IF YOU TAKE a slice out of the formalities of matchmaking and weddings from Fiddler on the Roof, and slot it in alongside some of the more potent scenes involving the beautiful widow in Nikos Kazantzakis’s Zorba the Greek, sprinkle the concoction rather heavily with romanticised farmgirl wholesomeness, […]
TAKE A PERFECTLY insane tale of paternal love and marital abhorrence, the filthiest vagaries of colonialist practice, the prospect of freedom and untold wealth. Toss them in the air with a gun, a visual sensibility to weep for and an understanding of sound that is at once contemporary […]
WHAT IS IT about Chekhov that makes us relate so beautifully to his characters that we can be unbridled in our laughter, cringes and agony of recognition at their psychological turmoil and suffocating family closeness? Director Sam Yates and writer Simon Stephens have cooked up a fresh and […]
HOW DO YOU give fresh life to a biography that has been told millions of times before? If you are Amanda Bothma, Kerry Hiles and Luke Holder, and the biography in question is that of the great Judy Garland, you immerse yourself into the very fabric of that […]
WHAT IS IT to be a man in this world of crippling hyper-sensitivity and wokeness? The metaphors central to a sport which has traditionally defined all the values of male hegemony are front and central and joyfully politically incorrect in James Graham’s new play, Dear England, based as […]
WHEN YOU HEAR complete strangers discussing their culinary habits on their way out of a theatre, you know that something has sunk into their sensibilities, and the play has reached them. You have this morning to re-arrange your plans: there is just one performance left of the delightful […]
That feeling when you get into a warm bath after a difficult day, and you know everything will be alright is the kind of sensation you get in the remote audience of Puccini’s timeless classic Madama Butterfly. It’s not just about music that you will recognise from countless […]
THE COURT DRAMA in the wake of a murder of passion is arguably the most enthralling context for a thrilling story to unfold. Put it in the hands of one of South Africa’s finest directors, know that it sparkles with the words of the queen of murder mysteries […]
THE ROLLICKING CLICHES surrounding stories of love: love found, love cherished, love betrayed, love lost, is something central to who we are as human beings. So central that the idea might make you yawn a bit. The telling of tales of love have always begged for a mix […]
IF YOU SLIGHTLY close your eyes through all the frippery and flappery of the first act of Puccini’s La Rondine, you might believe yourself to have been magically transported into an Aubrey Beardsley painting, with all its Art Deco glissandos and arches, gold leaf and quirky feathery headdresses. […]
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