So I went to last year’s Fairtree Atterbury Theatre show in Pretoria, and was so impressed that I forgot to take notes. There was little chance of reporting or writing without having a single note and when he announced the 2024 (he changes topic every year) I was ready to go – which happened a few weeks ago.
It’s always packed, no room for a single late-comer, and while last year’s topic was Pain, this year he focused on our chaotic world and the urge to achieve excellence. “What are we busy doing?” he asked. “What is going on?”
All of this chatter happens at breakneck speed and what I had forgotten was that the auditorium is pitch dark, like in a theatre show. Taking notes would be quite a challenge, but I was determined.
What I hoped to capture would perhaps not be the most accurate version of his magical monologue, but I was hopeful that I would capture the essence and encourage fans to attend future talks.
First off, it’s all in Afrikaans. But that’s always part of his charm. He often complains about a show or a talk which is too serious and not really funny. What escapes him is the way he speaks, his vocabulary and the way he constructs a sentence are unusual and often hysterically funny.
With the focus on the times we live in, he began his talk with one of his irresistible stories which set the tone for the rest of his talk. He can’t but be funny even when he is having a serious conversation. It’s his special formula and what makes you listen while forgetting that you’re actually part of a masterful sermon.
He has always had the gift of the gab. That’s how he makes a living. People hang on his every word. Why not impart some wisdom while making them laugh? And that’s exactly what he does. Not many can make you smile while telling you how to behave. But he does, and gets paid to do exactly that.
And again, it’s because he knows how to tell a story: whether these are true or fabricated, the life lessons come from the heart – and experience. Being Nataniël, he has an unusual life and people share their secrets. He will juggle and jiggle them around so that even those involved will probably not recognise themselves, and then he will douse it with wit as well as wisdom – and the audience will lap it up.
In the current talk he investigates the need to succeed and sparkle (“prestasie” in Afrikaans, but he was unsure of the English translation as achievement doesn’t quite hit the mark!)
And while fame and celebrity seem to be the hallmark of success in today’s world, he believes there’s more to it than that. Legacy is something that is often talked about yet the individual in question doesn’t experience that, it only comes once they’re dead. “A career is also an achievement,” he suggests. And at least then, you can share in the satisfaction of having achieved something.
While at school – something he hated with his whole being – he was often charged by a teacher or someone in authority to participate in a competition of some kind. His response was always, but why? To what end? Who benefits? And what does any of this achieve?
Others again will equate success with money, but having raced through a spectacular career himself, he has had the chance to reflect. For him it has always been the process of getting from beginning to end – whatever the journey might entail. Once you have travelled from one point to another, you can look back, and perhaps make sense of it.
“Success changes your perspective,” he reasons. And for him, 114 productions on (all self-written, music composed, directed and performed), the pain and anxiety have remained. It has never been easy and he still questions the damage accumulated through the years. “It has to impact my health, surely,” he says. “I seem to be in constant pain.”
In his world, he only recognises five iconic individuals: Van Gogh and Leonardo da Vinci, neither of whom lived fabulous lives; Shakespeare, who had to act in his own plays to make a living; Einstein whose famous equation explains the energy released in an atomic bomb; and his grandmother who is the individual most often featured in his stories and the one he credits with influencing his life the most.
“I have tried everything but could never recreate the magic she created in her home and on others.” That’s what he refers to as a natural achievement – not something one tries to do, it simply happens.
Go and listen when you can. Nataniël is one of those people who lives an interesting life because of who he is. It’s not so much the celebrity status, rather the way he views the world that comes through in his talks.
He is naturally wise, more witty than anyone I know or have encountered, and he knows how to tell stories. More than anything, that has probably most endeared him to audiences.
His spectacular shows are something to witness and experience, I never miss those. These latest talk sessions are something completely different yet no less entertaining. As with his shows, you leave the theatre feeling you have gained something – and for everyone it will be different.
And you will die laughing…
He can’t help himself. Even when serious, his inner clown escapes.
29 June 2024
GESELS 2024
11am + 3pm
Fairtree Atterbury Theatre, Pretoria No children under 15 Book at: seatme.co.za
The second verse of any song has to be more killer than the first. Always. The rhythm has to slap. The lyrics must be on point. The feeling intense. And the impact mad-definitive. It’s just the way it is. In the same way, if you do well in life once in a life, then you always have to be better from that point onwards. No doubt.
Author Onke Mazibuko is the director of transformation, diversity and inclusion at Johannesburg’s Kingsmead College, he has two master degrees, one in psychology, the other in public health and is busy with a PhD in creative writing. As if all that isn’t daunting enough, he tells DIANE DE BEER about The Second Verse, (Penguin Random) as well as two more books on the horizon – as well as a few other passions in his life:
“Whenever people ask me what I do for a living or who am I, I always feel I’m going to shortchange myself because there’s no one box or title or definition that would do it all justice.
“For example, if I say to people I work in a school as a director of transformation diversity and inclusion, that doesn’t explain that I’m also a writer. And when I say that also, it doesn’t do justice to the fact that I’m also a psychologist, and when I do that, it doesn’t do justice to the fact that I’m also a cyclist.
“I also love cycling, and when I say that, it doesn’t do justice to the fact that I love hiking. And when I do that, it doesn’t do justice to the fact that I’m curious about Buddhism. I’m practising meditation, but I’m not necessarily a Buddhist.
“And then there’s the rapping, the music aspect of it.”
And then he concludes that it’s easiest to say: “I’m a person, I’m a spirit, I am someone who is highly creative and I love learning. There’s nothing I love more than self-expression and learning.”
Speaking is the delightful Onke Mazibuko, whom I was privileged to interview in front of a live audience at the recent Vrye Weekblad Book Festival at Cullinan. We hadn’t met before the event apart from a short introductory phone call, but his heartfelt coming-of-age, first novel, The Second Verse (Penguin Random House), told me something about Onke’s youth.
I felt quite strongly that he had experienced the same emotions as his main character Bokang at some stage and that he was a writer I would love to read more of in the future. When asked questions about himself, he easily pours his heart out and shows who he is – as much as is comfortable – but with great sincerity.
“ I also sometimes wonder how I got to where I am because I feel there are things that happened in my life that have taken me off the path. But when I look back, I realise, I’ve never really been off the path as such,” he explains. With so many accomplishments to his name, one wonders what drives him.
“Going back to when I was six years old, all I wanted to be was a cartoonist. I used to enjoy drawing and painting and I remember my parents used to laugh at me (my father was a doctor and my mother was a nurse), thinking that this was cute maybe, and as I got older, I wanted to be a doctor like my father, but when my parents separated when I was 12, I let go of that idea. When I entered high school, it was a difficult time because our financial circumstances had changed because of the separation.
“I went from private schools to government schools and even though there are very good government schools, it was a very big change in my life. We moved from KwaZulu-Natal where I had been in boarding school for eight years and suddenly we were in East London in the Eastern Cape and I was a day scholar.”
That is where the writing started – an emotional response, perhaps a coping mechanism in a life that might have felt as though it was disintegrating.
“I started writing a lot of poetry. Now years later, I’ve become aware that whenever I go through emotionally difficult times, I tend to turn to writing.”
This developed into an interest in learning to rap and taking part in hip-hop events when he attended the University of Cape Town. For the first time he saw his peers getting on stage and doing poetry and he challenged himself to learn to rap and get over his fear of talking in front of people. “I was very shy,” he explains. Getting on stage, enjoying the hip-hop scene, that’s where he forged an identity for himself.
He eventually dropped out of university because he had chosen a specific field for the wrong reasons. And while the hip-hop was going well, at the time, it wasn’t yet commercially viable. “I was not compromising and I felt that I wasn’t going to change my music just to fit into the industry standards.”
And he still takes that stance when making decisions. Something he questions in his writing is when others try to define him. The Second Verse has been branded as young adult, while he feels that, if he had anybody in mind, it was an older reader. “I wanted readers to reflect on their past, look back,” he says.
Leaving university, his life took what some might think of as a sharp left. He went to work for a bank. But this also allowed him to explore his creative side in many ways. He decided to return to his university studies but also kept up the writing. His office and the university were in close proximity and graffiti became another pastime to indulge his creative dreams.
“I would leave home at 7am in the morning dressed in working gear, walk 25 minutes to work. Opening accounts for people, talking to them about home loans etc, doing all these professional things, and at approximately 4pm, would walk about 5 minutes and get to school and attend lectures until about 8 at night.”
Then he would walk home at nighttime, and his creativity would emerge again. He would have his spray cans handy and start tagging and doing throw-ups. Then to bed at about 10 so that he could wake up at 2 in the morning, go and graffiti train carriages and return home to get ready for work, where he would show up with fingers covered in paint.
People didn’t know what he was doing, but he was at work on time. In-between clients, when he got bored, he would write poetry and rap, which passed the time.
He always read a lot, and he remembers reading somewhere that if you are a reader, you are a writer under cover. “If I had to find an origin of when I started writing, I would take it as far back as when I started reading.” When he was at boarding school at the age of 5, “they would read us bedtime stories, and by the time I was in std 1, you had to have your own book.”
Books were always a part of his life. His father’s books were all around the house, in fact, he and his brother’s room was pretty much his father’s library. “We felt we were sleeping in his library rather than that his books were in our room.”
He didn’t do particularly well in writing at high school and this was him trying, so he left school thinking that he couldn’t write, didn’t think it was something special. His sister (who sadly died a few years ago) always played a special mentoring role. She was a lecturer where he was studying and would give him feedback about what his lecturers were saying.
He was in the psychology department and she was in the sociology department, and she would tell him how proud she was of him because the lecturers were always saying how well he wrote.
But it wasn’t until he got to his honours degrees, when they started telling him he could write well. During his psychology studies, he was having emotional struggles and had read that journalling could help him. He has been doing that since 2008 and hardly ever skips his daily journalling. For him it is not about the content but about the practice of making time to be with himself.
The first time he really attempted to write a story, he was 35 years old and was doing a PhD in psychology. He was having problems and again writing became his safe place. In the process, he realised how much he was enjoying the writing.
He also started volunteering at youth-centred NGO’s, while writing another novel which deals with young people. He’s continued seeing clients, not a lot, but he loves the therapy. He also does palm reading, astrology and tarot. When spending time in libraries at 19 after dropping out, he discovered books on astrology, and just read and read.
This side of his career developed organically and he knows now that when he felt his life was falling apart, he was actually gathering knowledge and strength for the future. “Things come around; what I learnt to do at a young age has become part of my life.”
When he isn’t writing, he falls apart. He does a lot of writing exercises, which keeps him healthy and focussed on a routine. Research methods, life experience, everything comes into play.
Mentoring plays a large role in his life. Once he starts talking about the youngsters he mentors, the stories just pour out. Often their stories remind him of his own journey. He is also someone who received scholarships and travel grants – once you’ve received these kind of gifts, you want to do the same for other people.
It was one of his mentees, a young man who had never read a novel and was sent one of the early drafts of The Second Verse, whose response and determination to keep reading, proved to Onke that while he didn’t view his book as great literature, he has the ability to capture emotions. It’s not about the words (in other words), it’s about the storytelling capability.
He was humbled when he received the South African Literary Award for Youth Literature, which confirmed to him that this is the kind of story he should write.
The book was influenced by Catcherin the Rye which at first he hated, but when he read again after dropping out at varsity, he experienced it very differently. Once he realised he was writing a coming-of-age story, he tapped into the most difficult four years of his life – high school. He was discriminated against by both white and Black kids and always made to feel different, creating a yearning to fit in.
His two latest books are a story of two brothers whose sister died and, one he is writing for his PhD in creative writing that follows his years at Transnet and deals with a whistleblower who discovers corruption in a state-owned company. It can’t come too soon.
CAST: David Dennis as Uncle; Michael Richard as Tim; Astrid Braaf as Journalist; Zane Meas as the Lawyer; Ziaphora Dakile as Tiger Claws; Melissa Haiden as Virginia
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: Aalliyah Zama Matintela
SET AND COSTUME DESIGN: Lisa Younger
LIGHTING DESIGNER: Hlomohang ‘Spider’ Motheto
AV DESIGNER: Xolelwa ‘Ollie’Nhlabatsi
SOUND DESIGNER: Vagile Mpumlwana
VENUE: Mannie Manim Theatre at The Market
DATES: Until May 19
In the programme notes the playwright is described as a prominent political analyst, and a columnist for the Mail and Guardian newspaper as well as the author of a number of political books.
Zane Meas and David Dennis.
The following is also stated:
The Brothers, Number One and a Weekend Special is the story of the rise of State Capture, starting with the announcement of a new Minister of Finance in late-2015. The play, which tracks a two-year history, is written by astute political analyst, Richard Calland, who has been close to the frontline of South African politics since 1994 and a political columnist at the Mail & Guardian since 2001.
As the drama unfolds, an audience witness the high-stakes manoeuvres, clandestine dealings, and manipulation of public sentiment that fuelled further racial division across the nation. Calland weaves a narrative that connects the dots between government, media, and corrupt businessmen, laying bare the underbelly of a political landscape marked by noise, complexity, and a dangerous volatility.
This leaves you in no doubt about what is going to follow and my first thought was, this being the 30th celebration of what still feels like our young democracy, the play must be seen as a sign of our maturity as a country.
David Dennis and Astrid Braaf.In confrontsation Astrid Braaf, and Ziaphora Dakile.
This kind of play, with a representative audience all loudly involved from start to finish, has a lot to say about what we have gone through and, how we have emerged with much more political smarts and cynicism following the Zuma years. Even though we are still suffering many financial and ideological blows from that horrific time, we are not as easily duped, no longer the silent sacrificial lambs we were then.
And at the heart of what unfolds is the playwright who as a political analyst and journalist, has the information at his fingertips.
How can we forget how the iconic Brenda Fassie song title Weekend Special became something completely different in South African minds?
Michael Richard and Melissa Haiden.
This was perhaps the turning point of the whole Zuma fiasco – his Weekend Special. You can dupe a country as much as you want it seemed, but when you go for their money, that’s a completely different ball game – and when things started to unravel for the shameless Number One. Des van Rooyen was no match for the controversially fired Nhlanhla Nene – as the rand went into free fall.
Remember those heady days for the Gupta brothers, who are still hiding out (with South African billions, mind you) somewhere in the Middle East, Switzerland or India depending on which sources you trust.
Back to the play. We all know the facts; there were many newspaper reports as well as Thuli Madonsela and Zondo’s inquiries. With Homann smartly mixing his cast with stage veterans such as Zane Meas, Michael Richard and Dennis Becket and three young but also experienced female actors (more familiar I suspect to Cape audiences), we all had to think on our feet to work out the different characters.
David Dennis is Mac Maharaj whispered an audience member close by, but in the end it didn’t matter. You quickly gathered that the men were part of the corruption including the Guptas, as well as those handling all the shaky deals from government side, with Richard being the one watching and guiding his journalist.
David Dennis makes his point.
It was glorious to see these three in action on the same stage, masterfully matched by the young female energy in their particular roles of either ferreting out, or defying any corruption allegations, depending on their particular alliances.
It takes one back to those early days of discovery. Remember the Saxonwold shebeen? People carrying handbags stuffed with money, others denying visits to their overlords, those in command of State Capture. It feels a bit like a horror movie, but not with Calland orchestrating the manoeuvres and connecting the different dots.
And everyone was laughing. We have, after all, dodged a bullet and most of us are much less gullible than we were in those heady early days of our democracy.
The anguish is palpable.
It’s a fast-paced political thriller of sorts and it’s our own. What I would have liked is a bit more clarity in the staging. With seats on three sides, the projections were difficult to follow from the side. And some gave insight into the full affair which was unravelling at a speed.
Short and straightforward interactions would have added more punch (from both a script and staging perspective) and added a contemporary edge. The audience obviously loved it and were fully engaged, and so was I. But, especially as we all knew the details, it simply would have elevated it into a landmark play.
King George with Brent Palmer (left) and Clyde Berning.
It’s not an easy world we live in. Nothing seems to come without some kind of threatening event or warnings to watch out for scams when dealing with the outside world with its big bad wolves on the take.
This is exactly what you witness in this smartly crafted play by Brent Palmer – one of the actors and the playwright. In the world of theatre, it helps when you can also write the stories you want to tell and if you do it this well, it’s a bonus.
The fact that it doesn’t take much more than two male actors in a room makes this one a no-brainer, especially for independent theatres that have relentless financial restrictions. Shane Wynstock (Berning) is the slick CEO of Synergy Properties. He is in the process of starting a new development and boasting about his accomplishments to a possible investor when there’s a knock on the door.
George Megalos (Palmer, who recently won a Fleur du Cap for this particular role) is someone who slides into a room and not with the bravado of Seinfeld’s Kramer – it’s much more of a slithering entrance. He’s trouble, and that’s immediately visible.
The gloves are off.
Not that Shane seems to be bothered. And the dilemma unfolds cunningly and with great sparring between the two obviously adversarial men. It appears that there’s a problem with an audacious development plan which Shane is about to set in motion. It means problems for homeowners in the area though, as they’re just expected to vacate their homes and move.
In a standoff, George (right) and Shane are in a heated discussion
George is determined to have nothing of this as they become embroiled in a heated argument.
The interesting twist is the switch of villains with the more sleazy character the one who can claim the moral high ground, while the obviously moneyed man is the bully who knows he has the bucks to win this round. That’s all that counts.
It’s intriguing theatre as the two actors inhabit their characters and quickly draw you into their different worlds – with some ambivalence because we live in times where first impression is based on appearance. Shane wins hands down, but it becomes clear that the tables might be turned in this one.
The play is not about the outcome; it’s much more about the world we find ourselves navigating, where the traditional rules no longer apply. It’s all about power, and that is determined by the one who has the money.
But the manoeuvring is fun and the actors obviously delight in this fast-paced duel. I loved the originality as it’s not something I’ve seen before, and it’s perfect for our crazy world where men like Trump and Zuma think they have a second chance at the top spot in spite of their sullied reputations known to all.
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.
Stellenbosch singer/songwriter Luna Paige will be in Pretoria and Philadelphia for rare performances to celebrate the launch of two new albums; the one in Afrikaans (Dis die Dors), the other in English (Harmony). DIANE DE BEER chats to the singer whose career she has followed from her early days – with admiration:
Storielied Reunion.Picture: Pierre Rommelare
For singer/songwriter Luna Paige the last few years has been a sharp learning curve. Since her early start in the industry (late 1999), she has been one of the most dedicated artists I know – and she usually does it all herself.
Her first look-in was when she was invited to record three of her songs on a compilation album alongside Lesley Rae Dowling and other female artists at the time. “It is what catapulted me into a music career,” she says. But driven as she is, and one has to be when you drive your own career as she does, she would have found a way.
Since those early days she has released five solo albums and one SAMA-nominated collaborative album. And since 2015, she has released numerous songs digitally and she believes, she has come into her own this past decade. That is until Covid struck.
She established her own music production company which developed music-driven productions, hosted and organised, concert series and co-ordinated music workshops five years ago. In her capacity at Iluminar Productions, she also represented other musicians and musical groups.
She found herself collaborating with many artists and produced shows such as Her Blues, Korreltjie Kantel and Smeltkroes. She also played a supporting and promotional role in the popular My Miriam Makeba Story featuring the luminous Sima Mashazi.
Because her business was still young and primarily focussed on servicing art festivals and live entertainment venues and clubs, the pandemic was disastrous as for so many other artists who depend on audiences.
Luna knew it was time to join the workforce and between 2021 and 2024 she worked as a marketer and fundraiser for Paul Roos Gymnasium, a prestige Stellenbosch school. But she’s back in the music business, armed with many new skills and ideas she wants to implement in the music industry – as well as two new albums.
During Covid she had time to reflect, and, coming out of the pandemic, her thinking and that of the world around her, has changed. That is also what her songs reflect; her collaborative intent as well as the fast-paced changes in our society. “The last time I released an album, the world looked a lot different. The digital era is now in full sway. It has affected everything outside of us, but also our own internal way of processing information, and life in general.”
And that is exactly what she sings about.
When you ask Luna about her life, she speaks about the difficulty of packaging herself. “Let’s be honest, I am so many things!” She is a singer-songwriter. She writes in her mother tongue but also in English. She doesn’t compose in a specific genre. “For me, the song, and the story behind it, dictates the genre the song needs to be in. I find my influences from a wide array of genres.”
But then she is also a social worker, an altruist and an organiser. She feels she is a catalyst of sorts. “I know how to bring an interesting group of people together to do great things.” And with those words in mind, I predict exciting performances in the future.
Luna has always had to fight for her place in the industry. Performing isn’t an easy way to make a living. Music is her life, and she has always known that’s where she wants to be. Armed with new skills and insight, she believes that private investment in the arts is essential for its survival. “I believe artists have a huge responsibility to not only expect funds, but to also give back to their own communities. And the causes they believe in.”
While fundraising and marketing something other than herself, she became aware of her own different facets. “I have always seen them as separate things, one not having anything to do with the other. But now I know it’s the combination of these elements that makes me unique.”
She’s excited to explore what she calls “fusion of self”, how it will unfold and the kind of creative endeavours it will lead to.
These two latest album releases also reflect her new-found knowledge, showing the different sides of self.
“My Afrikaans side and my English side. Why? Because I do express myself differently in these two languages. It is interesting to me how I almost have a different voice in each of them,” she explains.
And speaking of voices, Luna also does different voices when she speaks and when she sings. If you have a conversation and have never heard her sing, it sounds like a completely different person.
On her Afrikaans album, Dis die Dors, she pays homage to two iconic poets – Jeanne Goosen and Antjie Krog. Their poems, which she puts to music, touch on the subject of either loneliness or aloneness. “It’s a theme I am quite interested in – especially the difference between the two. The power of the one versus the sadness of the other.” Both poets, she notes, also touch on our thirst – for something meaningful in what can be a challenging world. “I sing about purpose, about nature’s generous supply of lessons, and about the labels we embrace for our own self-preservation.” She also addresses online nastiness and real-life kindness, and borrowed time.
And as always with the soulful singer, the genres vary from gypsy jazz and world music to folk rock, rock ‘n roll, troubadour-style songs and one typical Luna-style piano rock ballad.
On the English album, Harmony, she included some of the songs released digitally during 2021 and 2022, as they didn’t reach enough people. She believes they deserve a good resting place. She describes the album as bolder in sound and voice. “I am sharing ideas that I have never previously introduced in my music. Ideas about a lot of –isms. In my song Whose life is it anyway I am encouraging freedom of expression, of individualism, freedom from whatever the mainstream demands. In Circle of witches she addresses the sensitivity towards feminism (even from women themselves). “It is a modern take on feminism and why I believe it is still relevant.”
Not one to stand on the sidelines, Middle Class Shoes is dedicated to May 29 when we stand in line to vote for our next ruling party. “It is a song about classism – something we don’t acknowledge remotely enough when talking politics in SA,” she says.
Luna Paige. Picture: Nardus Engelbrecht
Real news that feels like fiction, alcohol abuse, the power of owning aloneness as well as her love of the continent all feature. And there’s much more.
What she does with her music is speak her mind. All she asks is that we take the time to listen. And I certainly can’t wait. She has a voice that melts your heart and touches the soul. And she offers wisdom and wit with her thoughtful lyrics.
Much thought and research went into producing these albums and how to package them for this digital age.
What she has decided is to release her music in USB-format.
The 2024-USB will include the two new albums, poster art, lyric sheets and two music videos. The Full Collection-USB, will offer all her releases since 2003, multiple videos and live footage. She will also be selling personalised Luna Paige notebooks – with lyric extracts inside.
Her first performance was in Stellenbosch this past weekend and these two follow in Gauteng and Philadelphia:
Sunday, 14 April. Moonshot Café. Pretoria. 2.30pm. Tickets cost R200 at Quicket. Ticket link: https://qkt.io/tR9Nhd. On stage: Luna Paige and Mauritz Lotz.
Wednesday, 17 April. BV Hall. Philadelphia. 8pm. Pre-drinks and dinner at The Pepper Tree from 5.30 to 7.30pm (Reservations: (+27) 84 707 3177. Show time: 8pm. Tickets cost R200 at Quicket. Ticket link: https://qkt.io/DAlG8G. On stage: Luna Paige, Mauritz Lotz, Schalk Joubert, Kevin Gibson.
And then she’s off for the rest of the year as she recharges her creative instincts and inspiration. She will be visiting places she has always dreamt of like Italy, Greece, Spain, Portugal and possibly Slovenia. She will be walking and writing, researching business ideas and checking in with artists who work in a social impact sphere.
Another Klein Karoo National Arts Festival has come and gone but what lingers are the artists, their originality, dedication, blood, sweat and tears and delight that they provide in a lopsided world which is difficult to navigate. DIANE DE BEER finds nourishment, inspiration and novelty in the imaginative and ingenious artistry of our creatives:
I have to be honest from the start. Festivals always have a strong emotional impact on me. I am in the fortunate position as an arts journalist to be invited to see as many productions as I can squeeze into the run of an event and at this year’s Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees (KKNK) there was still a post-Covid frisson with the festival at full strength for a second year.
When a festival goes into full swing, it can be quite daunting and I’m not sure whether I want to be there, but as excellent productions and artists climb into my head, I go into full festival mode where I’m simply thrilled at being overwhelmed by the local arts community.
Being an artist isn’t an easy profession, even if many on the outside feel that they had a choice and simply have to bite the bullet. That they have a choice is arguable and to produce excellence year after year, often with few rewards and never under ideal circumstances, can be daunting and not for the fainthearted.
And yet they go full tilt as they battle extreme circumstances like pandemics or vitriolic social media, all in the name of art.
More than anything, whatever anyone says, we cannot resist them. For me it is a huge blessing and privilege to witness and write about our uniquely original creatives.
Post-festival, an overview of the festival is always a personal reminder of and reflection on everything extraordinary, yet it’s tough to choose which among all those actors and productions, to highlight. There are simply too many that demand attention and especially this year, the scope was exceptional.
I always feel I want to bring something of the flavour of a particular festival to those who weren’t there. Perhaps one of my favourite pieces might pop up somewhere and a reader might be encouraged to go, or even more ideally, someone who has always thought about festivals but never attended might be encouraged to go.
The enchanted Die Swartmerrie withTheo Witbooi and Chantell Phillipus. Pictures: Ryan Dammert.
I have to start with Karoo Kaarte. It’s one of the dream projects of the KKNK, simply ticks all the boxes and grows more impressive every year since its first inception with special mention of last year’s winning production, Droomkrans Kronieke, which landed with such impact because of its energy and precision. How can you not win when developing the underdeveloped artistic talent of the previously disadvantaged by implementing a programme that empowers those who wish to make it in the arts.
It’s inspiring and this year’s production, Die Swartmerrie, is a site-specific piece set on dilapidated terrain with a set of train tracks, an imagined train, and a rundown platform. Two people, a man and a woman (Theo Witbooi and Chantell Phillipus) are waiting, both traveling but not with the same destination in mind. There is a past, the tracks and possible journey points to a future, but this notion disappears with the wind.
It is breathtakingly beautiful and hauntingly gripping as the two talk and tackle their issues with delicate determination.
Afrikaans is an especially emotive love language and when spoken in the specific Karoo accent, warm and intimate, the sounds are as captivating and meaningful as the actual words being spoken.
I was surprised by this couple alone on stage and also electrified that the team (in this instance Neil Coppen – a facilitator of the whole project with Vaughn Sadie – and Oudtshoorn’s Tiffany Saterdacht) decided to go this route but, of course, this is a company packed with the unexpected, and hopefully it is a production that will become an institution in Oudtshoorn and won’t be limited to the festival. You don’t want to miss out on these performances and such a quality production. They should keep pushing the repeat button and keep it as part of their arsenal.
Karoo Kaarte further packed a punch with its art exhibitions, as well as walking tours done by young Oudtshoorn inhabitants all participating in turning the town’s current and future narrative into an inclusive one. The community is constantly gaining strength thanks to Coppen and Sadie who have invested their creativity in this wonderful way, all the while bringing their local learners on board.
It’s a marvellous investment in the future of this town (and hopefully others across the country will follow) and fingers crossed that a smart investor will see the potential going forward.
Because we were born in such large numbers, our generation is referred to as the baby boomers (born from 1946 to 1964) and probably that’s why ageing and the lifestyles of those growing older has become part of today’s theatre language. We are also fortunate to have some amazing artists who keep on practising their craft while ignoring any barriers that might come their way.
They know how to choose, break out and try new things and simply keep audiences flocking to their performances. Names like Sandra Prinsloo, Antoinette Kellermann, Jana Cilliers, Elzabe Zietsman, Amanda Strydom not only arrive with new productions, they’re also constantly adding skills to their resumés.
Cilliers took up playwrighting for the first time with Veelhoek, a two-hander with herself and Ludwig Binge directed by Marthinus Basson, and the wisdom and writing were quite overwhelming. Who would have thought that, apart from all her other accomplishments, she would now add writing to the list – and then perform it with such clarity as she tells a story that lies close to the heart?
Zietsman is another one who keeps shifting those barriers and I am so delighted that she has added the magnificent Tony Bentel to accompany her on stage. He is one of those pianists who brings much more than just the music to the performance and it shows. Vier Panado’s en ‘n Chardonnay again has Zietsman expounding on life, singing brilliantly and with heart – and cherishing cabaret as it should be performed. The content, which deals with resilience,needs hardly any acting by this actor. Most of it is probably her life which she has shared heartily and hastily over the years. And she will always rise…
Do we need to say anything more about those two great dames, Sandra Prinsloo and Antoinette Kellermann? How lucky are we to witness them in performance after performance as they just keep surging ahead.
Die stoele with Antoinette Kellermann and Chris van Niekerk. Picture: Hans van der Veen.
Kellermann tackled the Ionescu tour de force Die Stoele, accompanied by a much-too-rare performance by Chris van Niekerk. Marthinus Basson adds genius to the production, which can be seen over and over again as it deals with something we all have to confront – LIFE. The content might be terrifying but to watch, quite hysterical. As always Kellermann is in with everything she’s got and what she does with her body tells a story all its own.
Goed wat wag om te gebeur with an actress I would love to see more of, Emma Kotze and Gideon Lombard.
She’s also a part of the magnificent cast (Kellermann, Emma Kotze and Gideon Lombard) of Philip Rademeyer’s Goed Wat Wag Om te Gebeur. I had seen the English version most recently but also this one a few times, and this latest run proved how good theatre improves with time. It’s the best the production has been and I know the director agrees.
Prinsloo brought her masterful Master Class, a piece of classical theatre, to the festival and, also as is her nature, she teamed up with the exceptional David Viviers in a Teksmark original Op die hoek van Styx en River is Noraper Abuis met die Dood Oorgeslaan (playwright Henque Heymans). It’s a novel work which showed flickers of what it could be in time (always a scarce commodity).
Like Rademeyer’s Goed Wat Wag Om te Gebeur, Monsters, (produced, directed, adapted and translated by Tinarie van Wyk Loots) which has had runs at other festivals previously, found a remarkable rhythm that lifted the text and the performers into another realm . It was rewarding to experience and again I was reminded what a precious entity the different circuits are because single theatres cannot afford to take many risks and festivals add an extra buffer in this precarious world – to the benefit of arts audiences.
Michele Burgers in Monsters. Picture Stephanie M Gericke.
We haven’t seen much of the versatile Michele Burgers, who will hopefully return to stage more often in the future and who was beautifully supported by the talented René Cloete, Ntlanhla Kutu and Elton Landrew.
Die Vegetariër with Tinarie van Wyk Loots and Melissa Myburgh who as young actress has shown her mettle magnificently . Picture: Nardus Engelbrecht
Smartly directed by yet another multi-talented artist, Tinarie van Wyk Loots, she also featured in Jaco Bouwer’s hard-hitting Die Vegetariër (adapted and translated by Willem Anker) which also benefited from another run, as well as in the latest probing Anker text, Patmos, also brilliantly staged and directed by Jaco Bouwer, who always challenges and pushes boundaries with his choice of productions, casts and presentation.
The visually captivating Patmos with Melvyn Minnaar and Tinarie van Wyk Loots. Picturess Hans van der Veen.
Without these art warriors our art landscape would be barren. They keep us returning to theatres time and again with their unique approach, their determination to do their best under trying circumstances, including a lack of time and money, and simply their excellence.
Nataniël, for example, returned from an extensive tour to New Zealand and Australia during the festival yet put together one of his distinctive shows with flamboyant costumes, mind-blowing text and two musicians (Marcel Dednam on Piano and Leon Gropp on guitar) who created a spectacular rhythm to underpin his songs and singing quite magnificently.
I could go on forever, there were simply too many highlights, yet I cannot go without honourable mentions of the following, no less important than those already mentioned:
Jefferson J. Dirks-Korkee in a return of the soul-stretching Rooilug.
Fietsry vir dommies. Picture: Gys Loubser Hallo, is Bettie wat praat with Dean John Smith.
Marianne Thamm
Solo shows: the return of Rooilug with the delightful Jefferson J. Dirks-Korkee; Fietsry vir Dommies (masterful text by Tiffany Saterdacht and deftly directed by Dean Balie) which showcased the enormous talent of Eldon van der Merwe, who was also rewarded with a Kunste Onbeperk prize for Young Voice. Dean John Smit shone in his now full-length solo production of Hallo, is Bettie wat Praat; the craftily current My Fellow South Africans by Mike van Graan, starring the physically and mentally dextrous Kim Blanché Adonis; Vuisvoos, maar nog regop, where journalist Marianne Thamm delivers a gloves-off and much needed monologue, incisive if laugh-out-loud, on the state of the nation; a shout-out to much missed director, Jenine Collocott, who teamed with actor Klara van Wyk to present the hysterical Monika, it’s me:
The mesmerising ‘n Lewe in die dag van ‘n vrugtevlieg ensomeer with David Viviers and Wessel Pretorius. Picture: Hans van der Veen The Old Man Who Thought He Had a Dog with Merwe van Gent and Angelique Filter.
Double-up: David Viviers and Wessel Pretorius returned as a popular duo in a follow-up to their successful Klara Maas with ‘n Lewe in die die dag van ‘n vrugtevlieg, ensomeer and hopefully many more encores in the future, they were missed; an innovative new duo, Stellenbosch students Angelique Filter and Merwe van Gent, soared with the tragicomedy The Old Man who thought He had a Dog;
The delightfully funny Marc Lottering.KG Mokgadi- Weighing In.
Stand-up (not my speciality) yet: Who can resist the always energetic and enthusiastic funny man Marc Lottering who always delivers?; as well as my comic standout of the festival, KG Mokgadi. It feels as if these two have something more to say than just one-liners.
Ken Jy Vir Dewie with , Joshwin Dyson, Crystal Donna Roberts and Robert Hindley
Productions: The original Ken Jy Vir Dewie was cleverly staged with themes that target the whole family and as the play was dealing with bullying, the setting for everyone, actors and audience alike, was a classroom; and again, it was directed by yet another versatile artist, Margit Meyer-Rödenbeck, who has exchanged Dowwe Dolla for Ouma, again a sign of the times. She cleverly started the play outside with audience and cast waiting to enter the classroom!;
The joyous Braam en die engel with Rehane Abrahams, De Klerk Oelofse and Timothy Isaacs. Picture Hans van der Veen
And Craig Morris grabs the attention in Die Rooi Ballon.
Children’s Theatre: It’s not something I usually see at festivals but, as I did, I was encouraged by the effort made by the KKNK to look after these tiny tots who are of our more enthusiastic audiences: My favourites included Braam en die Engel and Rooi Boeties.Watch out for them as they might travel.
Dance: is back with brilliance because of the clever choice of productions, only two of them but with some of the most innovative names in contemporary dance: Dada Masilo who choreographed one of three pieces, Salomé, for Joburg Ballet; and Grant van Ster and Shaun Oelf with the Figure of 8 Dance Collective (pictured), who brought in other creatives like Nico Scheepers on text, Andi Colombo on lights and Franco Prinsloo on original music. Both companies were sublime.
Lucky Pakkie (Packet): Thanks to the brilliant team of Llandi Beeslaar and Stephanie Gericke, this is another of the KKNK delights because of their dedication and hands-on approach. It needs that because what you have is three lucky packets of four 15-minute productions each; the three sections embrace easy viewing to soft touch to pushing the envelope as much as possible, and artists who cannot manage a full production or perhaps just want to say what they need to say in this time and on this platform are vetted and included in a fun-filled programme.
The original Karli Heine. Picture by Stephanie M Gericke
There are too many to name, but for starters … what about Karli Heine, who turned herself into a pot plant and blew my mind … for script, performance and imagination!
It is impossible to cover everything and I haven’t given the art exhibitions a mention, even though curator Dineke Orton again broke down barriers and took us on a visual trip. But these are just some of my thoughts on a festival that felt like one joyous merry-go-round. Try and catch some of these through the year as they travel to different theatres and festivals.
Here’s holding thumbs!
And finally, on the last day, even the weather seemed out of sorts…
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.
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 AlbertzeIn 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
De Beer Necessities 