Ralph Lawson and Clare Mortimer in A Voice I Cannot Silence. Photo: CuePix/Sithasolwazi Kentane
THE critically acclaimed, award-winning drama, A Voice I Cannot Silence, will be staged in the Playhouse Loft Theatre in Durban from May 12 to 20. Continue reading
THE Playhouse Company has two superb plays heading to the Durban theatre as part of its annual New Stages season in May. Continue reading
Naledi award-winners Fiona Ramsay and Janna Ramos-Violante in Doubt.
VETERAN actress, Fiona Ramsay, made history on Tuesday, April, when she won the best lead performance in a play (female) for two different plays – Doubt and Miss Dietrich Regrets at the prestigious Naledi Theatre Awards at the Lyric Theatre in Gold Reef City, Johannesburg.
Her co-star in Doubt, Janna Ramos-Violante, won the best supporting actress award. She was one of several actors and companies with links to KwaZulu-Natal who enjoyed a great night at the awards ceremony. Continue reading
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
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
Lungile Mtshali stars in Secret Valley of the Great Kings at the Playhouse.
SECRET Valley of the Great Kings opens at the Playhouse Loft Theatre this week. Written and directed by Menzi Mkhwane, the play is set in Africa during the 1400s, and tells the story of a young girl named Kgotso, who leaves her homeland in search of a new home for her newborn son. Continue reading
Menzi Mkhwane.
Lungile Mtshali. Photo: Paulo Menezes
Danica Delaray. Photo: Paulo Menezes
Anele Nene. Photo: Paulo Menezes
CREATING Secret Valley of the Great Kings, a new theatre production premiering at the Playhouse Loft Theatre in September, has been something of a labour of love for Menzi Mkhwane. Continue reading
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
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