Screenwriters: Zhao and the author Maggie O’Farrel
Cast: Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, Emily Watson, and the children Bodhi Rae Breatnach, Jacobi Jupe and Olivia Lynes as well as Noah Jupe who plays Hamlet when it is staged in the film
It was exciting to have the chance to see a much talked-about film especially because I still haven’t read the book, something I regret because from the moment it was published, the literary world was buzzing.
Sometimes, though, when seeing a film, it’s an advantage not to know too much and yet it has sadly been a letdown.
I am still going to read the book because now I’m especially intrigued. As I was watching without being totally engaged, I wondered whether this wasn’t going to be one of those where the book rather than the film served the content better.
But I was surprised because Zhao’s Nomadland had enchanted me, especially for the way she used landscape as yet another character rather than a backdrop/setting for her story.
Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley with Bodhi Rae Breathnach as Susanna and the twins (with their backs to the camera).
This time, the story deals with real-life people, although the intrigue about Shakespeare and his life is the constant speculation about the playwright and who he really was. This has never worried me because his writing is so exquisite, remains constantly relevant and in the hands of different directors have been giving fresh meaning, which keeps it going from one generation to the next.
And with this one, Hamlet is arguably the one that most people have connected with even if Romeo and Juliet is perhaps the more obvious one. Here though the story delves into the beginning of Will’s life as a playwright, the way he and his wife Agnes meet, she the daughter of someone described as a forest witch and then his rise in a completely different world.
From the start, I was puzzled by the extreme lushness of the forest surrounds and my lack of engagement with the story unfolding. I have been enchanted by so many Shakespeare productions and am such a fan of the director, who had such a strong sensibility in Nomadland with her casting and telling of that particular story being so authentic and original.
Nevertheless, here I felt the opposite. I struggled to find the emotional heartbeat of the piece even though there was much to suggest it; it felt like too much hard work was visible.
It’s a tough one to explain because there is so much that really works. Jessie Buckley, who everyone is raving about, is lovely and Paul Mescalf was the perfect William Shakespeare, arguably the most difficult role to cast.
Watching the first production of Shakespeare’s Hamlet
Watson, as one could have assumed, is the perfect mother of Will and the three young children, especially the youngster, Jacobi Jupe, in the role of Will’s young son. It’s a performance of depth rarely witnessed in someone so young.
Sadly, not so of the older Jupe, who perhaps had one of the more difficult roles as the one who had to perform one of Shakespeare’s most iconic speeches, To Be or Not To Be.
In the theatre, where this one belongs, it often determines the success of that performance and perhaps even more so here because it is one of the few times Shakespeare’s words are used in the film. It doesn’t work, alas, and that is a real problem. If you’re going to include something everyone will be familiar with, it has to be astonishing.
I’ve highlighted a few of the niggly moments which detracted from this being a story that grabs you emotionally from start to finish. For me, it is still worth watching, because it is beautifully made with some spectacular moments.
Yet it was disappointing though that it didn’t pull me in as it should have. Fortunately, there’s still the book.
SOMETIMES I HAVE TO LEAN IN Choreographer & Performer: Alan Parker Director & Performer: Gerard Bester Dramaturg: Gavin Krastin Text (“Wallflower”): Gwydion Beynon VENUE: POPArt Theatre DATES: Today at 3pm
It’s difficult to let people know in time to catch one of the shows at Joburg’s POPArt, because they have short runs, but that’s also the purpose of their theatre. It’s for an easy yet discerning theatre crowd who like seeing something unusual and probably not available at a more traditional theatre. It’s one of the delights of theatre that it offers such diversity. And this particular venue is a great example. This present production has been around for a while starting as a commissioned work for Dance Umbrella in 2018 before playing at the Live Art Festival in Cape Town and most recently in 2024 for the National Arts Festival in Makanda. Gerard Bester and Alan Parker created this delightful physical theatre piece playing with ideas that possibly featured in their own lives as ageing performers which begins as soon as you pass through that first theatrical endeavour. Rather than focusing on age, it’s looking at two performers who have been in the industry for some time and are leaning in to find not only themselves and each other but also a way to be creative – not only on stage but also, hopefully in the world. There’s a sweetness and a melancholy to their approach which might seemingly come across as quite lowkey, yet delivers a strong emotional punch. It’s the unusual way they both move, sometimes leaning against a wall or in-between each other or simply trying their best to lean over while being held tightly by the ankles. It’s about bringing those emotions into the light so that you cannot resist embracing the storytelling as well as the performers. Perhaps co-director of POPArt, Hayleigh Evans says it best: once she saw it a few years back, she knew she had to present it at POPArt. It’s exactly right for this neighbourhood venue that’s easy to access, casual yet professional in its approach and yet another fabulous way to experience theatre at its most pleasurable. With Bester and Parker’s experience, their easy approach and their individually original style, it’s yet another way to access life and all the challenges thrown our way. Simply lean in!
Based on Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by TS Eliot
Associate Director and Choreographer: CHRISSIE CARTWRIGHT
Musical Supervisor: PETER MCCARTHY
Assistant Choreographer and Director: MATT KRZAN
Musical Director: LOUIS ZURNAMER
Resident Director: DUANE ALEXANDER
Sound Designer: DAVID GREASELY
Lighting Designer: HOWARD EATON
Cast: A MARVELLOUS ENSEMBLE OF 20 PLUS PERFORMERS with a FANTASTIC BAND OF MUSICIANS led by LOUIS ZURNAMER
It’s pretty much a flawless production, this latest version of CATS, which has been staged 25 years after the first production was showcased locally.
How far we’ve come and how much we’ve seen and yet, this remains one of the best musicals staged locally with much of the praise due to a fantastic cast and production team including the musicians.
In a production of this size, it takes the very best to pull it off and that’s exactly what we have here. When looking through the cast list I was surprised that I didn’t recognize too many familiar names and yet the full ensemble was phenomenal with not a weak link to be seen.
I’m not going to single out any names because they simply all shone from start to finish and this is not an easy show to pull off. Not a paw or a whisker out of place. And the magnificent, choreographed movement and music sung to perfection made you part of this feline gang revitalizing and reimagining their lives.
Further enhancing the production is the dazzling lighting, which in turn enhances solo performances, spotlights sudden appearance or embraces the production full on.
But the clutter of classy cats are the centre of the attention and this clever musical based on TS Eliot’s poems adds innovative flair to this most unusual musical performed by cats.
That is what makes it so intriguing and mesmerizing and as this production pulls you in, it’s easy to see how hard these performers have worked to get this one right. It’s not an easy ask but they have met the challenge full on and we, the audience, are the winners.
I can hardly remember the production all that time ago but I do know that this is perfectly staged, with a cast that leaves you breathless. As someone remarked, they have been rehearsed to an inch of their lives.
It does, however, take that kind of performance to make this work. If we don’t get swept away by the performances and the music, it simply won’t work.
It is a young cast but one that has mastered the skill of presenting a show that never flags for a second. From the first furry paw and big back-stretching arch, we’re right there in the junkyard where this scrappy yet classy coterie entertains us with their memories and magical mysteries.
Pieter Toerien has long been the puppet master of local musical standards with shows that equal the best in the world. This one does his own high expectations proud.
Don’t miss seeing this breathtaking cast give a dazzling display of how to manage one of the toughest theatrical endeavours with ease. And as much as you admire the ensemble that makes it happen, it is also that the production team have encouraged each individual performance to be a standout.
It’s a musical put together of many magical moments with each individual performer creating their own gold standard. It starts with brilliant casting, young performers who achieve magnificence and breathe life into every move their feline characters make and a production team who reached for the stars.
With these performers grabbing the opportunity to show their best, it also looks towards the future of local musical theatre.
“It’s about how we become an ensemble, whether we are performers, audience members, or neighbours. It’s how the city performs itself through us, and also how we choose to perform the city. Johannesburg is a place that requires a collective navigation, a mutual reliance, a particular call and responses.” Neo Muyanga, Impressario of the Centre for the Less Good Idea in Maboneng.
Dancer Thulisile Binda
By DIANE DE BEER
The best would have been to attend all the evenings of the 11th season to experience the full impact of what co-founder and director of The Centre, Bronwyn Lace describes as a multi-limbed, complex organism which she believes is what the Less Good Idea has evolved into. “…our arms reaching into various directions but connected to the same robust body. It makes sense for us to share a season at the end of this year, because we have an abundance of new strategies, forms, and artworks to test, show, and celebrate.”
Pianist Jill Richards with vocalist Pertunia Msani.
And it certainly was all of that, exploding with a sense of creative abandon in two hours of exuberant performance which ranged from the glorious musically driven showcase by classically trained improviser Jill Richards who performed magnificently with the Benin drummer, percussionist, composer and arranger Angelo Moiustapha accompanied by the melodic voice of Pertunia Msaniiwith Marcus Neustetter’s digital storytelling adding yet another dimension to the experience. The musicianship was breathtaking.
It set the tone for what was to come as the audience moved to William Kentridge’s studio to experience a collection of mindblowing artists, starting with the spiritually immersive Vincent Mantsoe, one of our finest choreographers/dancers in one of his rare local appearances. Translike in his movement and tearing at the soul of those witnessing his deep level of engagement, the evening merged from one artist to another as Kentridge stepped from one stage to the next as he expressed his creativity with body and soul.
It was all about the merging of art and movement, Moving the Mark, as the event was titled, exploring the relationship between visual art and dance. What they wanted to achieve was to explore the relationship between these unusual pairings and what would emerge.
Vincent Mantsoe in action with percussionist Micca Manganye
How would the pure art of collaboration determine new creative decisions for an audience to experience and absorb? What happens when a dancer like Mantsoe mimics the ink stains of an artist like Kentridge, or from a different vantage, when the painter choreographs their brushstrokes?
Artist Penny Siopis took to the air in almost trapeze-like fashion, painting her canvas on the floor from up high while choreographer/dramaturg Shannel Winlock-Pailman worked her magic below in mesmerizing fashion, the two artists in total union while expressing their heightened emotions.
All the while, the musical accompaniment captured the experience of the moment, enveloping the audience in the round, some wrapped in black bags to protect them from the explosive expression of art as artists flung paint creatively with fearsome flair.
The Centre for the Less Good Idea is all about the collective voice expressed in collaborative pairings, artists who work in different mediums but have creativity and exploration that binds them, pushing the boundaries, trying different ways of making new work to excite themselves as artists while also challenging and stimulating audiences constantly searching for art and creativity exploring the evolving world we live in.
Curator Neo Muyanga (left) and Kentridge (right, in the left corner) choreographing with brushstrokes while Mantsoe is on stage following the moves.
It’s exciting when artists go beyond the expected, and are given free rein to explore their storytelling genres. How can they beat that drum differently? Given the chance to fail is often the best way to reach excellence but the restrictions are many. And more than anything, it is the encouragement to stretch far beyond the boundaries, to take that leap and to experience the beginning of experiments which are allowed to grow and flourish.
This first sold-out performance of the 11th season proved that the audience is willing and determined to experience artists moving the mark. The rest of the season sounded as extraordinary and my wish would have been to witness the full week of extraordinary creativity encouraged to dare to go beyond the expected.
How blessed are Gauteng audiences (who showed their appreciation) to experience these glorious experiments inspired and empowered by William Kentridge who could have staged them anywhere in the world. Kentridge gives us the opportunity to grow together and to expand our idea of what anything and everything is. Step into the void and see what happens comes to mind.
Nataniël is on the go – again – and it was time for DIANE DE BEER to pop in and find out more about upcoming shows, events and anything else happening in this prolific artist’s life:
What is keeping him up at night and awake at the crack of dawn is the work on his latest podcast series, which has become yet another of his performance features since his first series a while back. Kwessie van die Dag, his brand-new video column, starts on August 4 on Netwerk24.
As with anything he does, Nataniël approaches these latest podcasts with everything he’s got. “It’s as much work as a TV series,” he notes. And for this perfectionist, it is. He simply cannot do things haphazardly, with quality a constant taskmaster.
He is aware that everybody has turned to podcasts and his will be the best. This isn’t boasting because he is genius when it comes to storytelling. There’s no competing with this conversationalist.
It is all about the words which he has to learn by heart – 3 000 a week! They are his words, he has written each one, but then he has to get them tripping off the tongue. While it comes easily, he believes in scripts and knows exactly what he has to do and how he wants it to sound. So while there are many copycats, few can master him at his craft.
I often see pieces written by “Nataniël”, but it’s easy to spot when someone tries to capture his style because it is so unique. And this is where his podcast will pass with flying colours. “I don’t like waffling,” he says as he launches an attack on what he has labelled “electronic pollution”!
“There’s enough rubbish around.” He has an opinion which his followers will be familiar with, but he also loves facts when he is dealing in a specific subject. One of the many hurdles is the battle of language. He will be speaking in Afrikaans and to capture a language in this way is fraught with many pitfalls especially the way we mix our languages in our daily conversations.
It is clear that this is his latest challenge but also part of the excitement that charges his existence.
He is always busy creating and many of the things might seem as though they have a familiar pattern which, if you study them, they don’t. Into that mix, he is also constantly injecting new accomplishments which keep him on his toes.
“Everyone invites me to be a guest on their podcasts.” But for him there is a specific reason to engage with people in this fashion. “I want to address issues and for me it is about inspiration.”
BOEK • BYBEL • BIOSKOOP is the title of the show he is doing with organist Zorada Termmingh, a friend from varsity, together with his accompanist, pianist Charl du Plessis. Knowing something about his creative mind, he will be pulling all their respective talents together in a spectacular bouquet.
We’re in August and it is all about women. Composers, writers, singers, designers, as well as timeless characters from movies, classic literature, Biblical tales, art and theatre are their inspiration in this colourful show full of stories and songs. Zorada and Nataniël have performed on stage many times, starting during their student years. Charl has been his accompanist (apart from establishing his own career as a solo artist and performing with the Charl du Plessis Trio) for the past 25 years. And this is not the first outing for this trio of consummate performers.
It is a one-off in the capital city on August 13 at 7pm and the Ned Geref Universiteitsoord Kerk. The show is 90 minutes (more or less) long.
In September he returns to one of his most ambitious projects, Mass for the Good Princes (recently released on CD), which will be performed in the Cape for the first time thanks to the goodwill of the Atterbury Trust.
It’s a double whammy for Nataniël – one of both joy and hysteria. This was one of those accomplishments he had dreamt of for a very long time. Writing it was an almost impossible feat with his kind of schedule, and with each performance he has to once again memorise the Latin text, which is a killer.
This will be the 3rd time that he attempts this daunting exercise and while it stretches even his seemingly limitless determination, he can’t resist it. It is based on the classical structure of a Latin church mass with a sacred composition by Nataniël in six parts which includes a prayer for goodness, new leadership and the hope of a new generation. It will be sung in English and Latin with descriptions and translations in Afrikaans.
It will be presented at the Ned Geref Welgemoed Church on Saturday September 20 at 5pm. He will be joined by the Charl du Plessis Trio (Charl with Werner Spies and Peter Auret) as well as organist Ockie Vermeulen, guitarist Luke van der Merwe and the Akustika Chamber Choir led by Christo Burger.
In March this year, Nataniël and Charl celebrated 25 years on stage together and they seal this with a Gala Concert at Aardklop – on October 7 (7pm) and October 8 (10 am) in the University of Potchefstroom Auditorium.
This won’t be an ordinary concert. These two artists haven’t only shared 25 years on stage and many kilometres of travel through the South African countryside for one-off shows, but this was also the start of Charl’s stage career, which has been quite stunning to witness from the start – one he has since established both nationally and internationally – a feat for someone who started out as a classical pianist (one of the most difficult careers to pursue) and accompanist. Today he has a doctorate and is celebrated as both a classical and jazz artist. I can’t wait to see these two face off on stage on equal footing. For those fortunate enough to see one of these concerts, I predict something unique.
Nataniël is already making promises that this won’t be a rundown of what they have already accomplished. They will be celebrating today and tomorrow. “Who are we now and how do we see the future” will be their aim.
“Why would we return to the past? That’s done and we have all been there.” And in typical Nataniël fashion he predicts: “I want to hear an intake of breath when I walk on stage!”
As he so astutely confirms, it will be 70 years of experience when the two of them mark their stage partnership.
While talking partnerships and friendships, one of his closest friends, actress/comedian Marion Holm, will be interviewing Nataniël on his latest book of short stories titled Sweetie. Book discussions aren’t his favourite, but if he has to do it, Marion would be his choice. “She can physically shut me up just by barking.” You’ll have to be there to understand exactly what that means. They go way back and to experience these two like-minded actors sparring verbally, you don’t want to miss that. They’re a scream individually, together it’s an exuberance.
Your ticket will be a copy of Sweetie which can either be bought before the time or at the Exclusive Pop-Up in the book tent. The first 200 people with a book in hand will be allowed into the space, which will be closed off for this event. You won’t be able to listen in on the sidelines. The Sweetie discussion is going to be that exclusive and is happening on October 8 at 3pm at Aardklop.
And it’s not over yet by a long stretch. A photographer who for more than two decades documented Nataniël’s career, Clinton Lubbe, who immigrated a few years back, is back in town for an exhibition of life-size Nataniël pictures titled Parade, another first for Aardklop. Their collaboration has also been running for more than two decades and Nataniël describes Clinton’s camera as a paintbrush, because of the way he creates pictures. They’re not simply pictures, they’re artworks, he notes. “I’m going to be the Naomi Campbell of Aardklop,” he says with a smile and a wink.
Finally, but just for the moment, there’s his latest production, Catch Me, Love, which will be staged at Artscape from November 13 to 16. He is already busy writing, which is unheard of. He usually works on his scripts much closer to his performance than a few months, but looking at his schedule, he knew he had to get ahead.
This one is going to be visually and structurally different to his former shows, he says. And although it is still early days, I know he has already dreamt and planned it in detail. It will only feature in Gauteng in the New Year because in-between there’s the promise of a French countryside holiday, his annual escape (when he can manage) to one of his favourite places, which is what motivates him these days.
Watch this space for fresh announcements or changes. They will be coming …
In the programme notes online it says that this play is a masterclass in writing and performance – and that is exactly what it is. And the aspects that I found most intriguing as being a born South African, I have been dealing and watched others sharing their trauma in this country for many decades.
Some similarities especially in text will occur, but I am passionate about people creating theatre – especially solo theatre.
Having to travel from Pretoria for most of my theatre, I consider very carefully which plays I want to see whether good or bad, just work that will appeal to me. And this is where theatre sometimes becomes problematic. If you are going to see a play that is 70 minutes long, it becomes a money issue. It has to. Time and travel become a worry.
So I have started coming up with fresh solutions to make my choices easier. With this one, I had already booked for a new musical opening and I thought I could slip this short prodcution into the mix without any difficulty. I see many more plays on one day when attending a festival. And that is what I did and will do more of in the future when the problem rears its head.
Brincat, who is a first generation South African, is described in many different ways and with many accomplished skills from acting, juggling and magic artistry to fine art, chef, writing and producing one-man shows, it seems.
But this is my first encounter as far as I can tell with this versatile artist. As he’s based in Cape Town and visits the National Arts Festival, while I am based in Pretoria and cover the Afrikaans festivals around the country, his work is unfamiliar to me.
The Moon Looks Delicious from Here is a man’s struggle with identity and finding his own place in what should be his world but isn’t always that straightforward is what he shares and struggles with.
It is familiar territory stretching from the ‘60s tot ’94, but it’s always interesting to discoverhow other people deal with issues that come up for many of us in different ways. It is also fascinating to see how others approach their work, especially when at play, as solo shows can be limiting, depending on the content and how familiar you are with the subject.
He had me from beginning to end; engaging with his audience wasn’t an issue for him even with a most unusual mix on a Sunday afternoon. Half of the 100-plus theatre audience (and I’m guessing numbers) were elderly white couples and the other half were young (between 20 and 35) Black men and women. And throughout there was laughter from different quarters. It was a journey of remembrance for oldies and probably one of illumination for youngsters.
It would have been fascinating to have an audience talk after the show in this instance. This is Brincat sticking his toe in the water and it feels good. Hopefully he will be back so that we can get to know more of his work and his content.
It’s explosive, it’s engaging, it plays with your mind (stretching it this way and that), it’s mesmerising, it sweeps your whole being along and most of all, it’s original and creative in a way that heightens all the senses. And then it shows you everything theatre can be.
Khoza is a presence not only with the theatricality of their costumes but especially with the way they move, speak, sing, chant and engage their audience from start to finish. There’s no time for your mind to wander or wonder, you’re simply in the moment as you participate in this experience that for most of us would be completely unique.
It’s ritual and rhythm, it’s engaging your whole being. This isn’t something you‘re watching, you’re participating on a level that is here and now. It’s theatre-in-the round with the performer, the one who is leading the way on this exploration of the past where human zoos and exhibitions in Western societies, our societies, turned people into curiosities to be paraded and exploited for the delight of white fetish. That is even difficult to write after seeing this play.
Especially for those of us on the oppressors’ side, while we gasp in horror at the stories, we know what our race has done to people because of the colour of their skin, have seen many plays and read many books about those times, yet, sadly it remains just that. It’s not as though your body can viscerally experience what that must have been like. It’s something that white people to this day never experience. They simply don’t have to navigate a world that plays by rules made for them … still.
How many times have you as a white body thought about how anything that you do on a specific day will be determined by the colour of your skin? Think of Trump’s world in today’s context for example. People are being rounded up and deported even with citizenship because of the way they look.
Khoza suggests that it is a history that is not spoken about and which they are determined to address so that those affected can reclaim, reflect and confront themselves as people. Because it is something that continues to this day, for them it is about the need for spiritual healing and reclaiming violated dignities.
The one thing all of us have felt in our lives is humiliation. For many it is an occasional thing that can be quickly discarded as you move on with your life. For others it is an institutionalized part of their life and there’s no escaping. The only requisite to fall prey to this is the colour of your skin. Everything in our lives to this day is determined by this. Think Black Lives Matter.
It is described as an installation-based performance and for me personally, it was as though my whole body had suddenly been awakened. I felt alerted to the way the world works. Was there anything said that I hadn’t heard before or didn’t know? How many times have I not experienced the Saartjie Baartman story, a woman torn from her family, stripped of her identity as a human being, taken from Africa to Europe and displayed for the Western world to view in a human zoo? We know and sympathise about the atrocities of the past. And again we wonder about those happening all around us, because they’re still there.
What The Black Circus does is change the perspective; it inhabits your body and soul in a way that takes you the the heart of the atrocities. For Khozait is a place of collective healing where the shackles are discarded, and a spiritual connection established.
It’s a difficult experience to write about because it is one to experience rather than to analyse. You want to enter the space knowing just the title.
At the beginning I felt as though I was sitting in a glorious painting. A story of some kind was going to unfold and as with most theatre, I was excited. What I got was so much more. It was unexpected, challenging in the way theatre should be, explosive in performance and presentation, and something that has changed my life. And that is what theatre should be.
I will be looking at and facing the world diffently.
DIANE DE BEER reviews the latest Mike van Graan play
THE GOOD WHITE
DIRECTOR: Greg Homann
PLAYWRIGHT: Mike van Graan
CAST: Shonsani Masutha, Russel Savadier, Vusi Kunene and Renate Stuurman
SET DESIGNER: Patrick Curtis
LX DESIGNER: Themba Stewart
COSTUMES: Nadia Kruger
VENUE: Market Theatre
RUNNING TIME: Until June 1
Pictures: Ngoma Ka Mphahlele
Pair the title with the four characters on stage – Vusi Kunene (Black, pictured right), Russel Savadier (White), Renate Stuurman, (Coloured, pictured left) and Shonsani Masutha, (Black, centre front), — and, in the South African context, sparks will fly.
That is what Mike van Graan’s latest play leans into. He says in the programme notes that he hasn’t written anything but solo shows since 2018 and it feels as though this one has been bubbling under and then just exploded – in the best possible way. It’s an epic piece of writing which will have you gasping as he appeals to each one in the audience, whoever they are, to grapple with the issues – our inner core – of South Africa.
While Nelson Mandela did many things for this nation, coining the phrase Rainbow Nation was arguably not one of them. It is as though he constantly reminds us what we are not, but if you were part of the opening audience on what seemed to be a quiet Sunday afternoon in the theatre, you would have witnessed that we could be.
The perfect quartet: Vusi Kunene, Shonsani Masutha, Russel Savadier and Renate Stuurman.
The audience pretty much reflected the mixed bunch we are and from the deadly silence following the first poem of strength recited by the astonishing Masutha to the immediate participation during the rest of the play, it was as though there was another solo performer on that stage – the audience.
It captured the heartfelt emotions Van Graan has always been able to harness as he tackles the South African nation. And no one does gloves-off like this playwright. Setting the play in academia, he has chosen his boxing ring and then selected his characters to represent every foible in the human race, it felt like. And then he lets them rip.
As always, he doesn’t hold back, everyone and each weakness is held up for scrutiny and the constant audience gasping and finger clicks told you how he hit the mark throughout the play.
Through the years Van Graan has been honing his very own way of dealing with what he views as our fatal flaws and this time it feels as though he has unleashed it all in glorious colour.
It might sound like something you don’t want to hear or see but, because South Africans will all relate to everything, it’s like witnessing the full South African story from Once Upon A Time …Prejudices in all their pitiful hostility, power plays, colour bashing, gender gore, poor vs privilege and the list is endless. He plays all those cards to their fullest.
Those who know his work, also know that he can write and he has never been scared to speak his mind. He does it to the Department of Arts and Culture and he does it on stage. When he has a platform, he steps up and tells it like it is and believe me, he is one of the few who speaks his mind unabashedly whenever he can.
He has been maligned to the high heavens, but nothing has stopped him. And finally, to my mind, here is his magnus opus and it is flawless and delicious to witness. And when (not if) you go and see it, I hope you have the same audience we had; it added to the fun and spectacle of the drama.
Add the director and the cast to complete the perfect coming together. Homann allowed the Van Graan words to do the work, which was the best thing to do. It should be unfettered because you really have to engage and listen to get the full extent, which here you do.
The cast delivers magnificently. I didn’t know Masutha’s work but she made sure I would never forget her. What a performance! From start to finish she’s there with all her energy and might and that’s what her volatile character needs. Stuurman is an old favourite and to my mind, this is her best performance yet. Savadier and Kunene also fit the bill and, as seasoned actors, they never put a foot wrong.
It’s a play I will try to see again towards the end of the run, because there’s just too much to take in at one sitting. It’s something — even though it doesn’t sound like it — that gives hope. If, as Van Graan suggests, this is exactly who we are, at some stage togetherness will take hold. As for now, we are still that dysfunctional family who needs a stern word to set us on the right path – and this is it.
Diversity was the element that dominated this year’s fantastic KKNK Festival (in Oudtshoorn at the beginning of the month) – from the audiences to the artists, also including the plays and performances. DIANE DE BEER reports:
PICTURES: Hans van der Veen (unless otherwise stated.)
On one day you could see a solo show, a play with both words and movement, a translated modern classic and a new work that will outlast some of us watching.
Yet as is often the case at this festival, theatre was what really captured the imagination – and true to the diversity theme, it played out in many ways.
For me it started with a bang with a piece titled Die Een Wat Bly (which can also be seen at the upcoming Cape Town Suidooster) with a cast consisting of the two talented dancers from Figure of 8 Dance Theatre (Grant van Ster and Shaun Oelf) who in this instance combined their extraordinary movement with the insightful words of Wessel Pretorius who seems to deliver an endless stream of brilliance. And the third member of this inspired cast is Daneel van der Walt who is an actor who has emerged these past few years as someone to watch.
Everything seemed to combine beautifully, from the story, how it was written, the excellence of the casting and the way movement underlined and emphasized every emotion so magnificently. I couldn’t resist catching it a second time and it confirmed my initial instincts that all the elements just flowed together seamlessly to present perfect theatre. I could easily watch it again … and again… and again.
In a different guise, Pretorius performed in Yasmina Reza’s translated text Kuns (which had previously been performed by two of the actors, also directed by Marthinus Basson in the English version titled Art). Pretorius and Wilhelm van der Walt (part of the former cast) were joined by Ludwig Binge in a play that satirises the often achingly precious way people view and talk about art.
Because of the NOW, a time where an anti-wokeness and fake news seem to dominate everything, it worked even better than the first time I saw it and with these three adventurous actors (all three Basson graduates who have established exciting theatre careers), it was perfect for this festival which always celebrates.
Basson also delighted with a play which has been on the circuit for a while, and I was thrilled to finally experience. Who would not be intrigued by a play titled Kruispad, of die legende van die goue vis.
Picture: Nardus Engelbrecht.
Again the casting blew me away with Eben Genis giving one of his finest performances in the role of the eccentric recluse Oswald whose life is rudely interrupted by two lost and rain-drenched youngsters played by two of the best, Edwin van der Walt and Carla Smith, with a glorious copper-coloured wig which completely changed her character without her having to say a word.
Because it plays with temptation and loyalty, it reminded me of the film Indecent Proposal in which Robert Redford offers to buy Demi Moore for a million dollars for the night.
Masterfully written and performed with great gusto you are never sure what is real or not, whether something is fact or fiction, and in fact when someone is being honest or not. It’s like trying to solve a puzzle that tortures and teases with a few disruptive detours that keep you slightly unbalanced as an audience.
There was so much more in the theatrical realm with solid performances in the Hennie van Greunen translated and directed Annie+Helen with Cintaine Schutte as Annie, the governess/teacher in the Hellen Keller story and Judi Hattingh as the severely damaged teenager who cannot see, hear or talk.
A mighty struggle ensues and from beginning to end, the two actors battle, and sometimes, bruise one another in a fight for something so much more than survival.
I have always been a huge fan when some of our younger directors (and he might take exception to that description) take on the classics, and I was excited to see Speelgoed van Glas translated, directed and designed by Nico Scheepers.
Casting was a further incentive with Annamart van der Merwe, Carla Smith, Ben Albertyn and Mark Elderkin on board, and was also alerted by all the awards they had already received, all of them thoroughly deserved. Van der Merwe’s bravura performance as the brittle mother is bruising as she embodies a woman who is desperately fighting to hold on to the only power available to her, that of motherhood (and in this instance also victimhood).
Her children, especially her son, have no such illusions and their confrontation reminds one of how a home which should be a protected space for a family can become a warzone which holds only fear and a frantic will of those threatened, to flee and find emotional freedom.
It’s devastating writing, smartly translated and, set in the present with a cast who have had the time to hone their craft and honour the play.
Also Die Potplant: ‘n Tragedie written and played by Karli Heine who changed what had previously been part of something now called Blitsteater into a longer piece had an interesting effect on me. It’s a wonderful idea with a script that’s inventive with underlying pathos – and yet, while it still had the impact and was cleverly stretched into a more comprehensive play, I think I preferred the shorter version.
It might have had something to do with the impact it had the first time round as well as having lost my heart to that version, I was more aware of the padding. Yet Heine is worth watching. She is someone that thinks out of the box as well as having the courage to take chances. You need all of that in this challenging profession.
Another joy at a festival is discovering new talent as well as witnessing the creativity of artists and how they find ways to explore their craft in a world with no boundaries yet many obstacles. Bibi Slippers, who can only be described as a compulsive creative did two shows as part of the Blitsteater (a bit like fast food, fast theatre), but there’s nothing fast about what she does with her imagination.
Picture: Stephanie M. Gericke.
I have always been fascinated by this young woman who has carved her own career in a very individual way. She pops up all over the show and her strengths lie in her words. She knows how to use them and has two spectacular poetry books that run like a thread through her performances.
Everything she does has thought behind it, is usually novel and it works. If anyone wants to see how to be an artist in today’s world and be in command of your own life, this is it.
In similar vein Sandi Dlangalala and Ilana Cilliers combined style and swagger to present an interlude of theatrical magic with Smak. The way they told the story in very little time with their whole being and soul was quite extraordinary.
A regular festival contributor, Llandi Beeslaar, who with her partner has been running a series of short performances by various artists, in the above mentioned Blitsteater, decided it was her turn to shine individually. She was ready to test herself as a comic with her first stand-up piece.
She participates in the arts in different ways, but this is a chance to use her own voice – and that she does with a particular style. Most importantly she has something to say and should keep going while honing her craft. There aren’t enough women in this space and the only thing she lacks is confidence.
Picture: Mia Truter.
A solo performance that stood out was that of singer/songwriter Frieda van den Heever. I first noticed her as producer with a fine sensitivity as well as an imagination which seemed to be strongly independent.Picture
She has obviously decided it is her time and instead of producing others, she staged her own show. She’s got all the goods and probably if you start counting, has more talents than a triple threat. In this her first solo show (that I know of) at a festival, she did the performance as well as the production. She brought in Mauritz Lotz on guitar, but the rest was all done by this astonishing performer.
I’m more of a theatre girl than music, but she blew me away with her presentation, the way she put together her show, her music (on piano as well as singing and songwriting), her lyrics and her singing. I know I can find her album Ontspoor, onlineand that’s what I’ll do.
But to find new music so accessible and a performance that’s fresh, daring and quite darling. I’m a groupie. Once I checked her previous work (which I had seen, with her as producer rather than performer) I understood why I liked the show so much.
Karoo Kaarte is one of my favourite experiences every year at this festival. They pick their battles, how best to explore them and this year they joined forces with the District Six Museum and GALA queer archive and used the Kewpie: Daughter of District Six picture archive as a platform to develop this years’ experience.
It all culminated in a queer festival with a multi-disciplinary drama titled Kroon en Konfetti which incorporated three elements: Kewpie’s life and legacy as dancer and artist; the rich culture of Oudtshoorn’s beauty competitions called “models”; and 25 personal stories collected from Oudtshoorn’s queer community.
Dressed in all their finery, the “models” all gathered in a dressing room to start their show with the dialogue smart, sassy and with an edge. It was quite magnificent as are all the Karoo Kaarte productions and more than anything it’s the topics they choose to spotlight that’s so important.
Here is deals with a group of people who are already sidelined in a country where prejudice is still rife. With their queer status they are in search and hoping to find safe spaces in their community where they can celebrate their culture, yet behind all the glitz and glamour, the shadow of oppression is hard to ignore.
As always Neil Coppen, Vaughn Sadie and Tiffany Witbooi are the creative team responsible and my only regret – as happens every year – is that I couldn’t participate in all their offerings. It’s one of those projects that’s imaginative and innovative and even more importantly, they’re constantly working with elements that result in real change in a community that has always been neglected.
And then cleverly the festival ended with Nataniël and a company of 10 on the openair stage under the Oudtshoorn night skies. The elements aren’t his friends, but it was a glorious way to end the festival with a performance that showcased new voices and performers as well as the glorious artist himself with stories and songs that suited the occasion.
Tracy-Lee Oliver was the artist he chose to spotlight on the night, and she made full use of the occasion with spunk and singing that added spark to this final show. It was great to see someone step into the limelight with such poise. As usual, making sure he gave his audience all the hysterical stories and masterful songs they expected with his superb band and backup singers, he also paid it forward with this sassy introduction of new voices for this audience.
He first spotted her when she was a contestant on a television show he judged, and astute as he always is when it comes to producing for an occasion, this was where he decided to showcase her – for all the world to witness.
Rehearsal picture.
I haven’t even touched on the festival artist Henk Serfontein’s magnificent exhibition Die Stomme Aarde complimented by a performance piece by the artist and his collaborator Hannah Loewenthal as he made a painting to which she contributed while both of them participated in an expressive dance which further enhanced this particular emotional landscape of both the St Jude’s Church as well as the art displayed in this holy space .
It was the perfect example of how art and artists when working with an emotional intelligence can transport you in a way that seldomly happens in what has become quite a cranky world.
Similarly, Mareli Stolp, a pianist with a particular penchant for avant garde music invited animation artist Diek Grobler to illustrate her chosen compositions for a programme Die Gevlerktes. It was a stroke of genius.
The exquisite animation was imaginative in the way it enhanced the music and the listening experience which then also transformed into a visual feast.
I could go on, but this is simply one art lover’s experience …
See if you can catch any of these gems at other festivals and theatres in the year ahead.
CAST: Stuart Brown, Léa Blerk, Charlie Bouguenon, Keely Crocker. Kent Jeycocke, Shelley Lothian, Ntshikeng Matooane, Arno Meyer, Sharon Spiegel Wagner, Michael Stray, Justin Swartz, Lucy Tops
SET AND LIGHTING: Niall Griffin
MUSICAL SUPERVISOR: Charl Johan Lingenvelder
CHOREOGRAPHER: Louisa Talbot
SOUND DESIGNER: David Classen
RESIDENT DIRECTOR: Shelley Lothian
DIRECTOR: Greg Karvellas
Producers: Showtime Management and How Now Productions
VENUE: Montecasino Teatro
DATES: Until 13 April
PICTURES: Daniel Manners
Charlie Bouguenon (Charlie Murphy), Stuart Brown (Evan Hansen),Sharon Spiegel Wagner (Cynthia Murphy) and Keely Crocker (Zoe murphy).
WHAT struck me instantly while watching this musical was that being young a few decades ago was much easier.
No social media, less scrutiny, much less peer pressure because it had to be done person to person rather than through technical means or phones – it was just a much simpler and less stressful life.
What young adults have to contend with at that vulnerable age when you start transitioning into adulthood is quite monstrous. One would think that the huge physical upheaval would be enough to deal with, but now there’s so much more.
It’s a musical with an intimate if weighty story as it deals with depression and hiding from the world at a time when you should reach out rather than go into hibernation, yet it has huge heart.
It’s not often that musicals deal with mental health issues especially targeting teen and young adult audiences, who are particularly vulnerable. These aren’t issues readily discussed and this offers an amazing opportunity to ignite sensitive conversations.
Griffin, who is known for his ingenious designs, has hit the brief spectacularly. It’s all high-tech and could be quite alienating and overwhelming but also allows for the cast to flow in and out of the grand and gleaming structure (above) quite seamlessly.
It also allows the high tech environment we live in to dominate and underlines the world we cannot escape – even if that is exactly what Evan Hansen is trying to do.
That is the genius of the musical. It all feels quite overwhelming, almost as though you have to fight your way to the heart of the story, yet this is where the magic lies. At that centre is a timid and rather terrified young boy who can hardly get out from under the covers.
His way of communicating is to write letters to himself, hence the Dear Evan Hansen title. Many people, young and old, could identify at some stage in their lives with his struggle of dealing with life. His is the universal struggle to be seen.
His mother, a single parent, is so stretched to keep them afloat that she hardly notices her son or witnesses any of his anguish. He feels he has no one to turn to until an incident allows him to find a different persona and a family to hook onto.
This particular production has been gifted the perfect package in Stuart Brown, who engages with the audience and embraces his persona in the title role of Evan Hansen. The way he commands the stage and fills the auditorium with an emotional sensitivity that’s quite astonishing in such a huge space is extraordinary.
There’s nothing showy or superfluous in his approach to the role, he simply is Evan Hansen, which draws even those few souls – including myself – who don’t instinctively engage into the angst-ridden universe of a teenager whose whole being is fearful of the outside world.
Justin Swartz (Jared Kleinman), Keely Crocker (Zoe Murphy) and Stuart Brown (Evan Hansen) in conversation.
That and the music written by an experienced team of songwriters, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, who are best known for their Oscar, Grammy and Tony-winning work on La La Land, The Greatest Showman and now this, each of which spawned albums that landed in the Top 10 on the Billboard 200. That’s hard to beat and you could pick up from the audience that many of them knew the music and the lyrics, which would really add to a fuller experience.
There really isn’t much to fault in this production guided by the genius musical instincts of Karvellas supported by Lingenvelder’s music know-how, with a marvellously clever ensemble cast, all with voices that carry the music, it is a story well told.
It’s not just teens but also families that would benefit from the show. Communication, real person-to-person contact and, in this instance parents and children, is the other issue that is explored. These are not traditional topics for musicals and that is what makes this one so intriguing.
It also one of the finest shows to target the teen audience. At their most susceptible to be groomed as future theatre fans, this one ticks all the boxes. There’s a hero who explores and explodes, a story that ventures into almost forbidden territory and a production that unfolds beautifully with many different characters who find what they are looking for, a variety of issues to mine, and for those who want a softer landing, a story of romance.
But more than anything, there’s the glorious music and the explosive performances by an exciting ensemble who push the energy with joyful enthusiasm. You simply have to let go and engage.
De Beer Necessities 