Comedy to ballet, there’s something to suit all theatre tastes this week.
- Stand-up comedian Sivuyile “Siv” Ngesi, winner of the Golden Ovation Award for Comedy at the National Arts Festival 2010, is back with his one-man show, Dekaf, about “blacks who think like whites told by a black guy who sounds white”. Ngesi’s take is that contrary to popular belief, there is a new generation of black people who don’t bitch about the ‘struggle’, can swim, aren’t hated by dogs, and didn’t vote for Jacob Zuma. Instead , this is “the world of a black man who was raised in the suburbs, educated in a public school system, dates white women and listens to Josh Groban”. Dekaf is directed by comedian David Newton.
Until April 2 in the Concert Hall, Baxter Theatre, Main Road, Rosebank. Book at Computicket or Tel: 021 685 7880. Website: www.baxter.co.za.
- Cape Town City Ballet presents Poetry in Motion 2, the sequel to their ballet showcase that ran last year. The intention is to highlight the beauty of ballet, interweaving the dance form with music and the spoken word. Taken from a range of poetry, including South African, the themes of the vignettes include the journey of life, love, loss and celebration through ballet pieces created by six choreographers: Erica Brumage, Kirsten Isenberg, Veronica Paeper, Lindy Raizenberg, Liane Lurie and Robin van Wyk. Lindy Raizenberg introduces an Irish flavour in one of her new pieces, Celtic Tides. Liane Lurie’s sensual and sultry pas de deux, Valpurgis Night, will be performed by Megan Swart and Xola Putye on opening night while Kim Vieira and Jon Savage feature in Robin Van Wyk’s tempestuous new piece, Girl of Temptation.
From March 26 to April 6 at the Opera House, Artscape Theatre Centre, Foreshore. Book at Computicket or Tel: 021 421 7695. Website: www.artscape.co.za
- After its success at the Intimate Theatre last year, Scottish playwright David Harrower’s Blackbird will be restaged at the Baxter. We witness two people meeting fifteen years after their ‘love affair’ as they try to comprehend the past so that they can move forward. While dissecting the social taboo of paedophilia, the play attempts to find universality in extreme circumstances. Anyone who has ever tried to revisit a failed relationship, a broken love affair, a marriage that ended in bitter divorce or a childhood with abusive parents, will understand the challenge that faces the two main characters in this powerful play. Warrick Grier, Deborah Vieyra, Rebekah Nathan and Lucy Giffard are directed by Bo Petersen.
Opening March 22 and running until April 9 at the Golden Arrow Studio, Baxter Theatre, Main Road, Rosebank. Book at Computicket or Tel: 021 685 7880. Website: www.baxter.co.za