Theatre

Don’t miss James Cairns in ‘El Blanco: Tales of the Mariachi’ at the Schlesinger Theatre at Michaelhouse

/ stelsinkins / Leave a comment
el-blanco-2

James Cairns stars in the award-winning one-man show, El Blanco: Tales of the Mariachi, at the Schlesinger Theatre at Michaelhouse on February 3. Photo: Dex Goodman

IT’S hard to beat the story well told.  Stories in themselves are an act of creation, connecting the past with the present. Creation itself is a story. Without stories, we would have nothing but darkness and silence.

This is what James Cairns’s character El Blanco believes. While he may unashamedly spin a pack of lies, in this instance, he comes close to the truth.

In El Blanco: Tales of the Mariachi – which is being staged at the Schlesinger Theatre at Michaelhouse in Balgowan at 7.30 pm on Friday, February 3 – his struggle, mostly with himself, to earn the title of Mariachi is masterfully presented through music and storytelling. Continue reading →

Cinema Nouveau screens National Theatre Live’s broadcast of Harold Pinter’s classic play No Man’s Land

/ stelsinkins / Leave a comment
NO MANS LAND

From left: Damien Molony, Patrick Stewart, Owen Teale and Ian McKellen in ‘No Man’s Land’. Photo: Johan Persson

The first broadcast of 2017 from National Theatre Live to be screened at Cinema Nouveau is Harold Pinter’s classic play No Man’s Land, starring Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart and directed by Sean Mathias.

The West End run follows a massively successful staging of the play on Broadway in New York.

Filmed live at London’s Wyndham’s Theatre for broadcast to cinemas globally, it releases at Cinema Nouveau theatres on Saturday, January 21 for four screenings only. Continue reading →

Sign up for ActorWize, a professional acting course for film and TV

/ stelsinkins / Leave a comment
SONY DSC

Rajesh Gopie (centre) with participants attending a previous acting course. Photo: Supplied

ACTOR, playwright, director, producer and acting teacher, Rajesh Gopie, will be running a professional course for film and TV acting as part of his ActorWize programme from February 2 to March 2 at Thekwini College (former Springfield training college), Asherville campus, 262 Daintree Avenue, Asherville in Durban.

The classes offer a unique training style with a psycho-physical approach. Continue reading →

Fresh new theatre and dance on offer on Durban’s bustling beach

/ stelsinkins / Leave a comment
shelby-strange-taken-by-luca-barausse

Shelby Strange is part of the Rickshaw Collective who will be performing a physical theatre piece, “Dislocation” on Saturday, January 21 at 4pm and Sunday, January 22 at 2pm. Photo: Luca Barausse

This weekend, Durban plays host to the inaugural Fresha Festival. This free fun family al-fresco theatre festival will be staged on Durban’s North Beach for three days on January 20, 21 and 22. Continue reading →

Play about Whoonga drug crisis wins big at 2016 Durban Theatre Awards

/ stelsinkins / Leave a comment
ulwembu2

Ulwembu, a play which examines the Whoonga drug problem in KwaZulu-Natal, won five prizes at the Mercury Durban Theatre Awards. Photo: File

ULWEMBU, a play which tackles the serious consequences of the Whoonga (low grade heroin) drug problem in Durban, was one of the big winners at this year’s Mercury Durban Theatre Awards.

Over the course of 2015, award-winning playwright and director Neil Coppen (Tin Bucket Drum, Tree Boy, Abnormal Loads and Animal Farm), actress Mpume Mtombeni, KwaMashu-based community-theatre group, The Big Brotherhood, and educational sociologist, Dylan McGarry, set about exploring the crisis.

The result of the two-year research/play-making process was a powerful new theatre production, which gave audiences the opportunity to walk in the shoes of users, dealers, police officers, social-workers and parents of drug users. Continue reading →

Jonathan Cohen stars in the tragi-comedy, ‘White Christmas’, at the Hexagon Theatre in Pietermaritzburg

/ stelsinkins / Leave a comment
white-christmas-jonathan-cohen-as-jp-pic-by-val-adamson

Jonathan Cohen in White Christmas. Photo: Val Adamson

THE multi-Durban Theatre Award-nominated tragi-comedy, White Christmas, is being staged at the Hexagon Theatre on the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Pietermaritzburg campus, for one performance only on Saturday, December 3 at 7.30 pm.  ESTELLE SINKINS speaks to its star Jonathan Cohen. Continue reading →