Written and directed by poet Allan Kolski Horwitz, The Pump Room is set in the first few years of the new South Africa.
Peter (once an actor and an activist) confronts Mike and Lombard (two former apartheid agents who had detained and tortured him) in a world consumed by drugs and sex. Lovers caught in the crossfire are Elsie and Lewis, the pump room attendant at a pubic swimming pool, and Mumsie, an occassional prostitute. Over several hours on a hot summer’s night they play out the tensions and contradictions of their past and present. It is a mixture of soap opera and Greek tragedy with dramatic thriller.
Until April 30 at the Theatre in the District, 106 Chapel Street, District Six. Book at Tel: 082 512 8188. Website: www.theatreinthedistrict.co.za
Directed by Christopher Weare, Lovborg’s Women is a wacky comedy spoofing the naturalistic and realistic dramatics of the imaginary Jorgen Lovborg (after Anton Chekhov and Ibsen). Hens, geese, earmuffs and geraniums are all part of this eloquent tapestry of lust, drama and jealousy. Jorgen Lovborg, embittered and tortured by the opposite sex, considers three influential women. Lovborg’s scenes provide the starting point for The Mechanicals theatre company to reconsider Lovborg’s women in the context of modern reactions to the dignified genre of realism which has dominated much of Western theatre. The team decontruct the characters to great comic effect by satirising physical theatre forms: for example the work of Steven Berkoff, DV8 Physical Theatre and the late Marlene Blom.
Until May 21 at the Intimate Theatre, 37 Orange Street, Gardens. Book at Tel: 021 480 7129. Website: www.themechanicals.co.za
Silence of the Music, a new musical drama that premiered last year, returns to the Baxter.
Set to original music by composer Lynne Holmes-Ganief telling the story of an intercultural love story set in South Africa in the year 2030. An elderly couple, Maria and Khalil, whose marriage was rejected 20 years earlier by their families, friends and community, look back at the challenges they have faced since 2010. Their personal story mirrors world movements including not only the rise of fundamentalism, but the corresponding movement towards peaceful co-existence and religious and cultural tolerance. Maria is played by Michele Maxwell, and Khalil by Fahruq Valley-Omar. The supporting cast includes Loukmaan Adams. The diverse array of musicians features Yusuf Ganief (leading Arabic world music vocalist and lead vocalist for Desert Rose), Antoinette Blyth (Oratorio Soprano), Belinda Silbert (Mezzo Soprano, Hebrew vocalist and well-known TV personality), Asmina Aleker (the Bollywood singer who now resides in South Africa) and Nobuhle Ketelo (award-winning actress, poet and singer).
Main Theatre, Baxter Theatre Centre, Rondebosch. Until April 30. Book at Computicket. Tel: 021 685 7880. Website: www.baxter.co.za