TAPE now showing at Nassau Theatre (ticket giveaway)

Posted on May 29, 2013 by Karisa

A dingy motel somewhere in Michigan.
A relationship gone awry.
A man called Vince.
A man called Jon.
A woman called Amy.
A tape.
A case of beer.
A provocation.
A shocking confession… TAPE opened at the Nassau Theatre last night and from someone who’s seen a previous run of it, I can tell you, it’s an intense must see:

Written by American playwright, screenwriter & film director, Stephen Belber, TAPE was also made into a film in 2001 starring Ethan Hawke, Robert Sean Leonard and Uma Thurman.

In this run, directed by Gabriella Pinto, you will see local actors Scott Cooper as Vince, Bjorn Steinbach as Jon and Shannyn Fourie as Amy, plus music by Cape Town band, The Plastics, thrown into the mix.

To book your seat, take note of the following:

When: Until Sat, 8 June (excluding Sun/Mon)
Kickoff time: 8pm (running time 60min)
Where: At the Nassau Theatre, Newlands. (Same front entrance as Groote Schuur High)
Cost: R80 (R50 for students and SAGA members – Please present your card). Make your bookings by calling this number – 0834538146
Other things of importance: Age restriction of 15. There is secure off street parking available, as well as a cash bar & warm, comfy seating. (we’ve all heard about the cold weather hitting us this week Cape Town, so that one’s actually quite important)

But listen up, I have 2 tickets to giveaway for either this Friday (31 May) or Saturday (1 June). All you have to do is send the following tweet:

Hey @CTmylove I’d love to watch TAPE at the Nassau Theatre #LoveTheatreWin

Or if you’re not on twitter: just copy & paste this tweet into a comment below and make sure you provide your email address so I can get in touch if you win.

Terms & Conditions:

This giveaway is only open to people who will be available in Cape Town this Friday or Saturday (winner can choose to come either Fri or Sat)
Only one entry per person.
There will be 1 winner receiving 2 tickets.
Entries close at 5pm tomorrow (Thu 30 May).
Winner will be determined by lucky draw & announced here on my blog and on Twitter tomorrow evening before 8pm.

xxx

Check out Lady Luck at the Intimate Theatre

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Karisa

Tonight is the opening night of Lady Luck at The Intimate Theatre in Gardens.

It’s a proudly South African play written by Marlisa Doubell, directed by award-winning Yvonne Copley and brought to you by Sugar-daddy Theatre Co.

The synopsis is as follows:

Set in the seedy underbelly of Cape Town, exotic dancer, Lisa (Sabine Palfi), tries to pick up the pieces of her broken heart.

Things soon spiral out of control and she finds herself thrust into a dangerous love triangle with Dean (Bjorn Steinbach), her explosive former fiancé, and his Greek boss, Nic (Aidan Whytock), a seductive mobster…

From left to right: Bjorn Steinback as Dean, Sabine Palfi as Lisa & Aidan Whytock as Nic

As you can see, it’s a bit of a saucy storyline. So no under 18s are allowed. But if saucy is right up your alley (and you know it is ), here’s all the important deets you need to know to reserve your seat:

When: Wed 15 May to Sat 25 May (excluding Sun/Mon)
Venue: Intimate Theatre, UCT Hiddingh Campus, 37 Orange Street
Time: 8pm
Tickets: R80 (students/pensioners/SAGA members R70). If you buy more than 10 tickets online, you can also get them for R70 AND on Tue 21 May, they’re doing a “half price Tuesday” special where you’ll only pay R40. Get your tickets from Computicket over here. Some stand-by tickets will also be available at the door (at full price only), but I’d say it’s better to plan ahead in case there are no spots left. Plus, Computicket has enabled the “print at home” option for this event, which means no queuing. Love it.

See you at the theatre folks.

xxx

Hot ticket – The Miser now showing at the Baxter until the 25th

Posted on May 12, 2013 by Karisa

How much do you love the Baxter?

According to Wikipedia:

A miser is a person who is reluctant to spend, sometimes to the point of forgoing even basic comforts and some necessities, in order to hoard money or other possessions. Although the word is sometimes used loosely to characterise anyone who is mean with their money, if such behaviour is not accompanied by taking delight in what is saved, it is not properly miserly…

This sets the scene quite well for The Miser which opened at the Baxter Theatre last night. Based on the 1668 five act comedy by French playwright Molière & directed by South African actress, voice-over artist & director, Sylvaine Strike, it certainly opened with a bang.

Brilliant performances by an incredible group of actors & actresses, amazing set & costume design, a fresh, sleek production which will have you on the edge of your seat throughout. No wonder this play won a whopping 4 Naledi Theatre Awards for Best Production of a Play, Best Director, Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role (for Patricia Boyer) and Best Costume Design.

In essence the story follows a man who loves his money more than anything else in the world. He is mean-spirited and selfish and runs a very strict household. When his children then fall in love with what he would class as the wrong kind of people, a crazy sequence of events unfolds…

It’s showing until 25 May, tickets cost only R150 each and you can get them from Computicket over here.

The play finds its home at the Baxter’s Flipside, which got its name because it’s basically the back side of the main theatre. It gets quite chilly in there, so do dress warmly. But they provide blankets as well if you need.

High 5s to the Fortune Cookie Theatre Company as well as the Market Theatre in Johannesburg for making sure us Capetonians also get to experience the brilliance of The Miser.

This will be a theatre experience that’ll transport you to a different world and stay with you for years to come. That I guarantee.

xxx

Camille now on at the Artscape (and it’s a must see)

Posted on May 3, 2013 by Karisa

The chandeliers at the Artscape – it’s such an incredible building

Last night I attended the opening night of Camille at the Artscape - a beautiful ballet which will be showing until 12 May.

Now I’ve been an avid ballet fan ever since ballet dancer, Chehon Wespi-Tschopp walked onto the So you think you can dance stage in these white ballet tights which looked like they’d been spray painted on and did an amazing piece from The Nutcracker with fellow contestant, Eliana Girard, who also happened to be a ballet dancer. The two of them went on to win season 9, making it the first time a ballet dancer had ever came out tops on this particular dance show. And Chehon’s ~~perfectly sculpted butt cheeks~~ amazing lines & precision, has stayed with me since… that guy was so ~~hot~~ talented.

Only pic I could find. Sorry, Eliana is clearly in the way there. (Photo credit: buddytv.com)

** You can actually watch the full performance over here.

But on a serious note. I’ve always been intrigued by the art of ballet, but for some reason I just never made it to an actual live performance before. Last night was a total first for me and I was absolutdely blown away… from the incredible stage changes and beautiful costumes, to the enchanting music & dancers, everything was just so perfect. I left there thinking, right, when’s the next one??

Camille is based on a novel called The Lady of the Camellias by Alexandre Dumas which was first published back in 1848. The story has been converted for film, stage and the opera. Veronica Paeper also created a ballet from it which has been staged several times since 1990. In short, the story follows Marguerite Gautier, a young courtisane (i.e. lady “kept” by various lovers) suffering from tuberculosis, and a young provincial bourgeois (a French term for a person belonging to the middle class), Armand Duval. Armand falls in love with Marguerite and tries to convince her to start a new life with him. But Armand’s dad won’t have any of that and convinces Marguerite to leave Armand, who until Marguerite’s death, believes that she’s run off with another man…

The ending had me on the edge of my seat, it was so intense and I won’t lie, it brought a bit of a tear to my eye…

Accompanied by the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra, the ballet is set to the music of Verdi’s La Traviata and features dancers from the Cape Town City Ballet, including principal dancers Laura Bosenberg & Thomas Thorne.

Hop on over to Computicket over here right away to secure your tickets. Prices range from R140 to R280 and it will be money well spent, trust me.

A huge thanks to Louis Fouche from ClassicSA Media & Events for the invite. This girl is totally hooked on ballet now (and this time for the right reasons).

xxx

The launch of new creative space – Atelier AHA

Posted on March 6, 2013 by Karisa

According to Wikipedia (my trusty source of all things random and/or specific), the word “atelier” is a French word for “workshop”.

It is used in English typically to refer to the workshop of an artist working in fine or decorative arts and it would usually be a place where a principal master and a number of assistants, students & apprentices would work together to produce pieces that would go out in the master’s name…

All righty then. So what’s that got to do with the launch of a new venue over in Woodstock? Well, Atelier AHA is aiming to be a creative/artist workshop, a performing centre of sorts, a place to show support for South African artists of all kinds.

It is the brainchild of world-renowned artist & New Yorker, Andrew Hart Adler and he says for him, this space presents endless possibilities… He sees it as being a collaborative space, a space that’s completely flexible and a space where the artists & audiences are encouraged to use in it new, exciting ways.

Andrew here with MC for the evening, actress Natalie Becker

But before I tell you more about the space and what we got to experience for the launch, I have to give you some more background on Mr Adler here. The guy is quite interesting I tell you. Firstly, he is the son of late Tony Award winning Broadway songwriter, Richard Adler and as a young artist he was assistant to several well known artists, including the late, Willem de Kooning (the Dutch-American artist known for his abstract expressionist work – I particularly love his piece called “Excavation”, Google it, it’s amazing). Then in 1975, Andrew then only in his early twenties, had his first one man exhibit in NY city and today his work can be found in several museums as well as many corporate & private collections across the globe.

He’s lived all over the world in places like Paris, Munich and the Côte d’Azur. But now he’s decided to move to the best city of all, Cape Town of course. And I’m thinking we’re very lucky to have him here…

Now back to the venue. It’s got a great New York studio feel. A big open space on one side with some of Andrew’s art pieces on the walls. And a little kitchen and upstairs area on the other side, which is Andrew’s actual living space as well. atelierAHA2

He welcomed us into his space and spoilt us with wine, snacks & Lindt balls (ah the way to my heart)…

For the launch, we were in for quite a treat. A great lineup of various types of entertainment, from a performance by iKapa Dance Theatre to magic & comedy by Charles Tertiens, live dramatic readings and a performance by legendary Cape jazz guitarist, Errol Dyers with his Errol Dyers Quartet. It was basically a showcase to give us an idea of the various types of people Andrew will be working with. Other great acts included:

Greengrassgrow – loved their sound.

Sexy belly dancing queen, Kash Athanatos

And South African journo/musician, Roger Lucey

I do see why Andrew says the opportunities are endless. It’s a great space to host all kinds of creative things, and I think it will do really well. Andrew also noted that Atelier AHA plans on offering a subscription with different levels of membership for private patrons and artists and they are also hoping to find sponsors interested in advancing South African talent.

Want to get involved? Here’s how:

Contact Andrew on: 076 721 3616 or ahaforpeace@gmail.com
Address: Armadale Road (off Ravenscraig Road), Woodstock
Also check out the Atelier AHA Facebook page or follow them on Twitter @Atelier_AHA to keep up to date with their happenings.

xxx

Right, let’s talk about vaginas…

Posted on February 16, 2013 by Karisa

The Vagina Monoloë cast, from left to right: Antionette Louw, Simone Biscombe & Lulu Botha

Die Vagina Monoloë (aka The Vagina Monologues – just translated in Afrikaans) is currently showing at the Intimate Theatre at the UCT campus in Orange St, Gardens.

I went to check out their opening night this week and I will admit, I was pretty much dragged there by the boyfriend in case he needed my Afrikaans translation services. In my mind I just really couldn’t imagine having to listen to women going on and on about their vaginas for however long and I even considered not going at one point…

But boy did I get a reality check. This play is absolutely brilliant. And actually quite funny! I didn’t expect that part at all. It’s a perfect mix of light & serious and the stories these women tell are things we as South African women (and men) will connect with in a major way. It’s a must see and with all the things happening in SA at the moment, I think it’s also extremely relevant and really important to show them your support. Oh and if you don’t understand that much Afrikaans, that’s not an excuse for not going, just do what the boyfriend did and take a friend along who does.

The cast consists of 3 amazing actresses – Antionette Louw, Simone Biscombe & Lulu Botha – and trust me, these ladies will have you laughing and crying and leaving there absolutely moved by what you’ve seen.

Just as some background about The Vagina Monologues for those who don’t really know what much about it (I pulled the following bits from Wikipedia):

It was written by Eve Ensler who did the first draft in 1996 and who also originally starred in the production. After she left the play was recast with 3 actresses.
The play has been staged internationally and a television version featuring Ensler was also produced by HBO.
In 1998 Ensler and others launched V-Day, a global non-profit movement that has raised over $75 million for women’s anti-violence groups through the benefits of The Vagina Monologues.
The play is made up of a number of varying monologues. Each of the monologues deal with an aspect of the the feminine experience, touching on things such as sex, love, rape, menstruation, female genital mutilation, masturbation, birth & orgasm. It’s a result of interviews Ensler conducted with 200 women about their views on sex, relationships, and violence against women.
A recurring theme throughout the piece is the vagina as a tool of female empowerment, and the ultimate embodiment of individuality. Ensler said she wrote the piece to “celebrate the vagina.”
Every year a new monologue is added to highlight a current issue affecting women around the world.

Right, now that you have a better idea of what it’s all about, here are all the important details you need to make your booking:

Venue: Intimate Theatre, Hiddingh Campus, 37 Orange Street Gardens
Dates: until 23 Feb
Time: 8:00pm
Ticket Prices: R90
Bookings: 0782165969
Tweet along: #DieVaginaMonoloe

Book it, book it now! These ladies need your support and everyone needs to hear their message.

xxx

Lady Gaga puts on a killer show in Cape Town

Posted on December 12, 2012 by Karisa

Just for the record, I’m going to state this upfront: Noooo, I am not a little monster. BUT I did suspect that someone as weird & wonderful as Lady Gaga would be the kind of artist to put on one hell of a live show. And boy was I right. This was an experience worth every single cent I paid for my ticket.

On the day, I was running late because of work & the nightmare traffic and all that (I do work all the way out in the Northerns after all), but this seemed to give my Bjorn some extra time to really get into that Monster’s Ball vibe. I will admit that his look startled me at first and also totally creeped out quite a few people on our walk from Sea Point to the stadium, but by the time we got to the concert, he was blending in quite nicely. It felt like Halloween all over again, which was really kinda cool. If I had more time, I would’ve also made an effort for sure…

We missed the first opening act which was Lady Starlight – who’s apparently an old friend of Gaga’s from way back when and the person behind some of her crazy outfits. But we did get there in time to rock it out to that huge The Darkness hit, I believe in a thing called love. Absolutely loved these guys. Great energy (I mean they’re certainly no spring chickens anymore) and great live sound, very entertaining indeed and I was super happy that I got to see them do their thing. It kinda felt like a two birds with one stone moment. So actually I saved money, right?

But the real show was still to come. And we were certainly in for quite a ride.

Gaga is definitely a girl who knows how to make an entrance. With her magical castle stage setup with moving parts and all, she appeared on scene on a horse wearing a suit that reminded me of that big Xenomorph alien from the Alien movies. This was shortly followed by her popping out of plucked chicken-like thing. Why??? Cause that’s just how she rolls people! Come now…

Things just got better from there with each wardrobe & stage change more interesting than the last. Of course there was some meat themed things thrown in the mix – it just wouldn’t have been the same without it really – and at one point she even turned herself into a motorcycle (yes I know, that sounds very weird, but it was pretty damn cool). I’ve put together a few photo collages to give you an idea of what went down:

I think what really blew me away though was that this lady really has some impressive vocal chops (excuse the meat pun hehe). I mean I do enjoy her music and you’ll find quite a bit of her stuff on my gym playlist for sure. So I knew she could sing. But hearing her live and also hearing her do some a capella stuff really proved to me what an amazing voice she actually has. I guess normally I would put pop type music in a bit of a “just for fun” category. But I definitely left there with a new level of respect for her as an artist.

She also proved that she’s probably the most patient person on the planet as well during a part of the show where she welcomed some fans onto the stage. It all started off all warm & fuzzy with her picking out a few folks from the front row, giving them all a big hug and then letting them stand around her while she did a chilled out version of Born this way.

Totally awesome moment for these guys & girls…

But then the girl on the far left had to make things like totally awks for everyone. Yes, this girl:

Ag nee man…

I really don’t know what was going through her mind at the time, but for some reason she decided this would be her Idols moment and she would therefore try to steal some air time from Gaga!? She started off by moving in just a little too close for comfort. Then she continued to dig her head in closer to the mic, up to the point where she was basically inhaling Gaga’s exhale. I was like: Jislaaik meise, wat maak jy nou? Gaga eventually let her have the mic for a bit and then had to fight to keep ownership of it again afterwards. It all played out like an awkward scene from Anchorman or something. But Gaga handled it like a true pro. I’m pretty sure however in her head she was wishing there was a button she could press to make this girl disappear…

I really should have taken a video of this crazy moment, but I was just in sooooo much disbelief at what was going down, I didn’t think of it at the time. Luckily the folks at 2oceansvibe have got you covered. Check out their video clip over here. After the first time she gets the mic you might be thinking, OK that wasn’t so bad. But then skip to about 2:22min in and see round two. Things get drastically stranger, very fast. At about 3:50min you see Gaga whispering something into her ear and she backs off a little. Not that this stops her from giving it one last go towards the end, but ja, would love to know what Gaga said to her in that moment.

Anyhoo, moving right along. This was an all round brilliant concert and certainly a night to remember. So to all the Lady Gaga haters out there, whatevs… you missed out.

xxx

In the mood for some theatre daaahlings?

Posted on October 23, 2012 by Karisa

If you’re keen to check out a play (or two), here are options I know of at the moment.

The first is called I am Hamlet. It is currently showing at the Intimate Theatre on the UCT Hiddingh Campus in Orange St and the synopsis is as follows:

I AM HAMLET is a unique one-act comedy-thriller by Richard James. This award winning play, tells the tale of an actor auditioning for the lead role in a production of Hamlet. ‘Tom’, played by Leon Clingman, a director who yearns to gain recognition in mainstream theatre, puts ‘Simon’, played by Aidan Whytock, through the gruelling paces of an audition which sets the stage for great comedy, but as tension mounts, we slowly learn that the actor has more in common with the Prince of Denmark than meets the eye…

It will be showing until 3 Nov (except Sun & Mon) with a starting time of 8pm. Tickets cost R50 (or R40 for students & pensioners) and are available either at the door or through Computicket. I’ve heard very good things about this one and I’m hoping to catch it before their run ends.

The second is called TAPE

and it will be kicking off this evening at the Theatre Admin Arts Collective on the cnr of Milton Rd & Wesley St in Observatory. TAPE is a 1999 play by Stephen Belber which was also turned into a film in 2001 which starred Ethan Hawke, Robert Sean Leonard, and Uma Thurman.

Set in a motel in Lansing, Michigan. Jon (played by Bjorn Steinbach) and Vince (played by Scott Cooper) are both visiting their home town & reminisce about their high school years. They get on the subject of a girl named Amy (played by Shannyn Fourie), a girl one of them dated, and the other was with for just one night…

Oooh la la, sounds like some serious tension will follow there hey. TAPE will be showing every evening at 7pm until this Sat, 27 Oct. Tickets cost R40 and are available at the door or you can pre-book by contacting them on 021 447 3683 or artsadmin@mweb.co.za. I will be checking this one out this evening.

So howz about it guys & girls, let’s support some local theatre! Know of any other good ones happening at the moment (or soon)? Leave a comment below and share the love.

xxx

OMG, Engelbert Humperdinck is coming to Cape Town!!!

Posted on May 29, 2012 by Karisa

If you’re thinking “Who the hell is Engelbert Humperdinck!?!” That’s exactly what I thought when I got an email from Real Concerts announcing his show at the Grand West Arena on 20 June…

Um… OK then…

The email started off by saying that because I had attended a previous Real Concerts event, I was included in this email distribution. That got me thinking… what shows have I watched recently and how the hell did that make them think I might be interested in this one?

I quizzed my friend Darryn – cause he’s my concert insider guy – and he could recall Jimmy Carr, Russell Peters and Faithless being amongst the Real Concerts events we’ve attended within the past year or so. I was like… seriously… two comedians with a pretty dark sense of humour and then Faithless!!! These people think the girl who watched this:

And totally lost her brain to legendary songs like “Insomnia” and “God is a DJ” might be intrigued by this old dude who I’m sorry to say looks pretty damn creepy in his promo pic? Let’s keep it REAL here Real Concerts. I see this as a serious communications FAIL.

I would suggest they look into improving their mailing system. Maybe best to make a note of people’s preferences and keep track of their show choices, then send out info accordingly. I certainly don’t think they were hitting their target market with this one. Hehe.

xxx

PS. In case this looks like it could be your kind of thing… the email went on so say that he has sold over 150 million records during his career, including 63 gold and 24 platinum discs. And people like Jimi Hendrix and The Carpenters, started out as opening acts for him in the late’60′s, 70’s and ’80′s. ALSO at one stage he took a # 1 spot away from the Beatles nogal. Wow, maybe I should go…… nah.

Jou ma se comedy club

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Karisa

I love watching comedy. There’s nothing better than an evening of chuckling away (or even snorting out loudly if you wish) – it’s really good for the soul.

A spot that I really love and try to check out as often as I can is Jou ma se comedy club at the River Club in Observatory. It’s the brainchild of top local comedian, Kurt Schoonraad, and it’s a great showcase of our local comedic talents.

There are shows every Thursday evening at 8:30pm – it only costs R80 and there’s always a good mix of established acts and more up-and-coming guys. As an extra bonus, you’re also seated in the Players Cafe & Bar, which means you can enjoy some tasty food & drinks while enjoying the lineup.

Last Thu eve I popped in with a group of friends for a much needed laughter therapy session after a particularly stressful few weeks at work. Our host for the evening was lovely funny lady, Mel Jones. She did such a great job of firstly warming up the crowd before the first act and then continuing to keep things going in between acts.

Act nr 1 was Durban boy, Gareth Woods. He’s actually originally from Welkom (shame) and he shares some great stories of what went down in that small town when he was growing up. He also incorporates singing into his act – which I normally don’t really like – but his songs were absolutely brilliantly funny.

Then we had the the first open mic act of the night. I always think it must be helluva scary to get up in front of a crowd, hoping that they will find you funny. That’s way too much stress for me, so I really take my hat off to these guys.

Dalin Oliver did a great job though. You would never have guessed that he’s new to the scene as he had us in stitches from the word go.

After a short interval we moved onto the 2nd open mic act, Kurt Langeveld. I’ve actually seen him perform once before at Synergy last year. He was part of the “up-and-comers” lineup and one of the better guys there. This evening he rocked the crowd with ease as well.

The headlining act for the evening was Paul Snodgrass. He’s loved by many Capetonians, but I just don’t really enjoy his comedy style. I’ve seen him a few times now and it’s just not for me. I will say however that at least this time round he did get one or two giggles out of me, so maybe that’s some progress.

If you’re into comedy, Jou ma se comedy club will definitely be right up your alley. The lineup changes every week, so there’s always lots of fresh acts and at the low price of R80, it’s truly such a bargain.

Come on, everyone can do with more laughter in their lives! And you’ll also be doing a great thing by supporting our local comedy industry…

xxx

My Love Affair with Cape Town…

Just random fun in my mother city

Category Archives: On stage