Precious winners all, in the bard’s chilly weather yarn

FILM REVIEW: THE WINTER’S TALE. WITHIN THE FIRST fifteen minutes of Blanche McIntyre’s version of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, you understand why the king of Sicily, Leontes (Will Keen) suspects the king of Bohemia, Polixenes (Oliver Ryan) for “bed swerving” with his beautiful wife, Hermione (Priyanga Burford). The […]

There will always be love: RIP Maureen Donne

TRIBUTE TO MAUREEN DONNE BY HENRICO GREYLING. A HONEYED VOICE, overflowing generosity and someone who lit up the lives of others with her blissful spirit, Maureen Donne was an exceptionally talented jazz vocalist and tap dancer who not only conquered South African stage, but also showcased her masterful […]

Paean to an African hairdo

FILM REVIEW: THE BARBERSHOP CHRONICLES. WHERE IS IT that African men get to kick back, let their hair down and loosen their tongues? The communal urinal? The local bar? Under the pen of Inua Ellams, it’s the barbershop; South African writers of the ilk of Tony Miyambo, Sue […]

Rich clouds of immortality, trailed

REVIEW: AFRIKAANS RADIO PLAY, MY MENSE. A TALE OF life and death, disappointment and purple pencil crayons, Dot Serfontein’s yarn My Mense (My People) is not about great manoeuvres in socio-political injustice. It is not a big story of major seismic shifts. Rather, something like 19th century French […]

Bloody glasses for sweet milk

FILM REVIEW: MACBETH. OTHERWISE KNOWN AS ‘The Scottish Play’ Shakespeare’s Macbeth is the one tragedy most filled with special effects to make it sizzle with audience accessibility. From witches and ghosts to murderers and phantoms, the work in anyone’s hands has the frisson of sensationalism of any good […]

When the cat’s away …

REVIEW: RADIO DRAMA: WOLF-WOLF HOE LAAT IS DIT? IT TAKES A particular kind of empathy to reflect on the messy values of human deterioration or imperfection without slipping into the cripplingly clichéd or maudlin. It takes an even more incisive understanding of what makes us human beings tick, […]

Eternity: In their lips, their eyes

FILM REVIEW: ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. IF YOU FEEL you deserve something so rich and evolved, something so sophisticated and delicious on the senses, this evening or any time until Wednesday 13 May, don’t lean toward the fridge or the online hot food delivery business. Don’t get despondent that […]