NAKED THEATRE
Jonathan
BEFORE it goes into the dark – into a four-month period of renovation – Theatre on the Bay will bare its wings. This will be naked theatre: the stage will be stripped down (no set) and the spotlight will be on Fleur du Cap Theatre awardwinning Jonathan Roxmouth, performing Lenny, Andrew, Steve and Me, from April 10 – 21.
The show will feature works by Leonard Bernstein, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Stephen Sondheim. Roxmouth will be accompanied by musical director Louis Zurnamer.
The show is a tribute to 30 years of Theatre on the Bay – and a prelude of what is coming our way.
The theatre has always been about striving for excellence, but increasingly proprietor/producer Pieter Toerien has appeared to be steering the theatre into alternative spheres of excellence – veering into darker and edgier vistas.
Whose idea was it to present the show – with an ‘undressed’ stage?
Roxmouth: “Pieter Toerien brought me the idea. He came up with the composers.
“Sitting with the vast number of songs, I decided to find a theatrical ‘hook’ to perform them. It coincided with the imminent renovation and so I realised that the music wouldn’t need help in terms of sets – rather go the other way and use the space in a uniquely theatrical way. This isn’t pop or rock music. It is storytelling music.
“The best thing is to have is as large and as blank a canvas as possible…
“The story of how Pieter Toerien bought the old Alvin cinema (in 1988) and turned it into an iconic theatre is fantastic. To be able to say farewell to the first 30 years before ushering in another 30 is an honour.”
We asked Toerien if we can expect surprises when the theatre re-opens – not only in terms of the physical renovations but in terms of the shows he will produce.
He dazzled us with Fatal Attraction – a radical reworking of a stage adaption which was lacklustre in London and which was re-visioned in Holland and then staged at Theatre on the Bay in English. A triumph. He recently presented Lara Foot’s award-winning drama, The Inconvenience of Wings – not the type of play one would have expected to encounter at TOB in the past.
Toerien: “You are right, I want to mix things up a bit – trying to keep the older audience happy (such as with Present Laughter) and trying new things to build a younger audience; to also ask people ‘to take chances with us’.
“What I hope we will always do is give them the very best we can. We can’t expect everyone to like everything, but we sure as hell won’t bore them.”
In terms of demographic, can we expect the TOB to broaden its casting and creative teams? Audiences and actors/creatives have been largely white.
Toerien: “You are right on the money. Remember we are in Camps Bay but everything in our city is changing and we must change with it. I am still not sure in my own mind what the changes will be – I hope things will simply unfold and develop over the closed months.”
Lenny, Andrew, Steve and Me – presented as ‘naked theatre’ – heralds a taste of what is to come.
Toerien: “We want the audience to see the stage absolutely naked: the space we give actors to work in. Jonathan will sing some of the best musical numbers ever written with just a few lights and a piano: to remind people how the theatre asks you to use your imagination.”
Lenny, Andrew, Steve and Me is on April 10-21 at Theatre on the Bay. The show has been conceptualised as a pre-renovation show and is not touring. R120 to R220. Bookings through Computicket or the theatre box office at 021 438 3301.