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The Next 48hOURS • Theatre Buzz
Comedy of Monty Python
lives on in Camps Bay
Graham
Hopkins
Russel
Savadier
‘Pythonesque’, the tribute to the
singular comedy stylings of Monty
Python, returns to Theatre On The
Bay in Camps Bay six years after
making its debut.
Playwright Roy Smiles’ brilliant
and irreverent trilogy on comedy
history ends fittingly with this ingenious comic review. Having conjured
up the spirit of The Goons in ‘Ying
Tong – A Walk with the Goons’, and
resurrected the ground-breaking
satire of Beyond the Fringe and Pete
Robert
Fridjhon
Theo
Landey
and Dud in ‘Good Evening’, Smiles
completed the trilogy with ‘Pythonesque’, a play commissioned by
Pieter Toerien that was first seen at
Theatre on the Bay in 2009.
In a season before the production travels to Los Angeles, you can
follow the story of the Oxford and
Cambridge graduates John Cleese,
Michael Palin, Graham Chapman,
Terry Jones, Eric Idle and the previously-American Terry Gilliam, who
in 1969 formed one of the best
loved comedy troupes ever – Monty
Python’s Flying Circus.
Alan Swerdlow, who most recently directed the acclaimed ‘Constellations’, returns in the director’s
chair, with Graham Hopkins and
Theo Landey in the driving seat and
Robert Fridjhon and Russel Savadier
in the back, singing road-trip songs.
* ‘Pythonesque’ will be showing until April 11.
Book at Computicket.
Music and education come together
at 4th SAJE Jazz Festival
Darius Brubeck (piano) and Mike Rossi (saxophone)
The South African Association for
Jazz Education (SAJE) will present its
4th Jazz Festival at the SA College of
Music at the University of Cape Town
and Jazz at the Nassau, from Sunday
to Tuesday, March 29 to 31.
An exciting line-up awaits those
who attend this biennial event, which
celebrates local and international
jazz and jazz education.
Included in the three-day line-up
are a diverse group of world-class
jazz artists, educators and jazz bands
with collaborative performances at
The Crypt (Thursday, March 26) and
Straight No Chaser Club (Thursday
and Wednesday, March 26 and April
1). The SAJE Jazz Festival line-up
will appeal to jazz lovers across all
demographics – giving everyone the
opportunity to attend a concert or
4 The Next 48hOURS
workshop.
International participants in this
year’s Festival include pianist Mike
del Ferro and saxophonists Rolf
Delfos and Alexander Beets from
the Netherlands, Irish bassist Ronan
Guilfoyle, percussionist Paul Ngoie
Le Perc from the DRC, and pianists
Emilio Marinelli (Italy) and Darius
Brubeck (USA).
Local participants include jazz
artists from Johannesburg, Pretoria
and Cape Town, like Kesivan Naidoo,
Carlo Mombelli, Dan Shout, Andre
Petersen and Kyle Shepherd, with
jazz educators from UCT, UNISA
and WITS, such as Mike Rossi, Mike
Campbell, Amanda Tiffin and Karendra Devroop, plus the UCT BIG BAND
and the UCT Jazz Voices.
The 4th SAJE Jazz Festival 2-day
Jazz Workshops Program on March
30 and 31 is an intensive immersion
program for jazz students, learners,
teachers, professionals and anyone
else who is interested to learn and
develop jazz music skills and knowledge, with classes including improvisation, rhythm, vocal performance,
drumming, instrumental master
classes, and workshops on different
music subjects.
The South African Association for
Jazz Education is an independent,
non-profit organization that presents jazz and educational workshops
throughout the year, as well as biennial jazz conferences and jazz festivals, and facilitates a student and
teacher exchange project between
South Africa and Italy. SAJE’s mission is to assure the growth of jazz
in South Africa and the development
of jazz and jazz education in urban
and rural areas; to build the jazz arts
community by advancing education
and research; to promote skills development and performance, to develop
new audiences; and to document,
preserve and archive our South African jazz heritage.
* For more information and for the
full schedule of events, visit www.
saje.org.za.
Tickets for most events can be
bought at the door on the day of the
event.
www.48hours.co.za
Shedding light on the
darker sides of the psyche
SHOW: Inherent End
Director: Kim Kerfoot
CAST: Tamarin McGinley
VENUE: Alexander Bar Upstairs
Theatre until April 2
REVIEW: Peter Tromp
The last time I saw Tamarin McGinley on stage was in 2008 in her one
woman show, ‘Off The Rail’. I’m not
sure what the actress has been up
to since then – I have heard tales
of working, or studying abroad, or
both, in the UK specifically – but
it sure is great to see her grace the
planks in our neck of the woods
again.
The fact that I have seen few
shows in the last seven years to rival ‘Off The Rail’ for quirkiness is
testament to McGinley’s singular,
idiosyncratic creative vision, as well
as her indelibleness as a performer.
That show, apart from its vast reservoirs of charm, plumbed some
pretty dark depths of the soul, especially in its evocation of misplaced
affection that mutates into obsession and ultimately – yes - stalking.
McGinley is clearly someone for
whom humanity’s darker penchants
holds special appeal, because ‘Inherent End’ pretty much runs with
many of the themes explored in ‘Off
The Rail’, specifically how “misplaced affection” can completely
colour, or even derail one’s journey
through life. Here, however, everything is of a deeper shade. Compared to the bright and happy comedic affair that was ‘Off The Rail’
– notwithstanding its subject matter – ‘Inherent End’s’ tone is much
more autumnal. There’s a deep
etched melancholy that permeates
the entire production – even the
passages that elicit chuckles - which
makes for one of the most unusually affecting one person affairs I
have seen in recent times.
This is essentially a tale of three
females, at different stages of their
lives, discovering, or coming to
terms with the concepts of attraction and the romantic expression of
love. One is a prepubescent girl who
it could be said is showing an early
awareness of the power of sexuality, while another is in the throes of
a rather poisonous fling. The final
character happens to be a scientist in the field of epigenetics, and
her focus is on how trauma can be
passed down through the cells from
generation to generation. The dis-
Tamarin McGinley
tinction between these characters
sometimes blurs – I would say intentionally – so that one gets the
sense of identity being a work in
progress for all of them. And that’s
about all I’m willing to reveal, because ‘Inherent End’ is definitely
one of those productions you have
to be prepared to surrender yourself
to.
The opening, projected image of
what appears to be security camera footage of the outside of an
apartment complex sets a disquieting tone that colours the rest of
the show, and director Kim Kerfoot
maintains that tension - of something feeling slightly askew, or offcolour in the worlds inhabited by
the characters - admirably throughout.
That being said, ‘Inherent End’
does not feel settled quite yet. The
bits that employ multimedia can be
integrated with a bit more finesse
to maximise their theatrical impact.
The flow is at times a little disjointed as well, with certain segments
being way longer than others. These
slight patches are all pretty straightforwardly remediable, and ultimately don’t detract too much from the
touching whole.
McGinley has once again shown
that hers is a unique artistic voice,
one that’s not afraid to shed some
light on subject matter most of us
would rather consign to the margins of our collective consciousness.
As she has matured, she has become more nuanced as a performer,
which really helps to sell one on this
quietly unsettling theatrical experience.
* For more information and for
bookings, visit alexanderbar.co.za.
From Cape Town to Carnegie
Hall and back
The Young Cape Malay Stars made
their debut performance last year
during the Ubuntu Festival at Carnegie Hall in New York City with
their production called ‘Songs of
the Cape’ (‘Liedjies van die Kaap’),
where they shared the stage with
other recognised performers such as
Abdullah Ibrahim, Hugh Masekela,
Ladysmith Black Mambazo and David Kramer and his band.
New to the professional theatre
and music world, YCMS held their
own during their performance at
the Festival to an appreciative audience that rewarded them with a
standing ovation. Now ‘Liedjies van
die Kaap’ will make its South African Debut at the Baxter Concert
Hall on the Friday and Saturday,
March 27 and 28, courtesy of the
Zabalaza Theatre Festival.
With Musical Director Moeniel
Jacobs and award winning actor
Bongile Mantsai as Director, including emerging vocal talents, ‘Liedjies
van die Kaap’ promises a behind the
scenes look at the high energy Cape
Malay choir scene.
* Ticket prices are R80.
Book at Computicket.
27 March - 02 April 2015