Theatre in Jo’burg is a bit of a drag this week, it seems.
? If you are looking for a really unusual experience, don’t miss the return season of Doo Bee Boobies, an all-male troupe of cross-dressers out on a romp. The press release tells us that the whole thing is done ‘with tongue firmly in (butt) cheek”, but it does take some skill and great bravery to pull off some of the outrageous antics of this not-so-young ensemble.
Choreographer Mark Hawkins’s Very Very Big Productions presents the grand comeback, which stars veteran soaphead Robert Whitehead and fellow starlet Stephen van Niekerk. Proper dancer Ebrahim Medell is joined by cult tart Stanimir Stoykov and real musician Tony Bentel.
The Fringe, Jo’burg Theatre Complex, Braamfontein, from June 1 to 26. Tel: 0861 670 670.
? Performer Ben Voss seems to be positioning his outrageous drag creation, Beauty Ramapelepele, in the same territory as Pieter-Dirk Uys’s Evita Bezuidenhout. In a way, though, the politics of what Voss does is more up to the minute. The fact of a white, male actor (not the wealthiest group in society) satirising a black woman who is an over-pampered black economic empowerment success, causes discomfort for some while it brings others to the brink of tearful laughter. It is in this danger zone that Voss operates. The new show, Bend It Like Beauty, has the world-class operator, the mamma of mammas, taking an all-expenses paid, first-class trip with the department of tourism to showcase South Africa to the rest of the world.
Arena, State Theatre Complex, Church Street, Pretoria, until June 11. Book at Computicket. Tel: 012 392 4000.