Tony Miyambo. Photo: Supplied
Tony Myembe.
THE Playhouse Company has two superb plays heading to the Durban theatre as part of its annual New Stages season in May. Continue reading
Two powerful dramas heading to the Playhouse
Clare Mortimer
KZN well represented in the Naledi Award nominations
Clare Mortimer and Ralph Lawson in A Voice I Cannot Silence at the 2015 National Arts Festival in Grahamstown. The play, directed by Greg Homann, is based on the life, stories and poems of Alan Paton. (Photo: CuePix/Sithasolwazi Kentane)
THE nominees for the Naledi Awards 2016 – which will take place at the Lyric Theatre in Johannesburg on April 19 – have been revealed and according to executive director, Dawn Lindberg, the standard has never been higher.
Several Durbanites are in the running for this year’s awards including KickStArt Theatre Company’s Steven Stead for Sweeney Todd and Little Shop of Horrors, Greg King, Tina le Roux, Neil Stuart Harris, Charon Williams-Ros for Sweeney Todd, Caroline Smart for Hinterland and Clare Mortimer and Menzi Mkhwane for A Voice I Cannot Silence.
Short, Stories, Alive, the Nobulali Productions show, directed by former Durban resident, Neil Coppen, is also nominated; as is former Durban actress Janna Ramos-Violante, who gets a nomination for her work in Doubt. Continue reading
Think Theatre’s acclaimed production of Othello marks Shakespeare’s 400th anniversary
Nhlakanipho Manqele (Othello), Clinton Small (Iago) and Darren King (Brabantio) in a scene from Othello. Photo: Val Adamson
2016 marks the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare and I am delighted that schools still consider it worth learning the Bard’s work.
Part of that ongoing appeal is being able to see Shakespeare performed live and if your child’s school has not yet booked to see Think Theatre’s critically acclaimed production of the tragedy Othello in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng then I urge you to get them to do so.
It will bring the Bard’s work to vivid life and is the perfect salute to the British playwright, who died on 23 April 1616. Continue reading
Durban theatre rocks at the 2015 BroadwayWorld South Africa Awards
Lyle Buxton and Jessica Sole in a scene from KickStArt Theatre Company’s Shrek The Musical. Photo: Val Adamson
Ralph Lawson and Clare Mortimer in A Voice I Cannot Silence at the 2015 National Arts Festival in Grahamstown. The play, directed by Greg Homann, is based on the life, stories and poems of Alan Paton. (Photo: CuePix/Sithasolwazi Kentane)
Congratulations to all the winners of the 2015 BroadwayWorld South Africa Awards especially Greg King and Stephen Stead of KickStArt Theatre Company, the gifted talent that is Neil Coppen and exceptional actress, Clare Mortimer. Continue reading
Greg Homann speaks about honouring a literary great
Ralph Lawson as Alan Paton in A Voice I Cannot Silence.
AMONG the many theatrical delights heading to this year’s Hilton Arts Festival, at Hilton College from September 17 to 19, is A Voice I Cannot Silence, a play based on the life and work of Alan Paton. I spoke to director, Greg Homann about the show. Continue reading
A look at Alan Paton’s life and works in ‘A Voice I Cannot Silence’
DURBAN actors Ralph Lawson, Clare Mortimer and Menzi Mkhwane will be starring in Greg Homann and Ralph Lawson’s A Voice I Cannot Silence.
The play, which is based on the life and work of Alan Paton, highlights the invaluable contribution made by the author of Cry, The Beloved Country who was, in the words of Douglas Livingstone, a “lighthouse in the South African twilight” during the dark decades leading up to the country’s constitutional democracy.
Paton’s internationally recognised gifts of lyric verse, evocative prose and vibrant story telling are combined to create a richly dramatic portrait.
The play focuses on his years as principal of Diepkloof Reformatory, the “toughest black borstal in the Southern Hemisphere”, where he introduced daring reforms that brought him into conflict with the architect of apartheid Hendrik Verwoerd, his position as president of the Liberal Party that led to harassment and a 10-year period during which his passport was taken away by the apartheid government, his indomitable belief in and daunting struggle for human rights, and the complexities of his personal relationships.
These weighty themes are explored through Paton’s interaction with Anne Hopkins, whom he employed in 1968 as a secretary shortly after the death of his wife Dorrie.
While trying to come to terms with his loss, the memories of his wife and their love for each other are set in contrast to his difficult days spent at the reformatory some 20 years earlier where he remembers vividly a curious young man called Sponono.
A Voice I Cannot Silence is being staged at the Rhodes Box Theatre at noon and 8.30 pm on July 10 and July 11, and at noon on July 12.
Tickets are R70, with concession tickets at R65.
A post-performance discussion with the director and cast, moderated by an arts journalist from City Press, will take place after the noon performance on July 10.
Bookings are open and can be made via the website:http://www.nationalartsfestival.co.za. Ticketing call centre: 0860 002 004
Pick up a Festival programme and booking kit from selected Standard Bank and Exclusive Books. The full programme is online athttp://www.nationalartsfestival.co.za
theluvvie 