Wits Theatre | antakalipa

Godspell

At the Wits Theatre to watch the Student Production of the Year, “Godspell”. So glad it was not preachy, you can’t be too sure when Jesus is the main character. He is a good, chilled guy in this production, he even has on his “Superman” shirt. He preaches compassion, joy and faith.

A musical conceived by John Micheal Tebelak with music and new lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. Godspell presents a series of parables, mostly drawn from the Gospel of Matthew, told through a framework of theatrical games, storytelling, and music. Jesus gathers a group of followers and teaches them lessons of love, humility, and service. The story culminates in a poignant reenactment of the Last Supper and the Crucifixion.

The set is simple, wide stage and a fence at the back. Behind the fence above is a big cross made of wood pallets, on either side of the big cross are small crosses also made of wood pallets. The set reinforces the Christian theme.

Yahto Kraft plays Jesus with Grant Towers as Judas. The followers of Jesus are the Oakfields College Musical Theatre and Dance Students from the first year to the final year. They all give their best, they are boundless energy, they are expressive and highly animated. They light-up, performing different dance styles. Wonderful team chemistry and choreographed movement. Costumes are colorful and bright with waterpaints on their faces. Everyone tells the story, everyone is involved in the story, everyone has a line, everyone has a role even if you are an echo backing up what the previous performer just uttered, often times they dramatized it to comedic effect. The singing and lighting are just irresistible. Some of the songs performed are; Day by day, Prepare Ye (The way of the Lord), All for the best, By my side, We beseech thee and other classics.

It’s the Naledi Award winning “Student Production of the Year” for a reason. They perform their hearts out, with precision, care and love for their craft.

Congratulations Tracey Human and the whole team for a great show and a deserved standing ovation.

📷: SamSays

Kyle Shepherd trio

I was at the Wits Theatre for the launch of The Kyle Shepherd trio album. Unbelievable launch, musical intelligence, no wasted touch on the instrument. Every touch has a purpose. How you touch, how you grab, the duration, what you don’t do, all that has a purpose, it emits pitch and frequency. Don’t rush, play to your hearts content. Feel, communicate, speak your mind with music. Jazz music, feel the tempo, listen to the pulse, improvise, embody the glorious music. Music made for the Gods.Thank you for the invite Bridget. Always wanted to come to Wits so my first love, Performance arts led the way. The Wits Theatre is beautiful, absolutely gorgeous.

One of my favorite movies titled “Soul” by Pixar explores Jazz music, purpose and the flow state. The movie describes life as something you improvise, making up things along the way, breaking rules to rewrite your own – Jazzing. Joe Gardner is a substitute music teacher of a high school when one day gets the opportunity of a lifetime to audition to play for the Dorethea Williams band – his dream job. Excited he goes to the audition and does extremely well. While playing the piano, we see his fingers taking control of him, it is automatic like stepping up a gear. Completely on free-flow, we see him close his eyes and let his fingers and the music do all the talking, we see the room disappear and it’s just him and the piano, the end-result is that he plays the most mezmarising solo of all time, leading to Dorethea to give him the job on the spot.

The movie describes the “Flow state” as a space between the physical and the spiritual realm. This is because when you are in flow, you are in your own world, a world where you dictate everything, time disappears and nothing matters except for the task you are engaged with. When you are in flow, you are possessed by a creative demon that takes over everything. When you are in flow state, God reigns. That’s exactly what happened with the show. The musicians where in their own world, a world where music reigns. They were totally in sync and they didn’t even have to look at each other, pitch, tone, rhythm, fingers and sound spoke. They even closed their eyes, the music was beating from within. To touch, feel, emphatize, understand the keys of the piano, caress slowly and stike forcebly when the moment demands, to string the double-bass with intention to induce a trance and create a rhythm, to beat on the drums like a celebration of the devils death. The album is pure euphoria, beautiful and timeless like how real art should be, reminded me of Charles Mingus “Devil Blues”, “Devil Woman” but without the organs and horns, it had a strong classical influence like Ludovico Einaudi and Yiruma.

Kyle Shepherd is on Piano, Shane Cooper on Bass and Jonno Sweeman on drums – they are the definition of mastery. They have been playing together since 2008, touring the world together and it shows. They have chemistry, they compliment each other and they have a mental telepathy. They were Jazzing, improvising, in complete flow, having the time of their lives. They love what they do, the music was unbelievable, it was beautiful. Congratulations Kyle Shepherd and the whole team and a deserved standing ovation.