Cape theatre picks: February 4 2011

Cape Town audiences will be treated to some classic theatre this week.

• Following Jay Pather’s site specific Qaephela Caesar, Cape Town’s disgracefully neglected and decrepit City Hall will once more be home to a new production of Jean Genet’s timeless thriller, The Maids. Director Ruth Levin and producer Tammy-Anne Fortuin have forged together an excellent cast which features Susan Danford, Denise Newman and introduces Tamryn Spiers. The play is billed as a striking portrayal of how as individuals and society we view our lives in terms of what we do rather than who we are. Inspired by a true incident in Paris, the script takes a look into the desperate relationships of two sisters and their Madame. With their skewered self-perceptions they see no way out of their current way of living, to such an extent that they begin to play with the fantasy of murder.

  Levin comments, ‘Our vision is that this play will serve as the beginning of the revival of City Hall as a creative hub and heritage site that should be attractive and accessible to the general public.”

  Cape Town City Hall, Darling Street, Cape Town. Until February 23. Book at Computicket. www.themaids.co.za

• Cape Town’s only repertory company, The Mechanicals, a vibrant theatre collective of professional actors, directors and designers, kick off what promises to be an rewarding 2011 summer season with a stage version of Scott Fitzgerald’s classic story, The Great Gatsby. Luke Ellenbogen directs the production which includes Emily Child, Nicholas Pauling and Scott Sparrow. In March they will perform Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and in April / May they will stage the brilliant post-modern comedy Lovborg’s Women. The programme includes pre-show introductions by directors and post-show discussions with the casts on selected nights.

  The Little Theatre, 37 Orange Street, Gardens. Until February 19 is The Great Gatsby. Book at Tel: 021 480 7129. Website: www.themechanicals.co.za
  

• This year’s annual Shakespeare in the Maynardville open air theatre is Roy Sargeant’s production of The Taming of the Shrew, a play first performed here in 1956. Christopher Sly, a congenial drunk flung out of a bar by the pub’s hostess, falls into a deep sleep and dreams a dream. That dream is the story of the taming of Katherina, the Shrew, by Petruchio. A play-within-a-dream, with its wild and giddy uses of disguises, mistaken identities, and confusions, provides consummate comedy for all. Circus owner Petruchio drags Katherina into a mad, topsy-turvy world of clowns, jugglers, a lion and Petruchio’s spaniel, Troilus. Through this comic, and at times brutal chaos, two of Shakespeare’s most celebrated lovers encounter a rugged path to true love. The cast is led by Anthea Thompson and Grant Swanby.
  
  Maynardville Open-Air Theatre, Wynberg. Until February 9. Book at Computicket or Artscape Dial-a-Seat 021 421 7695 or at the Maynardville Box Office, an hour prior to the performance.