By Arno Cornelissen Committing to a comedy show scares me senseless. I’m always afraid that I’ll get stuck in a room with a lousy comedian who doesn’t know how to take a hint; awkwardness, jokes that fail to land, sweating bullets. Dude! Wa’s my bakkie? set my sceptical mind at ease. I laugh with the rest of the audience from the moment the house rules are explained right till the end of Dean September’s (mis)ventures. Die windgat lightly – played by Jeremeo Le Cordeur – is the good kind of fool behind the script and the face. Getting your first…
Author: Cue 2023
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By Vilia Dube Mamela Nyamza has long been invested in deconstructing the binaries of traditional African dance forms and Western balletic norms. The original Hatched (2007) was a poignant and evocative work that addressed Nyamza’s change in sexual identity and her role as an artist, dancer, and mother amid the traditional rites and rituals of marriage. At this year’s Festival, Mamela brings it back with a twist, premiering it as Hatched Ensemble at the Guy Butler Auditorium. The artistic movement is performed by ten ballet dancers, an opera singer and an African traditional instrumentalist. We are met with the bare…
By Thapelo Matlala Quality of over quantity is usually best, but Life of a Taxi Driver had a small audience who stayed for a short, but tedious show. The production’s inspiration draws from instances of taxi violence that took place in Mthatha in the Eastern Cape earlier this year. The piece revolves around the main character, Lubabalo Mthembu, also known as Small, who lost his parents to taxi violence. Following the death of his parents, Small leaves school and becomes a part-time pantsula dancer and taxi driver. Much of the play takes place at his dance rehearsals. In one scene,…
By ‘Odidi Matai-Sigudla The eerie set complements the period in which the play is set, namely the height of the Depression years in South Africa (1929 – 1934). We are met with a sparse kitchen scene – a table set for three, a kitchen cabinet, a window with curtains billowing softly in the breeze. There is calm music playing in the background as the audience moves into the Victoria Girls High School Gymnasium. Stirling High School’s Missing is based on the original production by Reza de Wet. The play follows a family of three; a diligent daughter who does whatever…
By Anoka Latchmiah The audience sits in eager anticipation for their shining star. Suddenly, they are met with the burst of energy that is Pichi Keane. “It won’t be a moment until the mayhem begins,” she says. It is rare for a performer to conjure such excitement within the crowd before they even begin their set. Pichi is greeted with a roaring round of applause. At this year’s Festival, Pichi Keane directs and stars in Ripe ‘n Ready, a solo drag-cabaret-burlesque extravaganza. The production is one you simply can’t predict, but such is the nature of drag. The artist sings,…
By Aphiwe Ngowapi Legendary Queer Sisters is a performance by Emmanuel “É´mma” Rattle, African Tones, Tebogo Artslave Gxubane, and Jemima “Miss-J” Julius that highlights the triumphs and the struggles of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transexual, Queer, and Intersex+ (LGBTQI+) Community through storytelling, song and dance. Importantly, the play remembers all the politicians and activists who fought (and are still fighting) for their rights and well-being, not forgetting all those who died and suffered simply for being their authentic selves. Here, the play makes use of soft music to mourn the innocent allies brutally murdered, assaulted, raped and violated at the…
By Ruvesen Naidoo Everyone’s favourite ogre is setting up swamp at the Kingswood Theatre for the National Arts Festival. Heaps of green paint used on the faces of both Shrek and Fiona, a flamboyant and loveable dragon, and multiple (well-designed) costume changes. These are just some of the things you can expect to see on display from a much-loved animated film, adapted into a live musical show. Shrek the Musical JR is more than just an adaptation of the 2001 film Shrek 1. A product of the Sonwa Sakuba Institute for the Performing Arts in East London, the show is…
By Malikhanye Mankayi The Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (BPYO), conducted by Benjamin Zander, recently performed at the Monument’s Guy Butler Theatre at the 2023 National Arts Festival. The performance formed the final leg of their South African tour. The 120-member ensemble presented a rousing performance, showcasing two great works in the Orchestral repertoire – Strauss’s Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life) and Beethoven’s iconic Fifth Symphony. Zander’s bracing, revelatory account of this Beethoven symphony thrills audiences worldwide whenever he conducts it. The BPYO was formed in 2012 under the auspices of the Boston Philharmonic. The orchestra features enthusiastic and talented young…
By Anga-Anganda Bushwana Who would think that a musical could be used to spread awareness about the many facets of gender-based violence in South Africa? In STOP! #ArtistsAgainstGBV, contemporary choral music, rhythmic choreography, and an electrifying energy are used to shed light on one of the country’s greatest social ills. The storytelling and the incorporation of a variety of South African languages, ranging from Sesotho, Venda, Afrikaans, Setswana, English, and Sepedi, into different themes was nothing short of amazing. The hour-long production at City Hall provides narratives on the multitude of reasons behind the pandemic of femicide and its pervasive…
By Benny Mojela Lucrative? Precarious? Fragile? How does one describe, and condense the art economy into a single phrase? In the panel discussion Business Beyond Festival, Xolile Madinda, Black Power Station CEO, Nobesuthu Rayi, Partnership Manager of the National Arts Festival (NAF), and Noel Lobley who hails as an ethnomusicologist from the University of Virginia, sit down at the Black Power Station to unpack where the local art scene is heading, beyond the Fest. The gathering is intimate, with two panellists absent. However, the discussion is a warm-hearted one as we sit under the sun to listen. Topics range from…