Guest Post: Swan Song Takes Flight

During our conversation with storyteller Buhle Ngaba in 2017, she spoke about winning the Brett Goldin Bursary and creating her show, Swan Song during her time at the Royal Shakespeare Company. Now, almost three years later and after a successful developmental and award-winning run at the Klein Karoo National Festival in 2017, Swan Song has its eyes firmly focused on Vrystaat Kunstefees. Prior to its run, Buhle has launched Going For A Song, an art auction with a difference, making a difference to make art accessible. At the auction which will take place at the Book Lounge on July 1st, bidders will raise funds to get Swan Song on stage in front of a wider audience. On the night, it’ll be chosen at random and announced to guests which items will be up for auction – sold, to the highest bidder! – and which will be raffled. This split is symbolic of what Buhle hopes to do with Swan Song, and her wider body of work: to democratise art in a way that allows accessible participation and an easy buy-in to art that maintains its value. Those purchasing ‘tickets’ will do so at a fixed cost and post them into the “bidding box” beside each artwork to stand a chance to make it their own. In celebration of the upcoming auction, Buhle writes about the evolution of Swan Song Continue reading

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A Conversation with Ann Juries-May

Ann Juries-May is an actress, presenter and voiceover artist who is currently starring as Claudia Cupido on KykNet en KIE’s telenovela, ArendsvleiIn 2018, she starred in Tara Notcutt’s historic production of The Taming of the Shrew at Maynardville, which resulted in her Fleur du Cap Theatre Award nomination for her performance. On screen, she was recently seen in a Showmax crime series, Die Byl and stars in the highly anticipated Afrikaans Feature film ‘n Ander Mens, which will be released later this year. Her theatrical career has seen her collaborate with The Magnet Theatre Clanwilliam Arts Project, The McGregor Youth Arts Project and arepp: Theatre for Life. In 2014, Ann moved to Vietnam, where she dedicated her time to studying the martial arts form of Vovinam. She is also a founding member of the Hai Phong Youth Theatre, where she held weekly drama and movement workshops. Returning to South Africa in 2016, she is also a seasoned voiceover artist. Her work includes radio and television commercials, animation and public service announcements.

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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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A Conversation with Kate Pinchuck

Kate Pinchuck is an actor, writer and stand-up comedian. Her credits include Athol Fugard’s My Children! My Africa! at Artscape, the critically acclaimed all-female Taming of the Shrew at Maynardville directed by Tara Notcutt and the Ovation Award winning Gaslight at the National Arts Festival Fringe directed by Laine Butler. Kate has been rising up in the comedy scene in Cape Town and Joburg. She was featured in the 2017 Next Generation Showcase at Grand West, was a semi-finalist in the 2017 Savanna Show Us Your Apples competition and performed in the televised 2018 Comics Choice Awards Newcomer Showcase at the Soweto Theatre. She has performed numerous times at the National Arts Festival Fringe in productions such as With/HoldJack & Jill which she wrote and Lexi Meier’s Standard Bank Ovation Award-winning immersive installation, Down to a sunless sea. Following its award-winning run at the National Arts Festival, her one-woman show, Medusa Incarnate will make its Cape Town debut at the Alexander Bar in September.  Continue reading

A Conversation with Regina Malan

Regina Malan is a performer, producer and director. After previously performing in operas such as Le Nozze di Figaro and Dido and Aeneas, last year she starred in her first three plays, namely Macbeth, Design for Living and Jane Eyre, as well as her first two musicals, The Full Monty and Shadows in Red Light. Her other credits include Public City, Because it’s okay, Not Just Musicals and Othello: A Women’s Story which she also co-directed. In 2017 she co-founded Mish Mash Media Productions, a multi-media production company giving voice to LGBTQ projects in Cape Town. Following a successful run earlier this year, Othello will be performed at the Baxter Theatre for a limited run in September. We sat down to chat about her career and Mish Mash Media’s next show, 5 Lesbians Eating A Quiche.   Continue reading

A Conversation with Kathleen Stephens

Kathleen Stephens is a theatre-maker and performer. In 2016 she debuted her acting career in People Beneath our Feet at the National Arts Festival. Other credits include Wessel Pretorius’ I Love You Sally Field, Dara Beth’s Nasty Womxn, and Jon Keevy’s Single Minded and The Underground Library. Most recently, Kathleen has been seen in Like Hamlet directed by Kanya Viljoen, Wessel Pretorius’ Fotostaatmasjien and in the first all-female South African production of The Taming of the Shrew directed by Tara Notcutt. She is currently gearing up to star in the Fugard Theatre’s return season of Shakespeare in Love. Continue reading

A Conversation with Dorothy Ann Gould

Dorothy Ann Gould is one of South Africa’s most celebrated and respected actresses. She has worked professionally for the past 50 years and has gone on to star in over 180 productions which have awarded her several of South Africa’s top accolades. She is also the founder of Johannesburg Awakening Minds, a theatre troupe comprised of 13 homeless gentlemen. Recently, Dorothy was honoured with a 2018 Naledi Award for Innovation in Theatre. She is currently starring in Joan Didion’s The Year Of Magical Thinking, based on her memoir, which has transferred to the Baxter Theatre following its successful run at the Market Theatre earlier this year.  Continue reading

A Conversation with Lucy Tops

Lucy Tops is a singer, songwriter and actress. As a vocalist, she has released several songs and CD’s and performs in the singing duo The Romantix alongside her husband, Alexander Tops. Over the last few years, Lucy has dazzled audiences by starring in several hit productions including Funny Girl, The Rocky Horror Show, Bar None for which she received a Fleur du Cap nomination and Shakespeare in Love which returns to the Fugard Theatre later this year. However, it her latest role in the South African premiere of Joshua Harmon’s critically acclaimed Broadway play, Significant Other, that has audiences seeing her tackle a leading role and making it her own.
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A Conversation with Daneel van der Walt and Alicia McCormick

For months Cape Town has been buzzing about the upcoming historic all-women production of The Taming of the Shrew, which is set to take the Maynardville Open-Air Theatre by storm. Fierce and formidable theatre veterans, Daneel van der Walt and Alicia McCormick have been tapped to lead the company by playing sparring partners Petruchio and Kate, respectively. We sat down with them to chat about the history-making production, debuting at Maynardville and the importance of working with women.
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Through The Lens: The Taming of The Shrew

A historic production of Shakespeare’s popular comedy, The Taming of the Shrew, will be presented at the Maynardville Open-Air Theatre, directed by Tara Notcutt and featuring an all-female cast and creative team. Award-winning director Notcutt is making history with something never before seen on a South African stage: an all-female version of a Shakespeare play. She leads some of South Africa’s most celebrated actresses in a version of The Taming of the Shrew like it has never been seen before: a meeting of classic text with modern twists, including lip-synching, 90s fashion, and an all-female cast playing men and playing women, supported by an all-female creative team. This production also makes history as Notcutt becomes the 5th women in 61 years to direct a Shakespearian production at Maynardville. We were invited to attend the cast’s first day of rehearsals and get a sneak peak at this groundbreaking production.

All photos by Jesse KramerContinue reading