies. That and the bridging of the gap between father and son, sharing the story in a way that explains how and why he was influenced in a specific way and how he hoped to have an impact on the future he wished for his children.

It also feels as though it is Sachs speaking, as though he has opened his heart and his mind to those who care to listen. It’s an extraordinary life and one that fellow South Africans can celebrate with pride.

He has been actively part of living and shaping the history of this country. It is individuals like him with strong belief systems who have turned this country into a beacon of hope in a world that seems to have lost its way.

Who would have thought?

THE DELIGHTFUL DILEMMA OF DEALING WITH LIFE

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Review by Diane de Beer

Pictures: Ngoma Mphahlele

AFROPOCALYPSE

DIRECTOR: Daniel Buckland

CAST: Market Theatre Laboratory 2nd Year Students

DATES: Until May 23

VENUE: Mannie Manim Theatre at the Joburg Market

It bubbles and bristles with energy, enthusiasm and excitement in this return season of a play which started as a student production in 2024 and returned in 2025 to the National Arts Festival, where it won a Golden Ovation Award, as well as a Naledi for Best Ensemble.

This current season is the forerunner of a showcase at a Swedish Festival, where it is one of four international productions selected from 600 applicants. And rightly so.

I was surprised when leaving the show that it had only been 60 minutes long. It felt much longer, in the best possible sense, and grabs your attention from start to finish. It was packed with adventure and a cast of 14 who never let up as they leapt into this glorious yet often gruesome adventure of the human condition in a world out of kilter.

How would theatre react to a world unhinged, as is presently at play? Through storytelling, of course, and taking this one to a European audience is the perfect choice.

Think of this country’s past and, in the present turmoil, one can only smile. We are sailing along quite nicely, apart from the constant syphoning off of state money, in this instance from the art coffers, which could benefit so many rather than just a few unworthy recipients.

Nevertheless, taking four constant bogeymen in a world that feels overwhelmingly disastrous and desperate: greed, mortality, religion and unconditional love – this outrageous yet wildly entertaining ragtag group use physical theatre and magic realism to uncover and explore what is happening around them and especially out there.

The fact that this comes from a country that not too long ago was viewed as one of the worst in the world, in itself brings hope.

With Buckland’s theatre-making ideal for this tawdry yet dynamic storytelling, it’s a joy to watch with the cast performing magnificently. It’s a compelling piece, told in an original fashion with a story that reaches young and old.

This is what the Market Theatre Laboratory does best. Described as “an incubator for the development of skilled theatre-makers while also producing bold, cutting-edge work”, that is exactly what is represented here.

That is why the way this specific piece has been transformed from its first performances to where it stands now is spectacular and a wonderful testament to what can be achieved in theatre with the right people and plans in place.

None of these 14 players has ever performed internationally and with this one, they are a testament to how theatre can evolve from small beginnings into something special.

Local audiences who see the piece will also be contributing towards the tour, and the cast are given every chance to land on the international stage in the best shape possible. What could be a better advertisement for local theatre, especially in a country like Sweden, which has contributed hugely to The Market and its pursuit of world-class theatre?

But don’t think you will be doing something charitable when going to experience this remarkable play, audiences are the ones that are rewarded.

In essence, the power lies in the originality of the text, the exuberant application and the perfection of the cast.

PASSION IS IN ABUNDANCE FOR THE CREATIVE JO STEENKAMP, BOTH AT WORK AND AT PLAY

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My favourite psychologist, JO Steenkamp, is playing in a different medium and yet, like his focus on spontaneous healing and internal transformation, which he has developed into his own modality, SHIP (Spontaneous Healing Intrasystemic Process), his art and more specifically sculpture follow the same principles of spontaneity. He talks to DIANE DE BEER about his longtime yet recently rekindled fascination with sculpture, which has resulted in an exhibition titled Shape-Shifters: The voice behind the veil, which will be held at Pretoria’s Pierneef’s Kraal from May 7 to June 7:

From an early age, JO Steenkamp knew what he wanted to do. Even though he didn’t have any artistic influences in his youth, he started sculpting at the age of 16. But when life decisions had to be made, he realized that his interest was psychology – and not simply the true and tested path of the time; he was intrigued by spontaneous healing, something he developed through his doctoral work and which he turned into what today would best be understood as Steenkamp brand.

Once he had decided on his future, he was determined to pursue his dream. Because the number of places had already been allocated for the Honours course, he wasn’t accepted. He was persistent and kept turning up at the head of department’s office until the accepted number was moved from 30 to 31.

His art followed a similar obstinacy once he decided to explore his 16-year-old dream. His son (also a clinical psychologist) was moving out of the house, which meant JO could use the rooms which were now unoccupied.

He phoned someone close by who he knew had clay, and when she said, “Come over and let’s have a cup of coffee,” his response was quick: “You don’t understand, I need the clay N0W!”

He already knew the process he wanted to follow. He simply reached back to his youth.  “It happens by itself,” explains JO. “I follow the lines and then comes the magic. I am not doing it for anything else but the connectedness,” says the disciple of spontaneity.

Reproductions don’t feature in his creativity, and because his spirit is driven in a very particular way, he doesn’t do requests either. Once he has a piece of clay in front of him, anything can happen. When someone asked him to sculpt a water nymph for them because apparently there’s one in every French river, he said the best he could do was to think about one when he was sculpting.

His process has to be spontaneous and he simply taps into consciousness. “It’s a knowledge that’s there,” he says. “It’s exactly like my psychology works. You’re tapping into something that already exists and you’re simply the vehicle. It’s a knowing.”

When it comes to the titles of his work and especially a special descriptive poem that accompanies each individual sculpture, it’s as if it taps into the consciousness of the viewer. It’s almost as if it opens something, he explains;

Even the way he decided on the use of bronze for the final sculpture. It is the ancient quality that caught his eye and he knew, it was the only way.

The title of the exhibition, Shapeshifter: the voice behind the veil, he describes as a celebration of something that was created.

When JO starts talking about the meaning of the process and the work, his passionate descriptions are hard to resist. Sculpting for him is an exploration of himself. He is constantly in conversation and, once that has been concluded, it is something he wants to share. “Something magical, mystical and fabulous,” he adds.

Listening to him talk takes me back a few decades to when I was one of his patients. I had been to many psychologists before him, but none of them could speak in a language that I understood. When JO first explained his method of spontaneous healing, I knew I had finally found someone who could show me the way.

And he did. But that is also why it is so fascinating to see his art and to hear him speaking about his creativity – all these years later. To my mind, his art is simply an extension of his psychological methodology. He takes the clay and allows the process to unfold spontaneously. It all makes perfect sense as his spontaneous flair is constantly nurtured, the one flowing into the other, forming a perfect circle.

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.