Faeron Wheeler - Page 8

I’ll start off by saying wow! I had goosebumps from the very beginning, all the way through. Vincent van Gogh is one of my favourite painters and this is largely why I was so excited to seen VINCENT – HIS QUEST TO LOVE AND BE LOVED when I first saw it advertised last year. It took me a while to get there, but it was well worth the wait.

It's the 100th anniversary of Maria Callas’ birth and what better way to celebrate it than with a run of the Terrence McNally ode to the opera singer, MASTER CLASS? This production sees Pieter Torien teaming up with Cape Town Opera to bring the story to life. In the titular role is Sandra Prinsloo.

OK, so you don’t go to see CINDERELLA for the plot. What you do want to see is all of the gorgeous costumes, the brilliant set and the dancing to an incredible score. If you pick the right performance, you also get the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra playing live as the dancers move on stage. It all comes together in quite a magical moment.

A trip to Maynardville to see Shakespeare under the stars is a great night out. With the excellence of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, you’re really getting a night to remember.

The text is superb, the actors accomplished professionals at the top of their game, the direction tight and the package a reminder to us to live without regrets, to keep our loved ones close and that 'I'm sorry' should never be left unsaid.

This beautiful adaptation by the team from VR Theatrical is pretty much just what the doctor ordered for the festive season. It combines song, animation, puppetry, voice overs, beautiful acting and a healthy dose of humour to warm the heart.

As the world gets ready to launch the international 16 Days of Activism campaign against Gender Based Violence, Cape Town Opera decided to add their voice to the call. Their new production ONE IN THREE is a selection of works that speak about the subject of GBV.

HOLD STILL holds up a mirror and quite deftly questions whether or not you’re as good a person as you think you are. It’s a jarring question to be faced with and the four characters on stage are left reeling in the wake of getting their answers.

DINNER WITH THE 42S is an absolute treat! It’s gritty, it’s funny, it’s sharp – it’s a production definitely worth watching.

This is the third year that CONSTELLATIONS is running out at Spier Wine Farm and I’m glad that I finally got to experience it. It’s a magical setting for performances and the whole experience was unlike anything I’d done before.

This run of THE UNLIKELY SECRET AGENT brings with it some new energy in the form of two new cast members. It’s quite exciting to get to see the same play, which is still fairly fresh in my memory, with new faces and new ideas for characterisation. It must’ve also been a fun challenge for the existing cast members to work with new people.

It felt to me like the play moved in gasps. The characters and the momentum of the play seemed to hold still like they were holding their breath, and then there’d be a rush of movement and emotion as if everyone was gasping for air before holding it all in again.

It’s so good to be back at the Masque Theatre and see an amateur society show being produced again! This week I went to see a dress rehearsal of A PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY, produced by Cape Town Theatre Company, just before it opened. This is an original adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s classic story, which has been written and directed by Liz Roodt.

CONSTELLATIONS is an immersive, intimate artistic experience created by Brett Bailey for the wine farm Spier. This year, they celebrate their third iteration of this incredible concept and it's sure to be a hit.

The multi-nominated and award-winning THE UNLIKELY SECRET AGENT is returning to the stage this October. This run sees actor Carlo Daniels joining the cast, and Daniels came to talk to us about the experience so far.

WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGNIA WOOLF? has to be one of the most in-your-face pieces of theatre ever written, and it’s as entertaining and relevant today as it was when it debuted 60 years ago. Under the exceptional direction of Sylvaine Strike, this incredible cast had me simultaneously wanting to hide and wanting to see more as the characters let all their dirty laundry hang out.

It’s quite amazing that a script written in 1997 about a fledgling democratic South Africa can still be so relevant and haunting in 2022. FORDSBURG’S FINEST by Paul Slabolepszy delivers in heart and in asking some truly tricky questions of the characters and of the audience members.

It’s always exciting when one of the Cape Town societies puts on original work. SO… THAT HAPPENED is made even more interesting in that it’s a sequel or a follow-up from another original work. I really loved that director and writer Werner Asher Steffen and Milnerton Players were able to bring back the original cast as well.

Magnet Theatre graduate, Molupi Lepeli, is no stranger to the Baxter's Zabalaza Festival. In 2019, he won the award for Best Supporting Actor in the festival. This year, however, he took part as a writer and director, creating BACK TO ASHES. The production was nominated as one of the Finest of the Fest and will be on at the Golden Arrow Studio this month.

Finest of the Fest from Baxter's Zabalaza Festival kicks off this week with Sohail Booise's HOSTEL LIGHTS. This young director also wrote and choreographed the piece. He sat down to tell us more about his experiences at the festival and this play.