This year’s seventh annual Baxter Dance Festival is jam-packed with Cape Town’s diverse and dynamic dance talent.
? The seventh Artscape Spring Drama Season kicks off with a commissioned play, Mary and the Conqueror, from South African playwright, Juliet Jenkin (The Boy Who Fell from the Roof).
Set against the backdrop of the life of Mary Renault, historical novelist of Ancient Greece, who lived and wrote in Camps Bay, Jenkin imagines an encounter between Renault and her hero, Alexander the Great. We meet Renault’s lifelong companion and lover, Julie Mullard, and one of Alexander’s lovers, Hephaistion. It is the story of two very different lives and their unlikely intersection. The play is directed by Roy Sargeant. Mary is played by Diane Wilson.
Arena Theatre, Artscape Theatre Centre, Foreshore, until October 15. Book at Computicket. Tel: 021 421 7695. Website: www.artscape.co.za
? This year’s seventh annual Baxter Dance Festival is jam-packed with Cape Town’s diverse and dynamic dance talent, featuring more than 50 works ranging in style from contemporary to neoclassical, flamenco, fusion, physical theatre, modern, African, jazz, hip-hop, belly and Indian dancing. Participating companies include the Cape Dance Company, Amalgamated Artists, Dance for All, Wilvan School of Dance, Jazzart Dance Theatre, Remix Dance Company, La Rosa Spanish Dance Company, Free Flight Dance Company and Brigitte Reeve Dance Company.
Works are by well-known choreographers such as David Krugel, Dada Masilo, Michelle Reid, Christopher Kindo, Roseanne Maile and Mavis Becker, Adele Blank, Douglas Griffiths and Shaun Oelf. Much anticipated is Grant van Ster’s commissioned piece, Paradigm Shift. The newly introduced Off Main Programme features emerging young choreographers and student work. The Fringe Programme includes work by youth groups and dance schools, school groups and traditional African dance groups. A site-specific work is performed in the Baxter’s foyer by Darkroom Company, choreographed by Louise Coetzer.
Baxter Theatre Centre, Rondebosch, until October 15. Book at Computicket. Tel: 021 685 7880. Website: www.baxter.co.za.
? Music obsessive and Duncan Farenheit creator Pierre Malherbe returns as himself in Another Friggin’ Tribute Show, a stand-up comedy about the bands and artists that shaped and influenced his life. Directed by Vincent Meyburgh, this new show is a non-musical tribute to music.
From singing along to his mother’s Engelbert Humperdink records at the age of four through to his teenage years addicted to Pink Floyd’s The Wall album, Malherbe travels down the paths of snobbish music fans, psychotic record-store employees, pretentious musos and clueless radio DJs. He also attempts to answer some questions: What is the difference between a rave and a trance party? Why is Mexican singer-songwriter Rodriguez only known in South Africa (and Australia, apparently)? Where did the Springbok Nude Girls really get their name? And, are drummers musicians?
Intimate Theatre, 37 Orange Street, Gardens, until October 15. Book at Tel: 078 616 4658. Tickets at the door. Website: www.intimatetheatre.net.