David Fick - Page 13

A look at some of the cabaret and comedy shows that have appeared on South African stages in 2012.

A look at some of the musicals and operas South Africa had on offer in the 2012 season.

A look at a baker's dozen of the plays South Africa had on offer in the 2012 season, with input from local actors, theatre owners and producers.

No other piece on Cape Town stages between now and the end of 2012 will give you the complex experience or catharsis that KINGDOM OF EARTH does.

JUST SO STORIES has the potential to be great children's theatre, but it is just so-so, falling short in both the scripting and performances.

FACE THE MUSIC 2 is a great night out for a group of friends looking for a good time this festive season.

Cape Town audiences do not have many chances to see MINNIE AND JOHNSON, which is a pity. Whether you have seen them before, either alone or together, this is a show that will lift your spirits and banish your bad day or year-end blues.

In SPECIAL THANKS TO GUESTS FROM AFAR, Nicholas Spagnoletti has crafted a play that is both diverting and thought-provoking, one that has been brought to life vividly by director Matthew Wild, but which also narrowly misses being a truly remarkable new South African play.

As the opening of FBPK rolled around, I was wondering whether I needed a break from comedy. As it turned out, this show, by Martin Evans, turned out to be the best comedy show I have seen in the last 18 months.

When I heard that RED would run briefly at Theatre on the Bay in Cape Town after a successful premiere at the National Arts Festival three months ago, I made sure that I would be able to see it. And, I am pleased to say, that the wait was worth it.

Oskar Brown in ONE NIGHT ONLY and Pieter-Dirk Uys in AN AUDIENCE WITH PIETER-DIRK EISH! are two shows that are vastly different in approach and style, but which both offer up laughs and plenty of entertainment for their respective audiences.

After almost two years in Europe, Oskar Brown is back in Africa with live comedy show, ONE NIGHT ONLY. I was able to sit down with him to chat about the show, 'coming home' and his own production company, Fourword Productions.

Halfway through the world premiere of Brent Palmer's BENCH, it occurred to me that there were two plays competing for the stage and for the audience's attention. One is a character-driven, comic two-hander. The other is a play about identity and representation.

Memory. Identity. History. Emotion. These are the cornerstones of BIKO'S QUEST, the newest production from Jazzart Dance Theatre, directed by Mandla Mbothwe and choreographed by Jacqueline Manyaapelo, Ina Wichterich-Mogane and Mzokuthula Gasa.

16 years since it was last seen on stage in Cape Town, Cape Town City Ballet has brought RAYMONDA back to the Artscape for a short winter season. It is a beautiful production of a ballet that is infamously light on narrative and heavy on dance, which makes for an evening of some first class performances and some frustration when it comes to experiencing the piece as a complex and compelling piece of storytelling.

KickstArt's CABARET, the classic musical by John Kander, Fred Ebb and Joe Masteroff based on Christopher Isherwood's semi-autobiographical GOODBYE TO BERLIN, has opened at last in Cape Town. A professional production of the show has not been seen in this city for far too long and, in this fantastic production, its return is a welcome one.

I had the great pleasure of sitting down with Andrew Laubscher and Mathew Lewis to chat about the show, The Pink Couch and their respective careers in the theatre.

Four of Herman Charles Bosman's stories are dramatised in The Pink Couch's MAFEKING ROAD and Tara Notcutt, Andrew Laubscher and Mathew Lewis succeed in serving Bosman's vision, even as they deconstruct everything that is traditionally accepted about his work and the way it has hitherto been performed.

The opening of Leonard Bernstein's TROUBLE IN TAHITI in Cape Town this week was cause for great excitement and justifiably so. Bernstein's opera gets less of an airing both here and internationally than it should and the debut collaboration between Cape Town Opera and the Fugard Theatre is also a relationship that promises great potential.

Bovim Ballet is back on stage in Cape Town with a return reason of QUEEN AT THE BALLET. One of the project-based company's flagship productions, this 'rock ballet' was first seen in 2004. A tribute to Freddie Mercury, the show delves into the life of the enigmatic frontman of Queen, using the timeless songs that Mercury introduced during his career at a springboard.