Consciousness of culture

My favorite Broadway

/ antakalipa / Leave a comment

Jonathan Roxmouth

At the Teatro for the Jonathan Roxmouth My favorite Broadway show. Seats so good, you stay seated when someone ahead of you is on their feet. Literally eyeball-to-eyeball with Jonathan and you can see the Maestro’s shoes. Thank you Belinda Howard and as always SamSays on the credits.

Charisma, presence, composure, calm, warmth are adjectives to describe Roxmouth. He keeps you engaged, he is captivating and the delivery masterful. Last time I was at the Teatro, I was watching “Swinging Las Vegas” – high octane show with hits galore! Came back for the Maestro and Jonathan Roxmouth for new memories. It’s ridiculous how good Jonathan is, he commands the stage, has comedic timing and spellbinding on the mic. Songs about love and a couple of ABBA classics – thank you for the music! He sings with passion, love and attention for his craft. You are at his mercy, the world stops for him. His voice melts on the pan like butter. It is soothing like a lullaby and keeps you awake like Redbull – energizing, you can listen to him the whole day. You get lost in his voice, he has the capability of making you daydream but you are lucid so you applaud after the song.

Roxmouth is joined by Maestro Adam Howard and the Egoli Symphonic Orchestra who are too great to encapsulate with words. I need to update my music vocabulary and acclimatize myself to the jargon, then maybe I’ll have a better chance of expressing myself. Then again, you play music, it was never meant to be serious. The stage has the Egoli Symphonic Orchestra concentrated in the middle and they spread to the sides. Behind the Orchestra are screens, one in the middle and one on either side. The screens provide a backdrop and themes of the songs performed. Jonathan Roxmouth changes costumes three times, different colored suits with sequins. The part where he tap-dances with the other Jonathan’s on the screen is awesome, humorous, I enjoyed that there was female representation, perfect choreography and completely in sync. Maestro Adam Howard expertly leads procedures. He is in charge, present, perfect, there is no show without him. I am with Momo, he has Maestro Adam Howard by his side, but I do recognize Kabza’s greatness.

Great show, a privilege to behold Roxmouth’s mastery on the stage. Chicago is up next!

Congratulations Jonathan Roxmouth and the whole team for a great show and a deserved standing ovation.

📷: Crowther Fourie

📷: Elena Samuels

Breakfast with Mugabe

/ antakalipa / Leave a comment

Breakfast with Mugabe

At the Market Theatre for the opening of “Breakfast with Mugabe, Standard Bank had an influence, drinks, soup, bread and general snacks on the house. Posed for pictures with distinguished people, met the director Calvin Ratladi.

Written by Fraser Grace, ‘Breakfast with Mugabe’ stars Themba Ndaba portraying Mugabe and Gontse Ntshegang as his wife, Grace. Craig Jackson plays Mugabe’s psychiatrist, Dr Peric, while Zimbabwean actor Farai Chigudu takes on the role of Mugabe’s bodyguard. The play is about Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe’s fictional imagining of conversations with white psychiatrist Dr Peric. Initially, Mugabe is avoidant, he misses appointments and comes late. They go deep delving into Mugabe’s psyche, the struggle is unearthed, bombings comes to the surface and love of country is elevated. The characters speak in Shona for realism, the play is in English. Exploitation happens, the white farmer loses his farm. The play explores grief, healing, faith, nationalism and legacy.

The set is in Zimbabwe’s head of state, coat of arms on the wall and a portrait of a painting on the other side of the wall. Elevated slightly by a stage in the middle is a trio of chairs and a table for juice. On the ground is soil, it features at the start and the end of the play. Themba Ndaba is brilliant as Robert Mugabe, he embodies his mannerisms, the restless energy, panting, speech and demeanor. I loved Gontse Ntshegang, she is so beautiful and amazing, she stole the show as Grace. She is after your farm white man. Craig Jackson as Dr Peric is a psychiatrist whose about learn what it means to be a white farmer in Zimbabwe, he learns the hard way, he loses. Farai Chigudu as the bodyguard beats up the white psychiatrist.

Thought-provoking piece of theatre that delves into the intricacies of human nature. I know I missed so much, it’s not something you watch once. You need multiple viewings to scratch the surface. It can completely go over your head, it needs meditation and contemplation. This is undoubtedly a masterpiece.

Congratulations Calvin Ratladi and the whole team for a great show and a deserved standing ovation.

📷: SamSays

Carmen

/ antakalipa / Leave a comment

Carmen

At Joburg Theatre for the opening of “Carmen”, full house, mature demographic. Always wanted to go the opera since “The Godfather”. It has that appeal, the voices, drama, emotion, gusto, heritage and culture.

I love this form of storytelling, they sing dialogue, less to do with words and more about emotion, feeling and execution. Sing your heart out, be expressive and articulate, take your time, the stage is yours. The opera is sung in French and  English subtitles to translate, it helped with continuity and following the story. Don’t have the vocabulary to describe the voices, such beauty, heavenly is my attempt. The choruses are mezmarrizing, in sync, perfect delivery and immersion in the current moment. In flow and in love with what they were doing. You have to have a voicebox, good pipes and deliver high notes. Tone deaf and you don’t have a chance! Even when they were laughing, they were in tune. This is not idols, no wooden mics for untalented people. These are serious professionals, people who dedicated their whole lives to opera – music. People who can really sing. Four acts, large ensemble, orchestra, gorgeous costumes, the sets change in every act, they transport you to Seville. Love consumes, a tragic story about betrayal and love. My first experience of the opera and I absolutely loved it. Shoutout Bridget and The Buz Hive.

The story unfolds in the sun-drenched streets of Seville, where Carmen – an independent woman – refuses to be bound by anyone’s rules. Her relationships with the soldier Don José and the charismatic bullfighter Escamillo ignite a stormy love triangle of passion, jealousy, and betrayal. George Bizet on the score, some of the pieces performed are “Habanera,” and Toreador Song. The Sempre Opera Ad Hoc Choir, under the direction of Kobus Buys are perfect. Everything is perfect.

Congratulations George Bizet and the whole team for a great show and a deserved standing ovation.

The Tramp

/ antakalipa / Leave a comment

The Tramp

On the square to watch The Tramp. Amanda Bothma, Daniel Anderson and Paul Ferreira – devastating triple threat! Stick to the secret formula, let’s get the people on their feet cheering and clapping.

Amanda Botha on the script, good feelings, reverse engineering, biographical, sharp witted, with personality, contemplation and reflection. Paul Ferreira on piano, spotless without a blemish, backbone, the pulse silently beating to provide life and sustenance. The first time I ever saw Daniel Anderson perform, I thought “goat” and I managed to shake his hand and tell him to his face. The goat has struck again, back to back, within weeks to casually deliver another masterpiece. I maintain my stance, the greatest performer of all time, it’s amazing what he does on the stage, simply unbelievable. He has energy, expressive, animation and enjoyment on his face, he is mobile and on his feet, running, climbing on top of props, dancing, singing and telling a story all at once. Charisma so bullish, it ripples through the ceilings of charts. Fantastic endurance, breath-control and stamina. Singing and voice intonation is just world class. Captivates you from the first minute until the end, presence, commanding, enthralling. When he sang “If my friends could see me now” after Charlie Chaplin became the most famous person in the world, it connected. I loved smile.

Wonderful set design by Willem Disbergen, middle screen that provides visual cues, we see footage of Charlie Chaplin’s films, two big suitcases that are also screens and the wheelchair Chaplin reels in the show with as an old man at the start of the show. Paul is next to the steps, giving the stage to Daniel to fully optimize. Sonwa Sakuba provides the choreography, worked well with Daniel to match Chaplin’s mannerisms and movements.

Born in London, England Charlie Chaplin transcended and innovated the moving picture business and found his way to Hollywood where he was later exiled. Chaplin wrote, edited, directed, produced, starred and composed music for most of his films. He refused to work with sound films. The show explores Charlie Chaplin’s life, his ascent to the top, the construction of “The Tramp”, the silent era, his movies; The Kid, The Gold Rush and City Lights, the film with Adolf Hitler and how he became the most recognizable person in the world.

An outstanding show, Wela Kapela make me so excited. Daphne Kuhn and Theatre on the square deliver yet again, effortless.

Congratulations Amanda Bothma and the whole team for a great show and a deserved standing ovation.

The moon looks delicious from here

/ antakalipa / Leave a comment

The moon looks delicious from here

At the Market Theatre for the opening of “The moon looks delicious from here”. The story follows Aldo Brincat, from Malta, born in Egypt Alexandria, who immigrates to apartheid South Africa. The play explores identity, family, language, sexuality and a ever changing political landscape.

No sets, no backdrop, clear stage, no fancy lighting, just him telling the story from different perspectives, dressed in all black with linking rings in his back pocket. He is on his feet the whole time. The magic tricks with his rings are spellbinding, so illusory, one moment he is holding two rings and the next six. When you look again the rings are all tangled up to form the Audi logo, then the Olympics logo and then the circles are in singles again. It’s magic. As a magician, he dreams to perform for Nelson Mandela someday.

Amazing storyteller who literally creates magic out of nothing. He is the show. He creates something from moment to moment, no lag time. He strings you along, you are in his capable hands. He provides the tempo and enacts the characters in his story with ease. He switches in and out, switching voices and mannerisms beat by beat to create a cadence that is seamless. He is captivating and tells the story with heart. The performance has a lot of range, that’s to be expected considering the characters he inhabits. A storytelling magician, he is in complete flow the whole time. Makes it seem so easy but it’s not because he does so much, inhabing different characters under one breath. The opening scene consists of two characters, one male and one female. To illustrate the differences between the characters, he uses one of the linking rings in his hand as a hat for the male and uses the other linking ring as a fan to convey the females perspective. It is effective, he also switches voices and intonation for dramatic effect. The show has elements of physical theatre, he mimics the sounds of objects.

Solo performances are often tricky and difficult, to entertain and keep the audience invested in the storyline is no child’s play but it’s no big deal for Aldo, he seemingly does everything on his own, with just linking rings in his back pocket. It’s easy, it’s masterful, pure magic. A storytelling masterclass.

Congratulations Sjaka Septembir and the whole team for a great show and a deserved standing ovation.

SARAFINA

/ antakalipa / Leave a comment

SARAFINA

At Joburg Theatre to watch SARAFINA. Beyond ecstatic to watch this masterpiece. Full house, every seat taken and it’s like that for the remainder of the run. The movie is pretty great but there is nothing like the theatrical production.

Bantu education, exuberant youth in black and white uniform, soldiers, police, violence, despair and hope. I’ll extend my neck and declare that it’s the greatest show of all time! Perfect choreography, heavenly voices, boundless energy, relatable South African characters, world class performers, fabulous lighting that moved the story and the content is king! The lighting throughout the show is just wonderful. The set evokes the 1970’s, wide stage that is separated by a fence. One side is the students world and the otherside, the soldiers world. On either side of the students world is scaffolding. When there was a monologue, the students dispersed to the scaffolding, making the stage bigger for the performer sharing the monologue. Focus, intensity, with the spotlight fully illuminating the performer.

The play speaks to something deep – freedom. The right to exist without demarcation, limitations or conditions imposed by the unjust, unfair system. The right to just be. Huge stage, the performers make used of every inche. They run, they jump, they dance, they are energetic, animated, expressive and free. The music band are just the best. At the start of the show, the theatre suffered a blackout, the auditorium was dark, the band carried on playing as the audience took out their cellphones to provide the light. It was a beautiful sight, like fireflies. Small glitch, the lights came back on and the crowd went crazy! We were invested in the story from the very start. The show had everything, it was comedic, silly, serious, festive, covered injustices, Bantu education, unrest, sexual assault, apartheid and death. Crocodile is so mischievous! He physically beat his classmates to be Nelson Mandela. His classmates still picked Sarafina, a girl, to be Nelson Mandela. Being the strongest doesn’t always produce the desired effect. So in love with mistress, she teaches her classes with complete conviction, the students trust and respect her. When she performed in that red dress it was as if I were struck by cupid’s arrow.

This is a large ensemble and everyone is important. Some of the names in the production are Noxolo Dlamini, Hlengiwe Pearl and Busisiwe Mhlanga.

Nompumelelo Gumede-Ngema provided the choreography.

Sarafina is the greatest theatrical production of all time. It’s a complete theatrical experience. Thank you to the visionary, an absolute Legend, Mbongeni Ngema for his genius. Thank you to the exceptional performers who gave everything to bring the story alive. SamSays on the credits.

Congratulations Mpho Molepo and the whole team for a great show and a deserved standing ovation.

📷: Dumakude Nxumalo

Matilda Jr.

/ antakalipa / Leave a comment

Matilda Jr.

At the Peoples Theatre, Joburg Theatre for the opening of Matilda Jr. I was so excited for this one! As a kid, I used to love the movie. To be honest, I still love it today. I would never dare change the channel if it’s on. Nostalgia, it takes me back to simpler times. A time when I yearned for telekinetic powers to defeat and outwit my bullies. I truly loved the show, it had me laughing and reminiscing all the way. There’s nothing better than hearing a child’s laughter, the show had that effect. Everyone was entertained, it is mellow, humorous, light and family-friendly.

The set is colorful and the transition between scenes is seamless and efficient. Everyone knew their cues and the show just flowed. I absolutely loved Peo-entle Pitso as Matilda. She is sharp witted and fast. She performs with a lot of love, she’s mischievous, she sings and she’s convincing, she is simply brilliant! One for the future. Luciano Zuppa is straight-up Miss Trunchbull. Musculine, crooked teeth, towering and intimidating. Raymond Skinner as Mr. Wormwood is definitely my favorite. He has zero regard for reading and derisively calls Matilda a “bookworm”. It’s crazy that Matilda has read “Crime and Punishment”, I agree with his father’s assessment. He ultimately gets in trouble with the Russian mafia for his shady deals. Jordan Rogers is gorgeous and enjoyable as Mrs. Wormwood. She is materialistic and wants the good life. She also doesn’t understand Matilda and she doesn’t waste her time trying to, she’d rather spend time with her boy toy, dancing with her wedding ring out of sight. Amelia Stephens is simple as Miss Honey. Long dresses, clean presentation, tame and a calm demeanor. I laughed out loud when Matilda asked if she was poor. Yes, she is poor. However she is kind, caring and empathetic – qualities that make her a great teacher and she gets the big house at the end.

Amazing show, the kids are in sync and well practiced. They sang, they danced and they delivered lines with precision. The writing is fabulous, everything and everyone is fabulous! Highly recommended, wonderful, wonderful show!

Directed by Jill Girard and Sandy Richardson-Dyer
Musical Director – Coenraad Rall
Set Design – Grant Knottenbelt

Congratulations to the Peoples Theatre and the whole team for a great show and a deserved standing ovation.

The black circus of the republic of Bantu

/ antakalipa / Leave a comment

The black circus of the republic of Bantu

Just when you think you have seen it all, something you haven’t seen before strikes you on the head to remind you that you haven’t seen anything!

At the Market Theatre for the opening of “The black circus of the republic of Bantu”. The energy and feeling is different, certainly nothing you have seen before. Before we stepped in the auditorium, our hands (the audience) was tied with a string. Something ancestral and ritualistic about the act. Soon as you entered the auditorium, the whole place reeked of incense. A solitary figure, big and heavy, dressed in all black was the source. The seating arrangement was also different. We had 3 sitting banks located against the walls, if you wanted a seat, you can sit but the majority were sitting on the floor. The set up was like a catwalk and a large screen served as the backdrop. Before the show commenced, the performer shared snuff and coarse salt with the audience and then he stripped completely naked and started interacting and dancing with the audience, instructing audience members to touch him and participate. He was in his birthday suit. It was peculiar. He was dancing completely naked, undisturbed, undeterred, balls hanging like a piñata to Maskandi music while the audience cheered him on.

The show is inclusive and encourages the audience to get involved. On the performers cue we were signaled to stand-up, sit down, echo the performers words and sing. Four participants from the crowd were selected to be in the show. They were given beastly costumes and instructed to dance, while the performer barked orders with his whip. The scene is exploitative and uncomfortable. The image of Sarah Baartman is a constant in the show. The show pays homage to figures like Sarah Baartman whose bodies where fetishized and deemed to be of a different species by colonizers. The show is about pride and empowerment.

Albert Ibokwe Khoza is the performer leading procedures. He is fearless, vivacious, colorful, creative and authentic. A lot of personality and flavor. He completely and utterly shocked me to my core, no hyperbole, I have never seen performance arts like that before!

The giant screen provided commentary and shared personal insights. The visuals are cinematic, artistic and bold.

Congratulations Princess Mhlongo and the whole team for an interesting show, certainly different and completely unapologetic.

Graveland

/ antakalipa / Leave a comment

Graveland

At the Market Theatre to watch “Graveland”. Social commentary, reflecting life back at us. Heartfeltingly moving, poignant, tragic. A story of love, hate, injustices, grudges that never get mended, characters who are bitter and unjustlyingly so. Two stories, two perspectives, you can emphatize with both scenarios, unhealed trauma, life goes on.

A story of a foreign national who one day gets a promotion at work. The natives are jealous, angry and offended. They won’t take orders from “ikwerekwere”. The disrespect is evident, so the foreign manager gets the natives axed from work and hires a brother. Chaos ensures, they stone his brother to death and made him watch, he begged, he pleaded, he was at their mercy, the damned South Africans didn’t care, they wrapped a tyre around his torso and set it alight. He burned to ashes. The broken man returned home with his dead brother for ashes, contained in a cup that looks like a flusk, it’s not even a proper urn. The family are heartbroken, they plan an excursion to get back their lost ones soul in South Africa.

In South Africa, Mahikeng, they encounter a disagreeable, xenophobic cop who arrests them. He demands R8000 for ‘tjo tjo” bribe money, R2000 per person. The foreign nationals can’t do anything, worse is that one of them left a pregnant wife at home. The Cops hate comes from his experiences as an officer of the law. He is pro South African, that’s who he regards, he calls foreign nationals cocroaches. Hillbrow Central, his sister was killed by a foreign national. She was used, she was abused and she died. His brother, the cop, couldn’t do anything, investigations with dead-ends. He hates foreign nationals, very stereotypical, the jobs, women, drugs, we suffering too, stay in your own country, solve your own problems, we suffering too. Towards the conclusion, he shoots a man wanting to go home to his wife and kid. Another African child will grow up without a father.

Graveland poster

The show stars
Allen Cebekulu, Diane Maseko, Abongile Maurice, Dineo Sello, Thabiso Rammala, Confidence “Mamzo” Lokhele, Thokozani “zits” Maseko, Sinenhlanhla Mbeyi & Lunga Khuhlane.

Produced by: Relebohile Mabunda
Written & Directed by: Thembeni Joni & Lunga Khuhlane
Movement by: Sinenhlanhla Mgeyi
Production Designer: Sinenhlanhla Q. Zwane
Percussionist: Mongezi Yamba

Congratulations Lule Productions and the whole team for a great show and a deserved standing ovation.

A dolls house pt. 2

/ antakalipa / Leave a comment

A dolls house Pt. 2

On the square for the opening of a dolls house pt. 2. Full house, the place is buzzing and excitement is in the air. Nothing is better than a filled up theatre on the square, the energy is contagious. It’s close knit, intimate and warm. The laughs rebound and echo in the auditorium, you can hear every sound, every gasp, every comment from the audience and the view is in your face, up close and personal, no matter which seat you take. Every seat is a great seat, even the seats close to the pillars.

The show is a great one, it captivated the audience throughout. It’s humorous and explores subjects on self-identity, marriage, traditional gender roles, love and freedom. Nora Helmer comes back after 15 years to the family she abandoned in search of herself. Not much has changed except that the children have grown. The helper (Anne Marie) stepped up in her absence and raised them, neglecting her own life and children in the process. It’s not like she had a choice, she’s not from money, she had to do whatever she could to survive. Nora became a successful author in that period, writing books that serves mainly the female demographic. She questions the institution of marriage and monogamy. Is it worth it? Does it make sense? Why is one partner enough for a lifetime? Surely, I am not the person you married because I’ve changed, you have changed. I am reduced to a role and expectations and I am not myself anymore. I don’t even know who I am anymore, I am subsumed by your domineering character. When relationships start out, it’s all fresh, it’s new, it’s exciting, we go out of our way to woe the other person, we role play, we do things that we will never do again to gain access into that person’s life and once we do, we relax, we become complacent, we stop trying so hard, the relationship stales up and we lose ourselves.

It is this type of writing that gets Nora in trouble with the law. It is this type of writing that empowers her female readers to leave their families. She also finds out that she is still married with her husband, she initially thought she was divorced but her husband didn’t post the paperwork. She wants a divorce but her husband Torvald won’t give it to her. She involves her daughter, hoping that she can convince her father. Eventually he relents and gives it to her but she doesn’t want it anymore.

This is a awesome play, it had the audience laughing out loud, there were also ironic stares from the cast to the audience, breaking the fourth wall, at times it was as if they were talking to us directly. Some uncomfortable laughs from the audience because of the realism of the content. There was range and different states in the performances. The performers had chemistry and overall flow – they were outstanding! The costumes were retro, they gave a 1800 – 1900 vibe. The story is perfectly paced and the scenes clear. The set, writing and lighting – all great!

Bianca Amato plays Nora
Zane Meas is Torvald
Charlotte Butler is Anne Marie
Simone Neethling is Emmy

Congratulations Barbara Rubin and the whole team for a great show and a deserved standing ovation!