David Fick - Page 2

Watching KING KONG, the Fugard Theatre's latest musical theatre production, is as complex an experience as it is a thrilling one. The first revival of a legendary South African jazz opera, as it was called when first performed in 1959, KING KONG is at once a historical document, a contemporary reimagining, a vibrant performance piece and a damning comment on society.

South Africa, says the note in the programme of STATE FRACTURE, is 'a country that keeps on giving as far as satirical material is concerned.' What a pity, then, that the humour in STATE FRACTURE never transcends the comic to become satire.

Clowns Without Borders South Africa is celebrating their tenth anniversary with a once-off Comedy Benefit Showcase at the iconic Fugard Studio Theatre this August. BroadwayWorld South Africa chatted with Jayne Batzofin, the artistic director for Clowns Without Borders South Africa, about the importance of clowning in crisis as well as the upcoming benefit.

When Themba Stewart's new play, RED ALOES, opens tonight, it will be the culmination of a long journey that began, for him, in the wake of political violence in the early 1990s. BroadwayWorld South Africa's David Fick interviewed him about this play, which is drawn from his experiences as a child, for this week's Five on Friday.

Imagine a late-night German television programme like MANN, SIEBER! filtered through the pop culture aesthetic of an American variety show like SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, and you might know what to expect from IN WHOREFISH BLOOMERS: THE WAITRESSES' LAMENT, which is more a 'kabarett' than what South African audiences have come to call cabaret.

THINGPHONY takes as its theme the philosophical question of whether order is intrinsic in the universe, or whether it is human beings that give order to the phenomena they experience. Performer Philip Southey discusses a wide array of topics in the show, including colour, physics, music and sex.

For as long as prejudice exists in the world, people will tell stories of star-crossed lovers. The plot of CHEERS TO SARAJEVO places a Serbian Romeo opposite a Bosnian Juliet, but this iteration of the archetypal story makes them live through the conflict in which they find themselves.

The Market Theatre production of Paul Slabolepszy's SUDDENLY THE STORM is currently in the middle of its Cape Town season at the Baxter Theatre. Having opened just two days after the Naledi Theatre Awards presented the play and its production with three awards, SUDDENLY THE STORM arrived in Cape Town a pedigree compounded by the fact that this is the prolific Slabolepszy's first new play since 2009.

Audiences in the Mother City may recognise Charmaine Weir-Smith from BINNELANDERS or ISIDINGO, but this award-winning actress, writer and director has tread the boards in many a production, including the current season of SUDDENLY THE STORM at the Baxter Theatre.

Dara Beth, who is currently on stage in JUST A SONG AND DANCE at the Alexander Bar's Upstairs Theatre before taking the show to the National Arts Festival next month. She shares her thoughts about the show, South African theatre and her local theatre heroes in this week's edition of BroadwayWorld South Africa's Five on Friday.

In this week's Five on Friday, BroadwayWorld South Africa chats to THE FALL's Ameera Conrad about what the show means to her, the highlights of her career and the current state of South African theatre.

People often forget is that hubris walks hand-in-hand with nemesis, and Louis Viljoen shines a spotlight on this particularly damning walk of shame in his latest play, THE EULOGISTS, which features a top-notch performance by Emily Child.

Kiroshan Naidoo, who is currently appearing in THE EULOGISTS at The Fugard, took some time out to talk to BroadwayWorld South Africa about the show and the South African theatre scene in this week's Five on Friday.

The chair of the Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards panel held three sessions in Cape Town yesterday outlining the scope, rules and processes of the awards programme that takes place on an annual basis in the Mother City and its surrounds. The aim was to make the awards process more accessible to theatre-makers, performer and the press. 

Grade 12 Dramatic Arts pupil, Bianca Lakey, is one of many young people who has visited ASSITEJ's Cradle of Creativity in Cape Town over the past week. See shares her thoughts about this festival, which focuses on theatre for young people, as well as considering South African theatre on a wider scale.

There is something indescribable about returning to Gate69, the glitzy dinner theatre venue that opened less than a year ago in central Cape Town. It is that ineffable feeling of coming home, of belonging. CATHY AND THE TROLLEY DOLLIES, one of the venue's current offerings, is a blast for everyone - frequent flyers or not.

NIQABI NINJA's Bianca Flanders took some time to answer some questions about the show, her career and the South African theatre scene in BroadwayWorld South Africa's weekly Five on Friday feature.

Lebogang Mphahlele has carved out a career for himself in the entertainment industry by performing in theatre productions and on television. His current project KASI STORIES: STORIES NOT OFTEN TOLD represents his first foray into writing an original play, working alongside Benjamin Bell and Thulani Mtsweni to devise the piece. 

HEMELRUIM is a deeply personal and moving piece of theatre. The Afrikaans translation of Nick Payne's CONSTELLATIONS, created through the theatrical mastery of Nico Scheepers, is performed by Tinarie van Wyk Loots and Paul du Toit.

The Fugard's first new musical production of 2017 puts FUNNY GIRL on South African stages, and the results are delightful - with a powerhouse performance from Ashleigh Harvey as Fanny Brice, the stage, radio and film personality around whom everyone and everything in the show revolves.