Lisa Chait is a storyteller. Throughout the years her platforms may have changed, from teaching to radio and now founding Life Stories as well as hosting and producing SABC’s I Am Woman-Leap of Faith series, but her intention has always been the same, to share honest and compelling human stories.
Bianca Le Grange made a name for herself after competing on the first season of South African Idols. A few years, and a lot of hard work later, Bianca has become a full-fledged Musical Theatre leading lady tackling roles in David Kramer’s District 6 Kanala and Blood Brothers, for which she won a Naledi Award, Anita in West Side Story and most recently, as the narrator in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. We sat down with Bianca before one of her final performances of Joseph to chat about the role, her return to Anita and her Musical Theatre journey. Continue reading
Opening this week at the Roxy Revue Bar, GrandWest, Shout! The Mod Musical follows the story of 5 women in the swinging 60’s. It is an inspiring celebration as we watch each of these women navigate womanhood and experience her own rite of passage to discover her true self through a decade of emotional highs and lows. What is also interesting to note is that Shout! centers around the fictitious Shout! Magazine: a magazine for the Modern Woman, so it was only fitting that Sarafina Magazine sat down with the cast to chat about the show. Ticket information and cast bios can be found at the end.
Ameera Conrad is a writer, director, actress and one of the Theatre Arts Admin Collective Emerging Young Director’s bursary winners. Currently she is starring in The Fall at The Baxter, a play which she also helped workshop and co-directs. Her new play Reparation, which she has written and will direct, will be produced later this year. Her resume is already impressive but what may surprise many is that Ameera graduated from UCT less than a year ago.
Evita Bezuidenhout, regarded as ‘the most famous white woman in South Africa,’ heads to the Artscape Theatre with her new show: An Evening with Evita Bezuidenhout. We sat down with her at the Mount Nelson to chat about the show, her grandchildren and of course, politics. More information about the show can be found at the bottom of the page. Continue reading
Megan Furniss is a writer, director, improviser, teacher, playwright and performer. This year Megan not only performed during the Cape Town Fringe Festival in The Finkelsteins are Coming to Dinner, but she also directed Niqabi Ninja. Written by Sara Shaarawi, Niqabi Ninja tells the story of one woman’s experience with sexual harassment in Cairo and her plans to fight back. It is an extremely empowering and important piece of theatre that Megan bravely and unapologetically brought to life. We sat down with Megan at the Alexander Bar to chat about her journey as a self-proclaimed theatre-practitioner.
Actress Genna Galloway is currently performing in this season’s most anticipated musical, Hedwig and the Angry Inch at Gate69. Born into a family of performers, one could say that Genna had extremely big (tap) shoes to fill. With her determined attitude and the combined inherited talent of both of her parents, Genna has been able to work her way through the Musical Theater ranks from swing to leading lady and is now starring as Yitzhak, a man and former drag queen in the first South African production of Hedwig.
Last year Lara Lipschitz caught everyone’s attention starring as Daphna in The Fugard Theatre’s smash-hit production of Bad Jews which is making its way back to Cape Town in December for a limited run. Lara is an actress, dancer, singer, writer and producer of the web-series Chin Up, which she also stars in. Chin Up is a comedic take on her experience as an actress in the ‘professional’ world. Season 2 of Chin Up debuts this month and we were delighted to meet with Lara and chat about her career. Continue reading
Shnit International Shortfilmfestival (October 5th to 9th) is the wold’s first truly international, multicultural short film festival, hosted in 8 cities across 5 continents. For 5 days, shnit brings together thousands of filmmakers and film lovers across Cape Town for an unforgettable short film experience. What started as a local initiative in the heart of Europe is now a transnational event that connects and inspires makers and fans of short films across the globe.
The 3rd annual Cape Town Fringe Festival kicked off on September 22nd and we were invited to watch some of the shows. The Cape Town Fringe Festival is a 2 week event that takes place in the heart of Cape Town and showcases work from South Africa’s emerging and established theatremakers. Continue reading
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