Sets the tone for rich line-up of theatre
THE long-awaited musical Sister Act is opening at the Joburg Theatre on Friday, and runs until August 16.
It is the South African production of the show and film made famous by Whoopi Goldberg, who took the role of the disco diva, Delores, who witnesses a murder and is put into protective custody disguised as a nun.
Anyone less like a nun than Delores is hard to imagine, and she is soon at odds with the rigid Mother Superior, while breathing new life into the dowdy church and the choir.
When her cover is blown, the gang find they are not just taking on Delores, but her new sisterhood as well.
The show is directed by Janice Honeyman, with musical direction by Rowan Bakker, and stars Candida Mosomo as Delores and Kate Normington as the Mother Superior, with Keith Smith as Monsignor O’Hara. It should be a lot of fun. After 18 months of renovation, the Market Theatre complex is finally nearing completion.
The newly rebuilt Laager Theatre is opening on Saturday, July 11, with tributes to Can Themba and Barney Simon; two of the greats of the era of struggle and protest theatre.
First up is Crepuscule by Can Themba, directed by young director Khayelihle Dom Gumede, which runs until August 2. It tells the story of Themba’s real-life love affair with a white woman, Jean Hart, during the 1950s and is set in Sophiatown. It is followed by Barney Simon’s Cincinatti – Scenes from the City Life, directed by Clive Mathibe, from August 19.
The delightful Little Shop of Horrors is packing in the fans at Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, while Trevor Noah’s Lost in Translation ends at the Teatro this weekend.
In the Studio, the Afrikaans play Twee vir die Prys van Een runs all week. Next weekend Joan Armatrading is singing solo at the Teatro.
Comedian Mark Banks holds forth in Still Banksrupt, his latest one-man show, a follow-on to the successful Banksrupt, all this week. It is sure to strike a bell with cash-strapped South Africans.
The children, of course, have Disney on Ice, Let’s Celebrate! at the TicketPro Dome to delight them in the holidays, plus The Adventures of Oliver Twist at the National Children’s Theatre and Shrek the Musical JR at the People’s Theatre.
Coming up is Marikana the Musical at the State Theatre in Pretoria from July 16. Very topical at the moment, the production, directed by Aubrey Sekhabi, was nominated for 13 Naledi Awards and won six.
The National Arts Festival is now on in Grahamstown.
But those who couldn’t make the 969km trek from Joburg to the festival can look forward to the Wits 969 Festival, which runs from July 15 to 26 at the Wits Theatre, with 16 of the Grahamstown festival shows. ● Jenny de Klerk is editor of Artslink .co.za