THE WAY A CHILD’S HEART FINDS HAPPINESS

~ debeernecessities ~ 1 Comment

REVIEW BY DIANE DE BEER

THE KING OF BROKEN THINGS

DIRECTOR AND WRITER: Michael Taylor-Broderick

ACTOR: Cara Roberts

VENUE: Mannie Manim Theatre at the Market Theatre

DATES: Until Sunday

AGE: From 10 years old

DURATION: Approximately an hour

This is the final call for this delightful play which has been doing the rounds for some time but, is as far as I know, this is its first visit to Gauteng.

Solo plays are festival standards and a wonderful way to discover new directors and actors. In this instance, Roberts, who according to the internet, is based in Durban, has been seen on local stages but also has a number of solo productions as part m of her repertoire.

That tells you about a performer who knows how to generate her own work, something they need when trying to survive in an industry hard hit in any troubled times. Survival is part of their normal game.

And for the character Roberts is portraying in this particular venture, a 10-year old boy, it is all about survival.

We don’t know too much about him except that he is living in a world of “broken things”, which dominate his life and the space in which we find him. If the world he was given is too difficult to navigate, it seems, his remarkably skilled solution is to create a space that can accommodate his wounded soul.

But that is how many young children react to a tough situation which they might not understand and in which the adults in their lives are sometimes the culprits who have created what seems to be a dark space.

And we all know that while communication is the best way to keep anyone’s world on track, it’s something that everyone seems to have a problem understanding. Just check around you and the problems you bump into – communication is such a handy tool if we would just go there.

Yet when your life seems to be dominated by pain, losing people you love and trying to find the reason for these tough times, you will find a way. You might not understand what is happening, but in this instance, the young child talks and creates his way to a better place.

It’s one of those plays that presents you with a moment in time, one that most of us encounter in some way, but he has found a way. If others can’t fix you, there are ways to make your dreams come true.

Roberts is an astonishing actor. Playing someone much younger is a tough ask, but with a smart script and a performer that throws herself at the role with just the right balance, it works.

It’s a charming hour and a play which I think especially teenagers should see. They would pick up a few life lessons and discover the way theatre can generate both wisdom and wit as The King of Broken Things leads them into a world of wonder where imagination is the ingredient that really matters. Shows tonight (7pm), tomorrow (3 and &pm) and Sunday (3pm). Bookings at https://www.webtickets.co.za/v2/Event.aspx?itemid=1537172754

NATANIЁL IS A WIZARD WHEN WORKING WITH WORDS

~ debeernecessities

I never gave much thought to Nataniël’s live talk shows but, because they had become so popular, it was time to investigate. DIANE DE BEER gives her feedback:

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

AUTHOR ONKE MAZIBUKO, A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS

~ debeernecessities ~ 1 Comment

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 Catcher in 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.

STATE CAPTURE IN FULL COLOUR IN THE BROTHERS NUMBER ONE AND A WEEKEND SPECIAL AT JOBURG’S MARKET THEATRE

~ debeernecessities

REVIEW BY DIANE DE BEER

Pictures: SUZY BERNSTEIN

Astrid Braaf confronts David Dennis.

THE BROTHERS NUMBER ONE AND A WEEKEND SPECIAL

A new South African Political Play

PLAYWRIGHT: Richard Calland

DIRECTOR: Greg Homann

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.

A FRENCH EVENING OF FABULOUS HOSTS, FOOD AND WINE AND A ROOM SIZZLING WITH A DIVERSITY OF FANTASTIC FELLOW SOUTH AFRICANS

~ debeernecessities ~ 4 Comments

Pictures: HENNIE FISHER

ATTENDING a fabulous dinner at the French Embassy, DIANE DE BEER lost her heart not only to the fantastic food and spectacular wines, but especially to the savvy of her French hosts and the sassiness of her fellow South Africans:

A small but pretty selection of the garden as you enmter the residence grounds.

It  was the French Embassy’s Goȗt de France dinner that again reminded me of one of our best attributes – our people.

Myself with the stylish Itumeleng Makhoi; and above right, First Lady of Lesotho Mrs Mammusa Masekoalane Majoro and Namibian olympian hockey player David Britz.

Here we were in all our diversity from two soon-to-be Olympian hockey players (one representing South Africa and the other Namibia, but we claim him because he is studying at UJ) to a fashion designer whose calling card was her fabulous style on the evening, a stylish young gentleman who imports champagne for local enthusiasts, a sassy lawyer and a smart landscape architect.

Two chefs, Mpho and Mohau Seshoene (aka The Lazy Makoti) with the French Ambassador H. E. Mr David Martinon , and on the right, landscape architect Mosa Seshoene and Adv. Kutlwano Motla (or The Boujee Traveller, a travel content creator)
PICTURE: French Embassy/Aldina Mujkanovic

And that’s just a handful. There was the woman with the red headpiece and the sexy red stilettos who turned out to be the First Lady of Lesotho Mrs Mammusa Masekoalane Majoro and it wasn’t just her style that was exuberant, her personality was a perfect match. But the same could be said of the two young lasses (above) also at our table, the one a landscape architect and the other a lawyer, both of whom had as much sass as they had style.

A predictable but splendid welcome

It has always been one of the French Embassy’s secret weapons. There’s someone there who knows how to put a spectacular group of South Africans together. This time the current ambassador H.E. Mr David Martinon noted that because of the upcoming Olympics in Paris, they had hoped to combine food and sport but that wasn’t always achievable.

But what they did manage was to showcase people who displayed our most  extraordinary strength – diversity.

French Embassy chef André Ahiba (left), who has served nine Ambassadors with his staff in the kitchen.
PICTURE: French Embassy/Aldina Mujkanovic

All of this was also reflected by the charming Ambassadorial couple, H.E. Mr Martinon and his wife Karen, in the food on the night which was the brainchild of the embassy chef, André Ahiba, who has served nine ambassadors and celebrated French cuisine in marvellous fashion.

A melange of seafood

The starter was a mini seafood combo with a prawn poached in its own bisque paired with a beautiful panfried scallop. It was delicious and a fine launch into the rest of the meal.

Slow-cooked Karoo lamb shank with imaginative accompaniments.

This was followed with slow-cooked Karoo lamb shank which paid homage to produce from a specific region and then similarly, to sustainability. The accompaniments included pomme dauphine and julienne courgettes. But the piece de resistance was a morille farcie, which my chef partner said he knew about but had never eaten. When looking for a translation, stuffed mushrooms pops up, but the best I can do is to say that the chef noted it was extremely expensive and the taste was that of mushrooms, very intriguing.

Brie truffe Brioche, the cheese course.

This was followed by their cheese course which again displayed a wonderful individuality of thought. What could have been easier than presenting us with a selection of French cheeses. Everyone would have been wowed. But again the chef imaginatively presented us with Brie truffe Brioche (a brioche with truffle brie is my translation) which I loved, served with a salad, it was different and tasty.

A sweet surprise.

The other nod to South African produce was a Rooibos white Valrhona tart with a red fruits and a biscuit financier (which has its name because of the shape reflecting a gold bar!).

What I liked about the menu was that it felt pared down in the best sense of the word. Every dish had some extraordinary qualities but in conclusion, one left the table replenished yet comfortable.

The food was complemented with phenomenal French wines. I am by no means a wine specialist but from the apéritif served with the most delicious foie gras squares brightly decorated with rose leaves out of the spectacular embassy garden, Champagne Gobillard rosé 2016, followed by Chablis Cru Domaine Long-Depaquit 2022 and the most amazing of all, the Château SIRAN Margaux Haut Médoc 2017, and then the Petit Ours Blanc Domaine Matthieu Barret 2014 and finally yet another fantastic Champagne Mumm Olympe demi-sec.

When countries want to show off their quality and they do it this well, those of us invited to participate in the tasting, cannot but go overboard with the praise.

And in the final analysis it was the full package that gift-wrapped this evening so magnificently. From the arrivals which take you through some of the prettiest gardens to the entrance where you are met with a glorious ensemble of citizens hosted by an enchanting ambassadorial couple who as a bonus also have their young daughters meet the guests and show off some French charm.

The staff are magnificently dressed with gorgeous smiles as they gently see that the guests on the night are suitably cared for.

And then my fellow South Africans introduced to me by the French ambassador. I think I have said as much as I can and can simply add that it was an evening that I couldn’t have been more proud to be South African.

And I have the French to thank for that.

Merci beaucoup.

Vive la France!

WITH RULES CHANGING CONSTANTLY, KING GEORGE AT SANDTON’S THEATRE ON THE SQUARE IS ALL ABOUT THOSE WHO MANOEUVRE THE GAME BEST

~ debeernecessities ~ 2 Comments

REVIEW BY DIANE DE BEER

Pictures by Philip Kuhn

KING GEORGE

A new play by Brent Palmer

DIRECTOR and production design: Adrian Collins

CAST: Clyde Berning and Brent Palmer

VENUE: Theatre on the Square, Sandton

DATES: Until May 4

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.

And they have the followers who egg them on.

CELEBRATING THEIR 25th ANNIVERSARY MAMMA MIA AND HER THREE STARS HAVE THEM ROCKING

~ debeernecessities

REVIEW BY DIANE DE BEER

MAMMA MIA

Three dynamic stars, Ilse Klink, Gina Shmukler and Kate Normington.

CAST: Gina Shmukler, Kate Normington, Ilse Klink, Emmanuel Castis, Matt Newman, Tiaan Rautenbach, Kiruna-Lind Devar, Gianluca Gironi, Ntshikeng Matooane, Sunny Yoon, Chad Baai, Bradley Smith and the rest of the ensemble

SET AND LIGHTING DESIGNER: Denis Hutchinson

MUSICAL DIRECTOR: Charl-Johan Lingenvelder

CHOREOGRAPHER: Duane Alexander

COSTUME DESIGNER: Sue Daniels

SOUND DESIGNER: Mark Malherbe

ASSOCIATE RESIDENT DESIGNER: Timothy Le Roux

PRODUCER: Hazel Feldman, Tony Feldman

DIRECTOR: Janice Honeyman

VENUE: Teatro at Montecasino

DATES: Until June

Kate Normington, Gina Shmukler and Ilse Klink in their ABBA gear with the cast.

It wasn’t that Mamma Mia was the attraction  –  been there, done that. I was intrigued by the three actors – Gina Shmukler, Ilse Klink and Kate Normington – in the latest production.

Seasoned actors and singer all, they don’t get that many chances in lead roles (there are just not that many starring roles for women once they’re out of their 30s) and I knew this would be a triple threat. These are women with sass who strut when they walk. No shrinking violets here! They would go for this one in unison and grab that stage – as they did, fulfilling my every wish.

Like many musicals, this is also a rather silly if sweet one, but with ABBA’s music, it ticks all the boxes and has an hysterically loyal fanbase, but what I wasn’t expecting were the many youngsters (I’m guessing between 8 and 12!) in the audience.

Kiruna-Lind Devar as Sophie.

Right in front of me were two (again guessing) 12-year-old girls who were totally into the musical from start to finish. At the beginning of each song, they would glance at each other and joyfully sing along ­­– pitch and word perfect! Rather than hinder my experience, I was enchanted by their enthusiasm and it switched me on to the charm of the musical, which might otherwise have felt jaded to this seasoned viewer.

Not for this audience though. When last were you in an auditorium where they were clapping along to almost every song? You cannot but be swayed to lose all your hard-earned cynicism.

Ilse Klink, Gina Shmukler and Kate Normington and the cast.

But back to the show on stage. Can those three women sing  – together and individually they rocked and easily generated the star power this kind of show needs. It’s not that they haven’t all had the chance to individually star in shows. But these days, it’s tough to find starring roles for women beyond 40, so when you get them, you’d better make good use of the opportunity.

This is exactly what Klink, Normington and Shmukler do. They know the game and have made full use of this marvellous opportunity. And, like I thought it would, it shows.

They’re directed by another wise and wily artist, Janice Honeyman, who knows all the tricks in the book. And with these three accomplished performers, she would have had loads of fun.

The two lovebirds Gianluca Gironi (Sky) and Kiruna-Lind Devar (Sophie).

They’re well supported by the youngsters, especially the love-struck couple, Kiruna-Lind Devar and Gianluca Gironi, who both have youthful stage appeal and energy.

A personal favourite was the omnipresent, soberly yet strikingly dressed in black, little old Greek lady (Chantal Stanfield), who is a constant presence as she pops up in almost every scene, for no other reason than confirming we’re on a Greek island. This lovely throughline stays amusing, if not relevant to the story.

Tiaan Rautenbach, Emmanuel Castis and Matt Newman as the three Dads.

If you don’t know the story of the young woman who hopes to recreate her mother’s romantic dream and in the process also discover the identity of her birth father, don’t delve any further.

Check the colourful pics, see if it looks like your kind of thing, gather the family or a group of friends and make a night of it.

Chad Baai, Ginaluca Girona, Bradley Smith and the Mamma Mia male ensemble.

Think of titles like Dancing Queen, I have a Dream, Lay all Your Love on Me, Mamma Mia (of course!), Super Trouper, SOS, Our Last Summer, Take A Chance on Me… and many more.

Even if you don’t consider yourself a particular fan, I bet you can sing along to most of these songs. That’s what their music is ultimately about … and so is this musical.

And this time there’s extra punch with these three dynamic dames. They are what makes this show swing.

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

~ debeernecessities

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

REVIEW BY DIANE DE BEER

Pictures: Claude Barnardo

SPRING AWAKENING

Based on the play by Frank Wedekind

Books and lyrics: Steven Sater

Music by: Duncan Sheik

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

PRODUCERS: Anton Luitingh and Duane Alexander

LIGHTING, SCENIC AND COSTUME DESIGN: Niall Griffin

SOUND DESIGN: David Classen

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR AND ASSISTANT MUSICAL DIRECTOR: Anton Luitingh

CHOREOGRAPHIC SUPERVISOR: Duane Alexander

VOCAL DESIGNER: Annemari Milazzo

MUSICAL DIRECTOR: Amy Campbell

CHOREOGRAPHY: Anna Olivier and Naoline Quinzin

STAGE MANAGER: Sarah Wolhuter

DIRECTOR: Sylvaine Strike

VENUE: Pieter Toerien Theatre, Montecasino

DATES: May 5

Spring Awakening a production for current times.

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

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

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

Much of the magic is in the movement.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I was spellbound.

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

~ debeernecessities ~ 2 Comments

PICTURES BY CLAUDE BARNARDO.

Niall Griffin dying the costumes wearing protective gear.

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

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

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

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

Niall Griffin, a designer with a mission.

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

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

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

The vibrant young cast in Spring Awakening

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

DREAMY SINGER/SONGWRITER LUNA PAIGE IS ON THE MOVE WITH MUSIC THAT REFLECTS THE TIME

~ debeernecessities ~ 1 Comment

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.

She will be vlogging for those who wish to follow: https://lunamusic.co.za/blog-and-chat/