High Praise for Poet and Prophetess at World Premiere

In the Sunday Times:
The Cape Town Opera and the Swedish company Norrlands Opera have embarked on an exciting experiment of combining Xhosa and English in an opera. The story is about a fictional meeting between Swedish poet Bengt Linder and Xhosa prophetess Nongqawuse. The story includes the historical event where the Xhosa nation were told to destroy their cattle and crops so that the ancestors would rid the land of the colonialists. The show received standing ovations at the premiere in Sweden. We will have to wait until October to see the show at the Artscape. Congratulations! Angela

Congratulations: Jonny Cooper Orchestra

The Cape Times had the following report:
Congratulations to Jonny Cooper and his 19 piece orchestra on being awarded the Big Band Hall of Fame Award in recognition of their performance and promoting big band music with integrity. Photographs, CDs and other material will be on display in the museum based in West Palm Beach Florida. The Jonny Cooper Orchestra are noted as one of the finest "copyists" of the Glenn Miller sound. You can find out more about the orchestra on www.bigband.co.za
Angela

Classicfeel and Bravo

The Western Cape is being spoilt with two new local publications about the theatre and culture. Classicfeel has been available in Gauteng and has now gone national. It is a beautiful magazine which covers all aspects of culture with the majority of articles about South African artists - what a pleasure. Bravo is an Afrikaans magazine that will be published quarterly. This issue focusses on the ABSA KKNK festival that was recently held in Oudtshoorn - featuring the different Afrikaans actors. I am sure that the next will feature the National Arts Festival at Grahamstown.

Both are great reads and give lovely background information into our vibrant arts scene - a definite must have.
Angela

Angels on Horseback

I really enjoyed this satire on country music with a strong South African twist. I can't listen to John Denver's Rocky Mountain High without thinking about Johan -the apple of my eye. I loved the song about the metrosexual man "who smells like a woman, but tastes just like a man". It is an adult show but it is great fun.
Angela

Spier Festival - infecting Cape Town

I was fortunate to see two brilliant productions as part of the Spier Festival last week. What a pity the Festival wasn't publicised more widely. Dream Time on Friday night was literally out of this world, capturing the dream state through different media, cultures and people. Great use of spaces and buildings and showcased the depth and breadth of talent in this country.

I also saw Not with my gun on Saturday night...a play all South Africans should see - wonderful acting, well written, great drama. I came out with my energy levels sky-high, buzzing after the play. Venue (Cape Town High School) wasn't great so let's hope the play will come back to Cape Town at a more suitable venue e.g. the Baxter.

Can't wait for next year's Festival, which I hope will be marketed and promoted better so more Capetonians can discover the exciting and rich variety of SA's performing arts industry.
Kristina

Not with my gun

Saw the show last night at Cape Town High School. The show was part of the Spier Contempory Art Festival. It deserved the standing ovation it received and makes you wonder what your reaction would be if someone broke into your house, in this case during a batchelor party, and stole your most prized possesion. Paul

Vote for your favourite play

The Fleur du Cap Awards are being held in March. They have started a voting system for the most popular play. Go to their website www.capetheatre.co.za and there is a link on the top right hand side of the page. It will be interesting to see the results. People can also buy tickets to attend the Awards evening from Computicket.

audience participation

The issue of audience participation came up at a dinner last week. There are different acceptable behaviours for different genre such as clapping at a difficult part in ballet or stamping your feet at the end of a particularly good orchestral performance. We were talking about theatre etiquette and it was mentioned how much performers enjoy township audiences as the people are more responsive. Audiences will wave, cheer, stand up and sing along. Very different from the traditional audience that stays seated and politely claps at the end or hopefully rises to its feet calling "encore". It reminds me of going to the theatre as a child in the UK where you would clap in time and sing along to a favourite song and really feel part of the performances. Now those are happy memories. Angela

theatre etiquette

Is it me? Or do some people not know how to behave in a theatre? Over the past four months we have seen people heckle the actors, arriving late and talking during a performance. The worst was someone arriving late, walking up to their seats in the front during a performance and then having a heated discussion about someone who was in their seat! Has anyone else found this. We need to respect the rest of the audience so that we all have an enjoyable experience. Angela

Bonhoeffer

We went to the last performance on Wednesday night at Motte Clique. It was really powerful and I want to read up more on the man. The highlight was talking to Peter Krummeck after the show - a fascinating man. He wanted to show that not everyone agreed with Hitler during that time as in anyother period of oppression there is resistance. We chatted to a man called Charlie who was a priest during this time and he related his experiences of being a priest in Nazi Germany - horrible. Angela