WHAT’S ON IN APRIL
Goodies, from vegans to fashionistas...
OTHELLO
WHERE: Baxter Theatre Centre, Main Rd, Rondebosch, Cape Town
WHEN: April 8-May 4
This is the Moor of Venice like you’ve never seen him before ... Award-winning director Lara Foot’s Africanised interpretation of Shakespeare’s tragedy is performed in English, isiXhosa and Afrikaans, and is set during Germany’s colonial occupation of Namibia (then German South West Africa), which was followed by the Herero and Nama Genocide.This extraordinary production — featuring formidable thespians Atandwa Kani (Othello), Carla Smith (Desdemona), Albert Pretorius (Iago) and Faniswa Yisa (Emilia) — is accompanied by Kyle Shepard’s musical compositions and features a set designed by renowned visual artist Gerhard Marx. This decolonised adaptation of The Bard’s play will run until May 4 at the Baxter
Theatre, with tickets (from R200) available via webtickets.co.za. To paraphrase the Moor, go see before you doubt ...
OPERA SHORTS — A FESTIVAL OF POCKET OPERAS WHERE: Artscape Theatre, DF Malan St, Foreshore, Cape Town WHEN: April 11-21
Fans of Puccini’s La Bohème, Bizet’s Carmen and Verdi’s Rigoletto with little time on their hands, but who still want to satiate their craving for composers and librettists, sopranos, and baritones, Cape Town Opera has you covered.
Their series Opera SHORTS
— A Festival of Pocket Operas presents three succinct works: Conrad Asman’s Trial by Media, which explores the case of Reeva Steenkamp’s murderer, Oscar Pistorius; Francis Poulenc’s heart-rending oneact La voix humaine, which follows a woman’s descent into dementia; and (now for something completely different) Mozart’s perennial comic favourite The Impresario. This singspiel, translated into English from Der Schauspieldirektor, parodies the vanity of singers and their statusseeking antics. Encore! Tickets are available (from R150 a pop) via webtickets.co.za.
SA FASHION WEEK
WHERE: Mall of
Africa, Magwa Crescent, Midrand WHEN: April 18-20 The Big Four — New York, Milan, Paris and London — may entice international audiences, but Mzansi fashionistas know that local sartorial style is truly lekker. Designers such as the likes of Heru Shezi, Fikile Sokhulu, The BAM Collective, Thabo Makheta, Viviers Studio, Black Coffee, Helon Melon and Rubicon will showcase their spring/summer collections on the runway at Joburg’s Mall of Africa next weekend. Come for the invogue outfits and stay for the Afrochic glitz. Tickets are available from R280 via quicket.co.za. Start practising your strut, trendy kitty cats!
WELCOME TO BAFAZILAND — THE MUSICAL WHERE: Jambo Art Centre, 31 Railway St, Pietermaritzburg WHEN: April 20 & 27 Makhubalo Ikaneng, also known as Makhubalo the Storyteller, presents a musical, Welcome to Bafaziland, which explores gender identities, social inequality and land ownership — but with *djembe roll* drums, singing and stellar acting! The story of a group of women living in abject poverty who decide to rise up, proclaim their dissatisfaction with the status quo, and challenge the living conditions the government has forced them into, Welcome to Bafaziland is a sensory — and social awareness — journey of note. And trust us when we say the cast hit all the high ones! Tickets (from R50) are available via webtickets.co.za.
PLANTY, BRU! VEGAN MARKET WHERE: 7 Produce St, South End, Gqeberha WHEN: April 20
Gqeberha’s vibey, multipurpose event space The Gallery on Produce will be playing host to the Windy City’s Planty, Bru! vegan market next Saturday. From a variety of delicious plant-based foods (à la local food vendors) and live music (including local musos Friendly Fiends, Roscoe and Zamani) to arts ‘n crafts, tattoo artists eager to ink, and eco-conscious eaters, this day dedicated to exploring veganism is a must. A mere R15 will get you through the portal of all things plantbased. Lekka, bru!