Janice Honeyman

Pinocchio

/ antakalipa

Pinocchio

At Joburg Theatre for the opening of Janice Honeyman’s Pinocchio. So much excitement – we got goodie bags filled with sweets and snacks! Pinocchio is one of my favorite fairytale’s of all time. I love the character of Jiminy Cricket, Pinocchio’s conscience. We all need a moral campass to help us get through life.

The show doesn’t disappoint, colorful costumes and vibrant sets. Energetic, South African, interactive and beaming with life. Laduma! Madame Pussy Galore (The Fat Cat) and Madame Ill Fortunato (The Fox) are so humorous. They might have stolen the show, so effective as a comedic duo. A lot of comedic moments, I loved the puns and dramatic irony, breaking the fouth wall at times. Pest control was needed for Jiminy Cricket, he was doomed!

Pinocchio is the journey of a wooden puppet who magically comes to life and dreams of becoming a real boy. Katlego Nche plays Pinocchio, he is wonderful and he transforms into a real boy. Bongi Archi is a relatable father figure for Pinocchio. He can speak African languages, in fact, every character drifted off to their home languages once in a while, to convey a point or deliver comedic punchline. The show is filled with a lot of those, this is not just a kiddies show. There was also pop culture references and jokes for grown-ups. Singalong’s are a given and the audience participated and danced along. Laduma! CR7! SUII! Lesedi Rich is boundless energy as Lampwick Rich!

The sets colorful, larger than life, neon lights, full of imagination! Two acts with an interval, the whole journey is so much fun!

The actors
Katlego Nche – Pinocchio
Gina Shmukler – Bella Bouboulina
Sandi Dlangalala – Jiminy Cricket
Bongi Archi – Geppetto Spoletto
Lesedi Rich – Lampwick Spaghetti
Tiaan Rautenbach – Dame Arletti Spaghetti
Brenda Radloff – Madame Ill’ Fortunato (Fox)
Camilla Waldman – Madame Pussy Galore (Cat)
Mark Richardson – Senor Napolio Strombolio
Luciano Zuppa – Luciano Panzarotti
Noluthando Mathebula – Dainty Dolly

Costume Designer: Mariska Meyer

Set Designer and Builder: Enos Ramoroko

Lighting Designer: Johan Ferreira

Congratulations Janice Honeyman and the whole team for a great show and a deserved standing ovation.

📸: SamSays

Malo and the maiden

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Malo and the moon maiden

There is nothing better than a show at the Cirk. Janice Honeyman, panto, Beauty and the Beast – even better! I was excited for this show and it didn’t disappoint. It was grand, daring, dangerous and bold. From the moment you walked in, there was a circusy feeling. The mood was light, zany and fun. This was enforced through the colorful, upbeat and clown music. The set evoked the feeling of the circus with red and white curtains on either side and on top. Right in the middle was a painting of the performers performing in the circus. It’s a colorful atmosphere as exhibited with red noses and the eccentric costumes.

Nothing better than a show at the Cirk. The aerialists and acrobats are simply unbelievable! Devilishly dangerous, your heart is always in your mouth but you can’t look away because it’s breath-takingly beautiful. It’s jaw-dropping stuff, so graceful and done with a contagious smile that radiates. The acrobats were spinning in the air like tops, never got dizzy too, except for the evil ringmaster, he got dizzy and fell to his death. I have beef with the evil ringmaster, started off when he threatened to send my favorite character (the donkey) to the knackers for glue. After that I figured, he is not a pleasant fellow. The sound of his whip reverberates in the auditorium, it is menacing, threatening and a slaves worst nightmare. I love that the strongest man in the world was lifting weights over a 100000 kg, the audience were rooting for him to bend open the bars of the cage that Melodia Luna was trapped in and he did it, he saved the day! Everyone in the theater cheered.

Hoops, silks and ropes, the acrobats were swinging and flying all over the room. The best bodies in the world, with muscles in the right areas, defined, athletic and just olympic. It’s amazing how elastic and flexible they are – they do it in the air. God’s glory, mastery, hard word, dedication, for that moment, you slayed it! On the ground, there’s vocalists and dancers performing simultaneously. The vocalists have range and personality, they command your attention, they are the show! The show was interactive, as the audience, we got to do the Mexican wave led by the performers on the stage. They also asked questions and asked us to play and participate along. Perfect day at the theatre.

Directed by: Janice Honeyman
Original score: Wessel Odendaal
Set & lighting design: Wilhelm Disbergen

Starring Daniel Buckland as Malo, Claudia Moruzzi as Melodia Luna and Yahto Kraft as the evil ringmaster.

Congratulations Janice Honeyman and the whole team for a great show and a deserved standing ovation.

Beauty and the Beast

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Beauty and the Beast

Perfect show, a great theatrical experience. I loved everything about the show. It’s bursting with with imagination. It is grand, magical, energic, interactive, vibrant and refreshing. It is a show that has a lot of enthusiasm, from the diverse cast, the multiple sets that keep on changing, the costumes that transport you to that world, outstanding lighting, the amazing sound and sound effects, the singing, dancing and cheography, the rich story world and mesmerizing performers on the stage. It is so humorous and entertaining, I was hooked from the first moment to the last. The songs had the audience singing along. We even sang Shosholoza. The timeless story of “Beauty and the Beast” is revamped and given more color, it has a South African context, it has personality, it is memorable. Gavascon is my favorite character, he is brash, vain, narcissistic and has that Jonny Bravo “I am pretty” aura. The “macho, macho man”, it’s hard to be humble when you are perfect. But of course, he does give everyone indigestion, heartburn and stomach complications. Last infamous words of his first appearance, “They eating the dogs, they eating the cats”, I thought that was funny. The sound effect when the beast was talking, it was raucous and deep, he growled, he was thundering, he was menacing. The witch is really a witch. She flys on her broom, casts spells and has the most wicked laugh. She is diabolical, she shot the audience with her snort gun and turned the prince into a beast. I can’t believe her assistant ate her snort, proclaiming it’s protein. That was nasty. She really doesn’t give a damn about a bad reputation. Beauty is just refreshing and so beautiful. I loved the donkey, the movements, very donkeylike, comedic and talked a lot, reminded me Shrek. Mama (Fairy god mother) and Bonnyface are charming and relatable, very South African too, uses words in the South African lexicon, like kleva, Soweto and mfanawami. Mama is eccentric, she keeps watch over the story and makes sure everyone sticks to the script of the story. I Loved when Mama, Bonnyface, Beauty and the Dad performed the “friends” theme song. That was nostalgic. The 3 sisters are funny, whinny and an echo. It was great to see the beauty of the ballerina and the character with the bread on his head and torso was very peculiar. Not sure what he was. So I went to Sam and she clarified, Monsieur Brioche, a sweet French bread. Thank you so much Sam. SamSays on the credits. I loved everything about the show. The costumes, lighting and sets are truly epic. I can’t wait for Pinocchio next year, a real favorite of mine. Congratulations Janice Honeyman and the whole team for a great show and a deserved standing ovation.