Alex Sudheim
The Barnyard Theatre, Gateway shopping complex. Rocking the southern hemisphere’s largest shopping and entertainment complex just north of Durban is Roll over Beethoven, the first production in the centre’s in-house theatre. The show has enjoyed a sold-out run country-wide, was inspired by the rock’n’roll classic by the same name and is a rollicking rock revival in which the spirit of Beethoven appears on stage to introduce classically inspired rock numbers from the past century, traditional Irish music and snippets from great classical overtures. The highly successful show is on six days a week from Tuesday to Sunday and tickets are R65 each. Get to the theatre at 6.30pm and take a picnic basket (or buy a food box from the theatre for R35) and enjoy the old-fashioned barnyard atmosphere before the show kicks off at 8pm. Sunday is family day with a buy-one-get-one-free offer for the lunchtime show. On Sundays the theatre opens at 12pm and the show starts at 2pm. Roll over Beethoven ends its run on Sunday January 27 and in the last week of its run Shelley McLean will be replaced on female vocals by talented Isidingo star Kerry Hiles. Commencing its final Durban run on January 29 is Aaron McIllroy’s highly acclaimed satire of the world of motivational speaking, The Loser see Theatre Pick of the Week. Tel: 0860 102 370.
Backstage Theatre, Royal hotel. Durban’s sole remaining five-star hotel
keeps discerning patrons entertained with high-class fare in this upmarket supper-theatre venue. Breaking the seal on the new year is Bare Essentials, an imaginative new musical conceived and performed by top Durban stage artists Melanie Roberts, Shelly McLean and Evan Roberts. The show’s theme is “back to basics” sans backing tracks, the trio avail themselves of the pure and simple combination of vocals and piano with a touch of percussion showcasing a range of popular numbers with a twist. The well-travelled professionals in the show came up with the idea when they discovered their common desire to revisit the classic piano-voice formula, which breaks free of the additional weight of bands, backing tracks or orchestras. Liberated from the frills, the sequins, the pyrotechnics and the tracks, all the performers have to rely on is their talent, skill and passion. Bare Essentials is light, relaxed and musically diverse with songs from artists such as Elton John, John Denver, Shirley Bassey, George Gershwin, Faith Hill, Celine Dion, Al Jolson and Shania Twain as well as theme songs from films such as Moulin Rouge and Grease. The show runs from February 1 to 17 and the ticket price includes a three-course meal. Bookings:Tel: 333 6000/082 378 7486 or [email protected].
Blu, 226 Stamford Hill Road. Provocative Durban playwright Shireen James
has always had a proclivity for poking about the dark underbelly of society and the psyche and in her new play White Trash she continues to mine the murky depths of social and domestic dysfunction. Unashamedly stereotypical, the work embodies all the clichs of a poor, provincial and disillusioned couple. James has the Klipdrift and Coke flowing in abundance, lubricating the mechanisms of abuse that have held this couple together for so long. Poppie (Monique Hebrard) and husband Morn (Brad Watt) are archetypes of a dismal, white, middle-class South African marriage. The recently laid-off Morn spends his days in front of the TV and behind a brandy bottle while nurturing a sordid suspicion his wife is having it off with her boss. When Morn sees an old mate of his on People of the South his inertia and incapacity come to a head and his frustrations and resentments stream forth in a volley of swearwords and, surreally, song. White Trash runs every Wednesday until the end of January at 8pm. Tickets are R30 and bookings can be made on Tel:072 223 3475.
Cinema Sublime, Berea Cinecentre. The weekly fix of independent film for
Durban’s cineastes provided every Sunday afternoon on January 20 features the hugely acclaimed slice of Spanish surrealism, La Communidad (The Common Wealth). The director of the devilishly dark horror-comedy El da de la Bestia o Accin Mutante (Day of the Beast) remains in sinister comedy mode with The Common Wealth. However, in his latest outing Alex de la Iglesia replaces apocalyptic battles between good and evil and outlandish characters with a scenario that is, superficially, a whole lot more quotidian. Though the film apparently dwells on the uninteresting lives of ordinary people, black humour quickly gives way to suspense, closely followed by horror. Julia (the brilliant Carmen Maura) finds 300 million pesetas hidden in a dead man’s house while selling an apartment. She’s a fortysomething real estate agent now forced to face the wrath of a peculiar community of neighbors headed by an unscrupulous administrator. Compelling as it is weird, this one ought to impress all smart cult horror-comedy fans. The film starts at 5.15pm and tickets are R18. Tel: 201 6007.
Dance classes, Playhouse. One of the longest-running institutions at the Playhouse is Steps into Dance, the celebrated, high-calibre programme of dance classes dedicated to providing a peerless standard of practical dance tuition and practice from amateur to advanced levels. Classes take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5.30pm and registration for the classes is R60 a year, with a R10 fee per class. One-off classes cost R20 each. Tel: 369 9467.
DLIDinner Theatre Club, Greyville racecourse. The cabaret Jazz Bubbles stars Joel Zuma, Hlengiwe Lushaba, Sibongiseni Mbambo and Bianca Lutge. It runs from January 23 to February 2. Tickets are R85 at Computicket, which includes a buffet dinner.
Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre, University of Natal, Durban. Record-breaking
comedy Defending the Caveman, one of South Africa’s most popular stage shows, returns to Durban for a final season from January 30 to February 10. Its umpteenth sold-out run here once again has Tim Plewman as Rob Becker’s embattled modern male trying to understand the timeless man-woman divide in amusingly vexed fashion. Plewman ends the show with his 1 000th performance, which will take place in Cape Town shortly after the Durban season. A comedy about men and women, the show treads familiar battle-of-the-sexes turf in a witty and original fashion. The protagonist, anxious to defend the beleaguered male, comes up with the theory that male-female relations are thwarted by their refusal to acknowledge the fact that the female gatherer is an almost entirely different species to the male hunter. Book at Computicket. More info:Tel: 083 915 8000.
Langoustine Theatre by the Sea. Bubbly blonde powerhouse Dianne Chandler
the effervescent performer blessed with a fabulous voice and delicious sense of humour will appear in her one-woman show Unhinged at the ritzy Langoustine Theatre by the Sea from January 21 until February 10. Chandler is an entertainer of international standing, having performed in theatre, cabaret and television in the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, Canada, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Sweden, Norway, Egypt, South Africa and most of the African continent as well as on many cruise liners. She has worked with the likes of Rod Stewart, Engelbert Humperdinck, Neil Sedaka, Matt Monroe, Charles Aznavour, Smokey and Ben E King, to name a few. Known for her extravagant gowns and sharp wit, Chandler performs an eclectic mix of a dozen or so songs in her new show that mesh with her trademark comedy banter. Her line-up includes numbers from Andrew Lloyd Webber, some Frank Sinatra favourites, Tom Jones and Boyzone hits with numbers including New York, New York; Power of Love; You Make Me Feel so Young; Living Years; Without Love; Any Dream Will Do; My Way; and her show-stopping rendition of Jerusalem. Tickets are R120 a person, which includes a first-class three-course meal. There is a special Tuesday low-price rate of R99 for a two-course meal and the show and, throughout the show’s run, there will be budget Sundays of R99 for a two-course meal and the show. The meal is served from 6.30pm. More info:Tel: 563 7324. Book at the Langoustine or Computicket, or for credit-card bookings call Tel: 304 2753.
Rhumbelow Shellhole, Cunningham Avenue (off Bartle Road). This vibrant
haven of independent theatre sees in the new year with style when, over the first weekend of February, it hosts top entertainer Rory Rootenberg’s acclaimed new show, Reflections. Following the popular Cadenza, the seven-time Vita Award-winner presents a stimulating study of musical contrasts ranging from Brel, Dvork and traditional Jewish songs to Abba to demonstrate how different languages, cultures and music say the same thing. Scripted and directed by Ian von Memerty, the show features either Tony Bental or Dawid Boverhoff on piano. Rootenberg’s sublime singing voice takes centre stage in this show as he has stripped away much of the banter and frenetic comic activity that characterised Cadenza. He describes Reflections as a “stripping down to nothing” version compared with the wigs and costumes he used in his previous shows. There are three shows only, on February 1 and 2 at 7pm and on February 3 at 5pm. Tickets are R60 a person, which includes a main meal and dessert. There is a discount available for bookings of tables of eight or more. Bookings and more information: Tel: 205 7602/082 499 8636 or [email protected].
Square Space Theatre, University of Natal, Durban. One of the great
metaphysical poets of Islam, Jelaluddin Rumi, in the 13th century founded the Mawlawi Sufi order, a leading mystical brotherhood of Islam, and wrote an epic collection of music, dance and lyric poems, Divani Shamsi Tabrizi; a six-volume didactic work, the Mathnawi; and the metaphysical discourses Fihi ma Fihi. Renowned English actor and storyteller Duncan Mackintosh reflects on the deep and often humorous observations of life provided by Rumi in a performance that has received fine reviews in several countries and at the Edinburgh Festival. There are two performances only on Friday January 18 and Saturday January 19 at 7.30 pm. Tickets are R35 at the door. Tel: 082 335 6088/201 3739.
Theatre pick of the week
The Loser
Barnyard Theatre
January 29 to February 10
Gifted comedian and charismatic actor/singer Aaron McIllroy takes the world of corporate pseudo-spirituality and pop philosophy to task in his inspired pastiche of motivational speaking, The Loser.
Already a hit around the country on previous occasions, McIllroy performs his scabrously hilarious one-hander for the last time over a 12-show run at new shopping colossus Gateway’s hugely popular Barnyard Theatre.
In the biting satire, that most peculiar aspect of corporate claptrap, motivational speaking, comes under comic scrutiny. A refreshingly irreverent take on New Age quick-fix positivity in the workplace, The Loser stars McIllroy as Truscott Price, the world’s greatest motivational speaker. A whirlwind of one-liners, punchlines and eviscerated clichs, McIllroy skilfully and single-handedly portrays the plethora of characters that make up the cast of this modern tragicomedy. This surreal host of unusual, eccentric, bizarre and idiotic individuals from the intellectually challenged, passive-aggressive tae-bo instructor to the one-armed evangelical Irish river dancer provide ample opportunity for comic sideswipes at the sitting duck of motivational speaking from a number of different angles.
The Loser is also packed with high-energy take-offs of songs sung like you’ve never heard them before by the likes of Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, Lou Vega and a grab-bag of Elvis tunes, all performed by different personae.
Tickets are R65, Wednesday to Saturday. Due to the popularity of Sunday’s buy-one-get-one-free promotion, the theatre offers the same on Tuesdays for this show.
Bookings and more info: Tel: 566 3045/6. Alex Sudheim