The Jo'burg Theatre.
It’s the city that so effortlessly dazzles with not only gold but talent too, where the stars meet the arts. The Joburg Theatre continues its 60th anniversary celebrations by bringing the opera Don Givonni to the Mandela stage.
The theatre kicked off its 60th commemorations with an exciting evening full of music and dance while honouring 20 top theatre makers. These theatre makers were the first to be praised in a grand way through the unveiling of the theatre’s Diamond Walk of Fame.
The honoured artists were Patrick Mynhardt, Mimi Coetzee, Des and Dawn Lindberg, Joan Brickhill, Janice Honeyman, Johnny Clegg, Athol Fugard, John Kani, Pieter Dirk-Uys, Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masekela, Sibongile Khumalo, Gibson Kente, Prof Mzilikazi Khumalo, Tobie Cronje, Desmond Dube, Thembi Mtshali-Jones, Brenda Fassie, Trevor Noah and Gregory Maqoma.
Chief executive of the Joburg Theatre Xoliswa Nduneni-Ngema said that it was an honour for them to be able to recognise and celebrate the work that these artists have done. “It has been a great joy and privilege to be able to honour these leading lights in the theatre community. The role they have played in the success of the arts industry in Joburg and the country can never be overstated. Their influence and inspiration can be felt in tonight’s performances, in the 60th celebrations programming and in the Joburg Theatre itself, as we look to the next 60 years,” Ngema said.
The festivities continue as the Joburg Theatre stages Mozart’s Don Giovanni this month. Originally written in Italian but translated into English by Amanda Holden, the performance fuses a mixture of comedy, melodrama and supernatural events. Unfolding in two acts, it tells the tale of a desirable, reckless and amoral young man, Don Giovanni, who is adored by many women but he propels his own path to destruction in just one day.
Describing the opera as timeless, the play director Christoph Dammann said that the protagonist symbolises a contemporary person whose complexities are illustrated through the various personalities he plays.
“He’s a very charming, seductive man and I think most of the women he approaches really love him because he is able to show a very gentle character. Yet he is immoral, which in Mozart’s time, was against the Catholic Church. A person who is immoral is fascinating to us. If he is just a good gentle guy it would be boring. He is lying, cheating, betraying and killing if provoked,” he explains.
Dammann says though Don Giovanni’s character represents freedom he also has some bad sides.
“Don Giovanni comes from the mythologic Don Juan from the mediaeval age and it’s a very modern person because he shows so many different characters. First he is a free person, he is free thinking, he represents the idea of free love and he is also representing the ideas of enlightenment,” Dammann said.
With a cast of both local and international performers, artistic consultant Dr Musa Nkuna mentions that there was a great focus on featuring a diversified cast to merge cultures but to also expose local audiences to global acts.
“There are certain opera productions that you do with people you have worked with, people that you like and know and people that will accept conditions that are not always the most acceptable conditions. When you talk to overseas musicians they always have to come here with an understanding that we are trying to build and introduce something new to our communities. Although there has been some work done in the past 28 years, we need to do more by getting more and more international singers to come and perform in South Africa,” he said.
Nkuna said that in putting the cast together it was important for him to include many South African musicians who would be able to perform in a production of this magnitude and have it be staged locally.
“South Africa has a lot of talent. We train in South Africa but because of a lack of opportunities here, we export them to Europe and America. We would like to do things also the other way around and bring as many South Africans as possible back to take part in productions like this wherever possible,” Nkuna said.
He also said that because of the county’s history, more needs to be done in creating intercountry relationships, so local audiences are able to experience universally staged productions and operas.
“For a very long time South Africa was isolated,” said Nkuna, noting that black people could not even watch opera on stage, but that things began to improve in the 1980s. “We are trying to build on that.”
Performances run from 12 to 21 August and ticket prices range from R250 to R550. For more details visit, visit joburgtheatre.com or follow the theatre on Twitter and Facebook.