Artscape – Sarafina Magazine

A Conversation with Didintle Khunou

Didintle Khunou is an award-winning screen actor, theatre performer, voice actor and session vocalist. Best known for her portrayal of one of the most coveted roles in musical theatre, Celie, in the Grammy, Tony and Naledi Award-winning musical, The Color Purple directed by award-winning director Janice Honeyman at the Joburg Theatre. Didintle was honoured with the Naledi Award as well as the Broadway World Online Award for her performance as Celie. She played Yerma in an adaptation of Yerma, directed by Rajesh Gopie and was also seen in Joburg Theatre’s production of Bertolt Brecht’s epic play, The Caucasian Chalk Circle. Didintle has had numerous television appearances including Mamello, Single Galz and The Throne. She is currently starring as Janet in the South African tour of The Rocky Horror Show.
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December 11, 2019 by Sarafina Magazine Categories: Actor, Actress, Advice, Artist, Arts, Artscape, Cape Town, Conversation, Dancer, Interview, Joburg, Johannesburg, music, Musical, Now Playing, Performer, Photography, Pieter Toerien, Sarafina, Sarafina Magazine, Singer, South Africa, Theater, Theatre, Uncategorized, Woman, Women, WomxnTags: Actor, Actress, Cape Town, Celie, Conversation, Didintle Khunou, Janet, music, Musical, Musical Theatre, Naledi Award, Photography, Pieter Toerien, Rocky Horror, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Singer, The Color Purple, Theater, Theatre, Women Leave a comment

A Conversation with Fiona Ramsay

Fiona Ramsay is one of South Africa’s leading actresses, working locally and overseas. A doyenne of the South African performing arts industry, over the course of 40 years her award-winning professional career has successfully spanned across film, television and theatre. She is also a lecturer at Wits University and is the founder of Speakeasy Vocal Academy where she specialises as a dialogue and dialect coach and runs vocal empowerment workshops. She is currently starring as Amanda Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie at the Artscape Arena. Continue reading →

November 8, 2019November 8, 2019 by Sarafina Magazine Categories: Actor, Actress, Advice, Art, Artist, Arts, Artscape, Cape Town, Conversation, Director, Film, Interview, Joburg, Johannesburg, Now Playing, Performer, Photography, Production, Sarafina, Sarafina Magazine, South Africa, Television, The Fugard, Theater, Theatre, Uncategorized, Woman, Women, WomxnTags: Abrahamse and Meyer Productions, Acting, Actor, Actress, Advice, Arcadia, Artscape Arena, Candice van Litsenborgh, Canned Rice Productions, Cape Town, Conversation, Decadence, Dialect Coach, Doyenne, Film, Fiona Ramsay, Fred Abrahamse, Night Mother, Opinion, Photography, South Africa, Speakeasy Vocal Academy, Sweet Bird of Youth, Television, Tennessee Williams, The Fugard, The Glass Menagerie, Theater, Theatre, Troupe Theatre Company, TV 6 Comments

A Conversation with Simoné Benjamin

Simoné Benjamin is a stage, screen and radio actress and the Corporate Affairs Specialist at Distell. With an Instagram handle aptly named Corporate Actress SA, her work with Distell sees her merging the corporate and arts sectors as she initiates, manages and supports various arts projects including the Distell National Playwright Competition, the Technical Training Programme at Artscape, the Amazink Live programme as part of Woordfees and the Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards, to name a few. As a performer, she has featured as the titular character in the radio drama Die Verdwyning van Mina Afrika as well as it’s sequel Die Tuiskoms van Mina Afrika. Simoné was most recently seen on screen in the short film Janneman, which debuted at this year’s Silwerskermfees. Continue reading →

August 28, 2019August 28, 2019 by Sarafina Magazine Categories: Actor, Actress, Advice, Arts, Artscape, Cape Town, Conversation, Fleur du Cap, Interview, Performer, Photography, Sarafina, Sarafina Magazine, South Africa, Uncategorized, Woman, Women, WomxnTags: Actor, Actress, Arts, Artscape, Conversation, Corporate Actress SA, Corporate Affairs Specialist, CSI, Die Tuiskoms van Mina Afrika, Distell, Film, Fleur du Cap, Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards, Janneman, Kinnes, Mina Afrika, Photography, Radio, RSG, Silwerskerm, Simoné Benjamin, The Adam and Rosalie Small Award for Debut Scriptwriters, Women Leave a comment

A Conversation with Siphokazi Jonas

Siphokazi Jonas is a writer, performer, and poet. She has written, produced, and performed in four one-woman poetry shows. She wrote, produced and performed in a multi-genre theatre production, Around the Fire, which was staged at the 2016 Artscape Spiritual Festival and the 2018 Women’s Humanity Festival. Her stage work includes Natalia da Rocha’s Adam Small Festival and Mandla Mbothwe’s Oratorio of a Forgotten Youth. In 2018, she presented her directorial debut, The Widow, as part of Artscape’s New Voices programme. The production returns to the Artscape Arena at the beginning of August 2019. Jonas has been a featured act at numerous poetry sessions in Cape Town and Johannesburg. Her experience with spoken word has led to multiple invitations to judge poetry slam competitions in Cape Town and Johannesburg. She has also performed with renowned musicians including, Sipho “Hotstix” Mabuse, Freshlyground, Pops Mohamed, Dizu Plaatjies and Dave Reynolds. Jonas made history in 2016 as the first African poet to perform at Rhetoric in California. In February 2019 she was also a headline act on the first ever South African national poetry tour, the Fresh Poetry Tour. She was crowned as the first Cape Town Ultimate Slam Champion in 2015 and was the runner-up in the prestigious 2016 Sol Plaatje European Union Poetry Award, coming second out of 600 poems submitted nationally. Her work was longlisted again in 2017.

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August 7, 2019August 7, 2019 by Sarafina Magazine Categories: Actor, Actress, Advice, Arts, Artscape, Cape Town, Conversation, Culture, Director, Interview, Now Playing, Performer, Photography, Poet, Production, Sarafina, Sarafina Magazine, South Africa, Theater, Theatre, Theatremaker, Uncategorized, Woman, Women, Womxn, writerTags: Around the Fire, Artscape, Cape Town Ultimate Slam Champion, Conspiracy Theory, Conversation, Director, Oratorio of a Forgotten Youth, Performer, Photography, Poet, Poetry, poetry slam, Poetry Under the Stars, Siphokazi Jonas, The Widow, What We Inherited In The Fire, Women, Wrestling with Dawn, writer Leave a comment

A Conversation with Ilse Klink

Ilse Klink is an award-winning actor, singer and television personality. She is best known for the role of Vanessa Booysens on the daily soap, Isidingo. Her stage credits include Mamma Mia!, Rent, Chicago, Show Boat, Menopause -The Musical, Kristalvlakte, Scorched and Caeser, to name a few. She has graced South African television screens by appearing in Roer Jou Voete, iNkaba, 7de Laan and Broken Vows. Her movie credits include Ellen: The Ellen Pakkies Story, Cold Harbour, Dis ek, Anna and Stroomop for which she was recently awarded a 2019 SAFTA Golden Horn for Best Supporting Actress. Ilse is currently treading the boards as Mama Morton in Chicago, a role she has returned to for the third time, a decade after she played it last. Continue reading →

April 10, 2019April 10, 2019 by Sarafina Magazine Categories: Actor, Actress, Advice, Arts, Artscape, Cape Town, Conversation, Culture, Dance, Dancer, Film, Fleur du Cap, Interview, Joburg, Johannesburg, music, Musical, Now Playing, Performer, Photography, Production, Sarafina, Sarafina Magazine, Singer, South Africa, Television, Theater, Theatre, Uncategorized, Vocalist, Woman, Women, WomxnTags: Actor, Actress, Advice, Afrikaans, Artscape, Chicago, Chicago the Musical, Conversation, Dis ek Anna, Ellen Pakkies, English, Film, Fleur du Cap, Golden Horn, Ilse Klink, Isidingo, Kristalvlakte, Mamma Mia, Mamma Morton, Montecasino, music, Pantomime, Performance, Performer, Photography, Rent, Roer jou Voete, SAFTA, Showboat, Singer, Soap, STROOMOP, Television, Theater, Theatre, TV, Vanessa Booysens 3 Comments

A Conversation with Adele Blank

Adele Blank is a choreographer, dance instructor and Director of Free Flight Dance Company, which she formed in 1987. She has trained, performed, choreographed and taught extensively in classical ballet and contemporary dance both locally and abroad. Since the beginning of the millennium, Adele’s artistic reach has extended far beyond the realm of dance. She has been responsible for numerous local and international TV adverts, movies, operas, fundraisers and a host of industrial theatre productions. Whilst coaching and teaching, she has created for many companies and is very involved in community and outreach programmes. Adele is a recipient of the Arts & Culture Trust Lifetime Achievement Award for Dance. We sat down to chat with her about devoting her life to dance and directing her latest project, Blue Violin, which will be performed at Artscape for a limited run. Continue reading →

March 27, 2019March 27, 2019 by Sarafina Magazine Categories: Advice, Arts, Artscape, Ballerina, Ballet, Cape Town, Cape Town City Ballet, Conversation, Culture, Dance, Dancer, Director, Interview, Joburg, Johannesburg, music, Musical, Now Playing, Organisation, Performer, Photography, Production, Sarafina, Sarafina Magazine, South Africa, Television, Theater, Theatre, Uncategorized, Woman, Women, WomxnTags: Adele Blank, Advice, Artscape, Ballet, Blue Violin, Cape Town, Cecchetti, Choreographer, Contemporary Dance, Conversation, Dance, Dancer, Director, Free Flight Dance, Interview, Lifetime Achievement, Modern Dance, Musicals, Photography, So You Think You Can Dance, South Africa, Stage, Theater, Theatre, TV, Women 2 Comments

A Conversation with Lee-Ann van Rooi

Lee-Ann van Rooi is an actor, educator, producer and director. This year marks Lee-Ann’s silver jubilee in the South African professional entertainment industry. With numerous awards, nominations and credits stretching over the various mediums of Film, TV, Stage and Radio, both locally and internationally, this UCT graduate’s interests and skills are wide-ranging, innovative and resourceful. A keen storyteller, puppeteer, teacher, mentor, writer, producer and director, she is particularly interested in growing and creatively educating audiences and the entertainment industry in a responsible and fair way. Lee-Ann has recently been nominated for two awards at this year’s upcoming Fiëstas Awards. She is nominated as Best Actress for her work in Ingrid Winterbach’s Ons is almal Freaks Hier and for Best Supporting Actress for her work in Chase Rhys’ Kinnes. She is currently gearing up to star as The Duchess of York in Richard III which will begin performances at Maynardville open-air theatre in February.

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January 23, 2019January 23, 2019 by Sarafina Magazine Categories: Actor, Actress, Advice, Artist, Arts, Artscape, Candice van Litsenborgh, Cape Town, Conversation, Director, Film, Fleur du Cap, Interview, Maynardville, Now Playing, Performer, Photography, Poet, Production, Sarafina, Sarafina Magazine, Shakespeare, South Africa, Television, Theater, Theatre, Theatremaker, Uncategorized, Woman, Women, Womxn, writerTags: Actor, Actress, Alan Committie, Artscape, Candice van Litsenborgh, Canned Rice, Cape Town, Conversation, Director, Fiesta Award, Fishy Fêshuns, Fleur du Cap, Geoffrey Hyland, Interview, Kinnes, Lee-Ann van Rooi, Maynardville, Ons is almal Freaks Hier, Photography, Richard III, South Africa, Television, Tess, Theater, Theatre, Theatre-maker, TV, Women 7 Comments

A Conversation with Bethany Dickson

Bethany Dickson is a Naledi and Fleur du Cap Theatre Award nominated actress. For more than a decade, Bethany has been charming South African and international audiences by tackling some of musical theatres most iconic roles. After making her debut in High School Musical, she has since gone on to perform in Singin’ in the Rain, Sunset Boulevard, The Sound of Music and Grease. We sat down with her to chat about her latest role, portraying Miss Honey in the musical adaptation of Roald Dahl’s beloved classic, Matilda.
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December 19, 2018January 16, 2019 by Sarafina Magazine Categories: Actor, Actress, Advice, Arts, Artscape, Cape Town, Conversation, Dancer, Interview, Joburg, Johannesburg, music, Musical, Now Playing, Performer, Photography, Production, Sarafina, Sarafina Magazine, Singer, South Africa, Theater, Theatre, Uncategorized, Woman, Women, WomxnTags: Actor, Actress, Advice, Bethany Dickson, Black Forest, Cape Town, Conversation, Dancer, Grease, GWB Entertainment, International, Interview, Lucy Brittany Woolley, Matilda, Miss Honey, Motherhood, music, Musical, Musical Theatre, Photography, Pieter Toerien, Sarafina Magazine, Singer, South Africa, Sunset Blvd, The Sound of Music, Theater, Theatre, Tour, Women Leave a comment

A Conversation with Mariëtte Opperman

Mariëtte Opperman began dancing at the age of seven. She trained under Paula Olivier and later did an intensive vocational study with Martin Schönberg. She started her professional career in 2008 at the South African Ballet Theatre. She joined Cape Town City Ballet in 2010, where she is currently a senior soloist. Mariëtte also performed professionally in Stockholm, Sweden for a year. Her most memorable roles to date include the Black Swan in Swan Lake, Diane in Diane and Acteon, Kitri in Don Quixote, Sugar Plum in The Nutcracker, Firebird in Firebird, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet and Giselle in Giselle. She is currently gearing up to take on the titular role in Veronica Paeper’s production of Cinderella for Cape Town City Ballet.

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October 3, 2018 by Sarafina Magazine Categories: Advice, Artist, Arts, Artscape, Ballerina, Ballet, Cape Town, Cape Town City Ballet, Conversation, Dance, Dancer, Interview, Now Playing, Performer, Photography, Production, Sarafina, Sarafina Magazine, South Africa, Uncategorized, Woman, Women, WomxnTags: Advice, Artscape, Ballerina, Ballet, Cape Town, Cape Town City Ballet, Carmen, Chanel Katz, Cinderella, Conversation, Dance, Dancer, Don Quixote, Giselle, Interview, Mariette Opperman, Photography, Romeo and Juliet, Sarafina, Sarafina Magazine, South Africa, Swan Lake, Veronica Paeper, Women Leave a comment

A Conversation with Carmen Pretorius

Carmen Pretorius is a Naledi and Fleur du Cap nominated musical theatre and television actress, qualified makeup artist and presenter. After getting her professional start by winning the televised High School Musical competition, she went on to star in notable productions including Mamma Mia, Footloose, Jersey Boys and most recently The Sound of Music, which sees her taking on the role of Maria. We sat down with Carmen, ahead of the final week of the production, to chat about her “metamorphic” journey with the show.

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May 23, 2018November 17, 2019 by Sarafina Magazine Categories: Actor, Actress, Advice, Arts, Artscape, Cape Town, Conversation, Interview, Musical, Now Playing, Performer, Photography, Pieter Toerien, Sarafina, Sarafina Magazine, Singer, South Africa, Television, Theater, Theatre, Uncategorized, Vocalist, Woman, Women, WomxnTags: Actor, Actress, Advice, Arts, Artscape, Cabaret, Candice van Litsenborgh, Canned Rice, Cape Town, Carmen Pretorius, Conversation, Footloose, High School Musical, Interview, Liesl, Makeup Artist, Mamma Mia, Maria, music, Musical, Musical Theatre, Performer, Photography, Pieter Toerien, Presenter, Singer, South Africa, Stylist, Television, The Sound of Music, TV, Woman, Women 2 Comments

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