What a smart move by the artistic director of the Market Theatre Foundation, Greg Homann, to invite Pieter-Dirk Uys (PDU), or, to be exact, his alter-ego, Evita Bezuidenhout, to open their first-ever Queer Festival running from 21 to 25 October.
This new initiative brought together a mix of nine performances across cabaret, drama, live concert, dance and new writing.
“With this inaugural iteration, we enter a bold new chapter, promising a vibrant celebration of identity, resistance and radical joy,” he said. “The Market Theatre has always thrived on being home to the South African story across all backgrounds and experiences. With this festival, we once again make a statement of safe belonging and free expression.”
And the main stage was opened by PDU to a packed audience in the iconic Market Theatre. “It was 35 years since the conception of the much-loved Evita in 1981 at this same venue – when even drag was outlawed – which reminds us how far we’ve come, and still have to go,” Homann said.
Celebrating with Evita @ 91, the decade younger PDU reminded his audience how blessed we are – over and over again. In the past, he’s often gone for the jugular, but he is also quick to praise, emphasizing how much our lives have been affected in a positive way.
After all, for those who followed him from the beginning, we’re aware of the tightrope this Afrikaner boy had to tread as he pulled away from his heritage pointing much more than fingers at the way his elders were running the country.
As usual, Evita@91 has no qualms about speaking her mind. She reminded us time and again where we came from and where we are now, just to put everything into perspective and to remind us to remember the past before jumping to criticise.
She’s as fiery and ferocious with her feminine tongue, and even as she softens her attack with some sassy sweet-talk, there’s no fooling anyone when she decides to speak her mind.
Candour has always been her approach and she’s the Afrikaans woman who never treads lightly and has everyone in stitches as she opens her mouth. If you had any doubt that we are a diverse country who have reached that sweet spot where we can all laugh at ourselves, this was it.
It was a celebratory night of merriment and nostalgia as we could all bask in the 50-year mark The Market had reached and on stage and in the auditorium, it was all visibly displayed.
At 81, PDU is 10 years younger than his colourful alter-ego but neither was holding back. It’s good to see how comfortable this iconic satirist is in his skin and on stage. She/he might reach for a name or two, but that’s the only concession to age visible. A performer who always delivers, never lets you down, force-feeds some harsh truths but never without the sardonic twist which has you smiling at the way he mirrors our foibles.
In a world where conversation has become problematic and truth is what the speaker decides to spin, it is heartwarming to gather with your country’s people and wallow in who we were, where we came from and how pretty we are sitting in today’s global turmoil.
And fitting that, in conclusion, PDU stripped away all the finery of his finest invention and took his final bows as the artist who knew what to do and how to pull it off when the state was his biggest foe.
Pay attention when internationally acclaimed director/author/designer Brett Bailey turns up at the Toyota Stellenbosch Woordfees with two productions, The Stranger and FaustX. As one of South Africa’s most innovative directors and someone who pays attention to place and time, he was questioned by Diane de Beer about his choices.
With today’s easy access to almost anyone, interviews can sometimes become more enjoyable for the interviewer than for the artist being interviewed. But when your subject is Brett Bailey – racing between shows, juggling productions and somehow keeping it all together – you’re grateful for thoughtfully considered written answers that offer a glimpse into what he is trying to pull off. And, judging by his track record, probably will.
Starting with The Stranger, he came across the myth of Orpheus, the semi-divine poet-musician of Classical Greece whose “melodious music brings harmony to the natural world: olive trees inch towards him as he plays, fishes leave the streams to listen, birds and animals gather around him”.
“I was captivated by this image of a man singing in the wilderness, both bringing order to the world with his art, and revealing an underlying order in the cosmos,” he begins. “Then he goes even further by voyaging to the Underworld, where all the order is shown to be meaningless.”
For Brett, this is a myth that captures the beautiful fragility of life, of violence and of life’s ephemerality. The story haunted him for two decades, inspired him and pulled him in so many directions, throwing up so many images and confronting him with questions.
As a result, “in 2006 I created an outdoor promenade piece based on it called Orfeus, and another version a few years later which toured the EU. This is the third version, first performed at the National Arts Festival in 2024. Of all my works, The Stranger is the most meaningful to me.”
About the style of the production, he notes that ritualistic staging is something he has returned to periodically since his earlier days in the mid-1990s. “I find it particularly apt for works based in mythological content, where different realities intersect: the material and the dream worlds, the realms of people and gods.”
This is a story of our time, of an immigrant who arrives in Stellenbosch bringing a gift of exquisite music that transforms all who hear it. And immediately there’s a connection for the audience. Three musicians accompany him, and a number of performers enact the drama, including the woman he falls in love with as well as Death.
Attending The Stranger, he advises, is like entering a ceremony in which a story is told in some remote village, or, even more enticingly, like entering someone else’s dream. How can one not accept that invitation?
The cast includes Nkosenathi Koela and others, and this is the second time this musician, who believes in the transformational power of African indigenous music, will be featured in this production, the first in 2024. “His music is truly deep and extraordinary,” explains Brett. “He was the natural choice for the role of Orpheus.”
They will be performing in what Brett describes as a gorgeous building almost ten minutes out of Stellenbosch, Die Boekklub.
“It is an old apple shed converted into a remarkable venue filled with antiques. Very special. The audience will lounge on vintage sofas on two sides of an intimate performance arena: an immersive sonic environment lit by candles and chandeliers.”
And he is delighted to report that audiences find the work very beautiful and moving.
No less exciting or challenging, FaustX was commissioned by Kunstfest Weimar in 2025 for the 250th anniversary of Goethe’s move to that city. “I was not aware then that there was a second part to Faust. It is a monster of a text, incredibly complex and full of poetic, philosophical, historical and mythological allusions: a full dramatisation would take over five hours,” the master reports.
“When I first encountered it, I had no idea what to do with it. Gradually, over a year, I cut it right down to around 90 minutes. It tells of a man who, in his drive to find meaning, opts for all possibilities of extreme experience in exchange for his soul.
“On my journey to find its contemporary relevance, I gravitated towards the tech barons who are currently steering our planet on a rapid course into the unknown, who are sacrificing the soul of the earth to Progress. Mr Musk, with all his glitches and complexities, became my primary focus…
“The work speaks of modern humanity’s insatiable drive to satisfy the self, to push beyond boundaries and limitations, to experience as much as possible, no matter what the cost. In our technologically rapacious era, the dangers of such an orientation resonate deeply. In a sense, it is a terrifying piece of theatre…
I’m a visual person, and my taste is very eclectic.
“Thematically I deal with European manipulation of African economies, the war in Gaza, Israeli settler occupation of the West Bank, Elon Musk’s fever dreams of technological domination and the colonisation of distant planets, the destruction of the planet’s ecosystem by out-of-control capitalism, and the rise of the far right in Europe.”
And if that doesn’t get you rushing out for tickets, it obviously is not your kind of theatre.
But that’s not the only thing that drives this piece. Who would not be intrigued by the fact that ChatGPT takes the honours as “dramaturg” in the festival guide?
Not unexpectedly, Brett would be one of the first to get the best from any new technology, even though he acknowledges the anxiety around the use of AI in the creative industries. “Many people feel threatened by it.”
But for this interrogating artist, it became yet another arrow in his quiver. He used it to bounce off ideas for several of his works and thus it has a thorough “sense of the network of threads that permeate my artistic vision”.
He insists that it doesn’t write his texts, yet it opens up avenues of exploration and helps him to make connections. Making his point twice over, he says: “In a work that looks at the dangers of technology run rampant, it feels conceptually appropriate to acknowledge ChatGPT as my dramaturg…”
And in short, Brett adds a lesson in AI for those interested.
Taking a closer look at FaustX, he views the work both as a visual artwork and a piece of theatre. “I’m a visual person, and my taste is very eclectic.”
Inspiration for FaustX comes from so many sources: Central African wood carvings and paintings, Japanese and East European films, Instagram, Tibetan Buddhist shrines, the colour palette of Mediterranean gardens, news channels and social media, rural European mask traditions, medieval Christian paintings, the work clothes of local farm labourers… it’s all in there, as in so many of his earlier works.
FaustX talks of the hubris of men who destroy anything in their path to satisfy their relentless need for more; The Stranger speaks of those who step in to attempt to heal what has been destroyed.
As he notes himself, Brett has worked with masks on and off for years, and now they feature prominently in the works he makes. “I love the sense of otherworldliness they bring to the stage, and the effect that they have on performers’ bodies. Using them allows several performers to play one character: four different performers play Faust, each bringing their own skill set to the role. I make the masks from cardboard and glue and paint: I love the rough, handmade quality.”
FaustX, he says, is also saturated from beginning to end in deeply beautiful music – from works by Handel, Purcell and Mozart, to modern composers like Arvo Pärt and Biosphere.
He views the two works as companion pieces, two panels of a diptych, each painted in a different style.
“FaustX talks of the hubris of men who destroy anything in their path to satisfy their relentless need for more; The Stranger speaks of those who step in to attempt to heal what has been destroyed. Both face their mortality in the face of an inscrutable and indifferent universe…”
For those who will not be visiting Woordfees, let’s all hold thumbs that these two works travel widely throughout the country.
The Stranger 9, 10 & 11 OCT 19:30 Die Boekklub, Johannesdal R180 | R210 at the door
FaustX Unfortunately we will have to wait for another showing PLEASE BRETT!
It bubbles and bristles with energy, enthusiasm and excitement in this return season of a play which started as a student production in 2024 and returned in 2025 to the National Arts Festival, where it won a Golden Ovation Award, as well as a Naledi for Best Ensemble.
This current season is the forerunner of a showcase at a Swedish Festival, where it is one of four international productions selected from 600 applicants. And rightly so.
I was surprised when leaving the show that it had only been 60 minutes long. It felt much longer, in the best possible sense, and grabs your attention from start to finish. It was packed with adventure and a cast of 14 who never let up as they leapt into this glorious yet often gruesome adventure of the human condition in a world out of kilter.
How would theatre react to a world unhinged, as is presently at play? Through storytelling, of course, and taking this one to a European audience is the perfect choice.
Think of this country’s past and, in the present turmoil, one can only smile. We are sailing along quite nicely, apart from the constant syphoning off of state money, in this instance from the art coffers, which could benefit so many rather than just a few unworthy recipients.
Nevertheless, taking four constant bogeymen in a world that feels overwhelmingly disastrous and desperate: greed, mortality, religion and unconditional love – this outrageous yet wildly entertaining ragtag group use physical theatre and magic realism to uncover and explore what is happening around them and especially out there.
The fact that this comes from a country that not too long ago was viewed as one of the worst in the world, in itself brings hope.
With Buckland’s theatre-making ideal for this tawdry yet dynamic storytelling, it’s a joy to watch with the cast performing magnificently. It’s a compelling piece, told in an original fashion with a story that reaches young and old.
This is what the Market Theatre Laboratory does best. Described as “an incubator for the development of skilled theatre-makers while also producing bold, cutting-edge work”, that is exactly what is represented here.
That is why the way this specific piece has been transformed from its first performances to where it stands now is spectacular and a wonderful testament to what can be achieved in theatre with the right people and plans in place.
None of these 14 players has ever performed internationally and with this one, they are a testament to how theatre can evolve from small beginnings into something special.
Local audiences who see the piece will also be contributing towards the tour, and the cast are given every chance to land on the international stage in the best shape possible. What could be a better advertisement for local theatre, especially in a country like Sweden, which has contributed hugely to The Market and its pursuit of world-class theatre?
But don’t think you will be doing something charitable when going to experience this remarkable play, audiences are the ones that are rewarded.
In essence, the power lies in the originality of the text, the exuberant application and the perfection of the cast.
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.
