Feeding theatre for 30 years
GALVANISED AND RECONCEPTUALISED AT EMPERORS PALACE Switch off your cellphones, audiences warned.
One of the most recognisable voices in South Africa tells me I have to eat something, then he pops a spoonful of cinnamon-flavoured meringue in my mouth.
“I know the media is tanking so you probably want food,” he jokes.
We’re all huddled in a private room at Aurelia’s fine dining restaurant in Emperors Palace a fortnight before Nataniël is set to debut his latest annual show at the entertainment complex.
He is someone who demands attention by simply being himself but when he asks you to listen, you’ll do well to leave everything and enjoy every joke, put down and pearl of wisdom, as well as his little stabs of self-deprecation.
It’s rare for someone to be able to do this unrehearsed and essentially while promoting a stage show. Perhaps that’s why, as an artist, Nataniël will always intrigue you.
“The show is called 30 Years in 90 Minutes but people will be surprised that it’s not old material. I decided to pull some of the old stuff, and rework it,” he says, before giving a clear warning:
“Switch off your cellphones!”
Every year, Nataniël records a stern warning to his audience to not use mobile devices during his show – unfortunately, many people mistake it for humour not a warning.
“I will aim at you with my mic and throw something at you,” he says.
Two years ago, a photographer met the wrong end of a walking stick when he rushed to the stage after a musical number and started taking pictures of Nataniël. Respect the theatre and performers is his golden rule.
Perhaps the measure of Nataniël’s success can be attributed to the fact that he is popular without the use of social media. Except for a news page on Facebook, Nataniël is not on Twitter or Instagram. His audience is invested in him because they know what they will get when they attend one of his shows.
The funny thing is, he is helping to cultivate this mindset. If you get your hands on a ticket to 30 Years in 90 Minutes, you should take a moment to look at the audience – not everyone has got a purple rinse and there are young people also tapping their feet to his music.
“I think I got younger in sound and spirit. What really helped is the internet. It’s more powerful than radio. My music’s not played on radio but it’s become so accessible on platforms like iTunes,” he says.
“I’m selling 15-year-old albums on iTunes that generally didn’t sell in hard copy because on radio, a few DJs decide what the world hears and shops decide what people get to buy. That middleman has been cut out – so more youth has access to artists. Radio stations might describe me as obscure – and obscure music is commercial now. The young generation is much more investigative in what they like.”
He’s also really happy with the show, which has been seen at the Artscape in Cape Town. But the Gauteng production will be even more heightened, thanks to its scale.
“This show doesn’t have an agenda, it’s more out of being thankful – and the shock that I’m still alive – and that 30 years later, in the Third World, I have a totally Eurocentric career. That is what people expect from me and that what they don’t know is combined. I’m not what you call fun – but this is as much fun as you’re going to get from me. It looks dramatic and it sounds dramatic but it’s much lighter in content and feel.”
Revisiting some of his work also meant he could reconceptualise some of his past material.
“My music is still far from commercial but it’s a lot more user-friendly, if I can call it that. I don’t try to prove myself as this great artist or songwriter any more. I write more challenging music than commercial music because I’m trained classically. But right now, I don’t get vocal fatigue as easily. I’ve quit smoking so long ago my voice is finally back to where I started. I can actually do things I haven’t been able to do in 20 years.”
Nataniël is unstinting on set design so even though one half of the show is reworked material, it’s also presented in a new way. “I’m not going to use old things.
The cast includes Charl du Plessis (piano), Juan Oosthusizen (guitar), Werner Spies (bass), Hugo Radyn (drums) and Dihan Slabbert and Nicolaas Swart on vocals. Tickets are R160. Shows are on from Thursday (8pm) to Sunday (3pm).
No children under 15 are allowed.
The show is at Theatre of Marcellus from tomorrow until September 24.
For more information or to buy tickets, visit or
I decided to rework some of the old stuff. emperorspalace.com computicket.com.
Anyway, I like stark sets with one strong visual element.”
Not that any design on stage will distract you from him. Longtime collaborator Floris Louw again designed his costumes, which include steel, wood and wax.
Just don’t think you’re allowed to snap a picture of it from your theatre seat. “I’m going to store rocks behind the monitor to throw people with,” he says in earnest, before telling me I should have one of the miniature malva puddings that arrived in the room.