ARTicle
TV Interview: Albert Pretorius – Die Kantoor: Flip’n Funny, Or A Silly Sausage
Showmax will be the home of Die Kantoor, the South African adaptation of global hit format The Office, licensed by BBC Studios. Fleur du Cap and Woordfees award winner Albert Pretorius (Niggies; Nêrens, Noord-Kaap) stars as Flip, the manager at polony...
Music Interview: Lucy Kruger – Cry Woolf, Or Primal Seer
By BRUCE DENNILL In Woolf, the third single from the new Lucy Kruger & The Lost Boys album Pale Bloom, Lucy Kruger conjures a haunting journey across time, memory, and voice. The track begins with a tentative, halting voice stepping into a river,...
Book Extract: Maye! Maye! – Market Value, Or City Connections
Maye! Maye!: The History And Heritage Of The Kwa Mai Mai Market by Sipho Sithole lets the reader into the world of migrant workers and how they have used their culture and heritage to reimagine and create a new socio-economic order through the production of...
Film Interview: Phil Cunningham – David’s Director, Or An Animated Personality
Produced in Cape Town, the joyful animated musical David has been released in 44 international markets after passing seven million YouTube views for its trailers, and was called “the best animated film of 2025” in five-star reviews. The film's creator, director...
Film Interview: Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, Or Fancy Flight
The tenth biggest box office hit of 2025, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning premiered on Showmax on Wednesday, 17 December. The final instalment in the franchise sends Ethan Hunt (four-time Oscar nominee Tom Cruise) after The Entity, a rogue AI...
Theatre Interview: Belinda Henwood – Sinbad The Sailor, Or Magnificently Malignant
By BRUCE DENNILL The 2025 KickstArt Christmas pantomime Sinbad the Sailor at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre. Sinbad the Sailor is a riotous romp over the Seven Seas, in the company of the famous sailor Sinbad and his madcap crew and family. Kickstart...
Dance Interview: Gabriel Ravenscroft – The Nutcracker, Or Taking The High-Line
By BRUCE DENNILL Gabriel Ravenscroft, artist with Cape Ballet Africa, plays the Nutcracker Prince and additional solo roles in the company's latest production of The Nutcracker at the Teatro at Montecasino. Giving movement a message: what are, for...
Art Interview: Kwandiwe Dlwati – Going To Collage, Or Rising Stock
By BRUCE DENNILL In response to a national shortage of funding and resources in the creative sector, particularly for non-profit organisations and independent curators, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange's Art Share Initiative strives to prevent the loss of...
Theatre Interview: Ashley Dowds – Circle Song, Or Surrounded By Story
By BRUCE DENNILL Circle Song, written and performed by Ashley Dowds and directed by Caroline Calburn is a story about re-membering: Two Irishmen leave the shore of Northern Ireland to search for a new sense of belonging; a letter written back in 1864 is...
Book Extract: The Interpreters – South Africa’s New Nonfiction, Or Sticking It To Readers
The Interpreters: South Africa's New Nonfiction, edited by Sean Christie and Hedley Twidle is a 500-page collection of the best of the best creative nonfiction from the country from the last 30 years – featuring big names (Coetzee, Ndebele, Steinberg, Madondo,...
Theatre Interview: Tshepo Ncokoane – The Rocky Horror Show, Or Brought To Heels
By BRUCE DENNILL KickstArt presents a new production of the cult classic musical, The Rocky Horror Show at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre in Durban. The production is directed by Steven Stead, with set designs by multi award-winning Greg King and costume...
Author Interview: Tony Park – Die By The Sword, Or Pooled Resources
By BRUCE DENNILL Tony Park's latest thriller, Die By The Sword involves the hunt for a weapon linked to Napoleon, involving people willing to kill for their prize. Writing a book is a huge commitment. What are the elements that need to be in place...
Music Interview: Cantrel – Relative Inspiration, Or A Jump Ahead
With one million views (and counting) of their track Walls on TikTok and a driving sound that is catching on with global audiences, South African father-and-son rock duo Cantrel are making waves with their new EP, Jump. Hot off the European tour circuit with...
Theatre Interview: Mark Elderkin – Speelgoed Van Glas: Invested In Interpretation, Or A Glass All Full
By BRUCE DENNILL Speelgoed Van Glas, Nico Scheepers’ award-winning reworking and translation of Tennessee Williams’ English masterpiece The Glass Menagerie, has been performed in both English and in Afrikaans at the Baxter. Directed, translated and...
TV Interview: The ABC Killer – Serial Series, Or An Alphabet Of Evil
The ABC Killer is streaming on Showmax. The three-part series about serial killer Moses Sithole is getting rave reviews. Director Jasyn Howes, who also made the SAFTA-nominated Boetie Boer, unpacks the project. This is your second Showmax true-crime series in a...
Theatre Interview: Andrew Buckland – Unruly, Or Primate Perspectives
By BRUCE DENNILL Empatheatre, in collaboration with The Baxter, the Stockholm Resilience Centre and the Unruly Natures research project, presents a return, full-length season of Unruly by popular demand. It stars Andrew Buckland, accompanied on stage by jazz...
Book Extract: I Left Shadows In The Woods – Serenity Savaged, Or Rage Rising
By JOAN DE LA HAYE Enter the Woodsman's Lair: An Excerpt from I Left Shadows in the Woods, a relentless first-person thriller that weaves through the chilling heart of vengeance. Dive into a gripping tale of survival, where Sloane becomes the hunter in...
TV Interview: Elizabeth Moss – The Handmaid’s Tale, Or Almost At The End Of June
The final season of The Handmaid’s Tale is now streaming on Showmax. Since the first five seasons won 15 Emmys, Season 6 is one of the most anticipated TV shows of 2025. The season has an 88% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes. As MSNBC says, the show is...
Film Interview: Cokey Falkow – Working It, Or On A Role
By BRUCE DENNILL Actor Cokey Falkow continues to build his portfolio with two high-profile projects in 2025: the recently released action thriller A Working Man starring Jason Statham, and the upcoming historical drama series Gandhi. In A Working Man,...
Music Interview: Goitsemane Lehobye – Tales And Timbre, Or Dedication To A Dream
By BRUCE DENNILL Concert tour company Classical Movements will be bringing the University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra to South Africa for concerts in Johannesburg and Cape Town. Conducted by Kenneth Kiesler, the 110-member orchestra is touring with...
TV Interview: Mike White – The White Lotus, Or Thais That Bind
With The White Lotus streaming on Showmax, Jim Halterman caught up with creator Mike White to find out more about writing, directing and executive producing the hit HBO show, which has won 15 Emmys so far and has already been renewed for a fourth season. Why Thailand...
TV Interview: Schalk Bezuidenhout – Soos Pynappel Op Pizza, Or Chuffed To Chef
By ROZ ELS Stand-up comedian Schalk Bezuidenhout took on his first lead role in a romantic comedy in the Showmax Original film Soos Pynappel op Pizza, released earlier this year. The two-time Comics Choice winner is no stranger to the acting game though...
Author Interview: Nick Clelland – Good Hope, Or From Darkness To Dystopia
By BRUCE DENNILL Nick Clelland’s debut novel Good Hope is a pacey, dystopian thriller that asks uncomfortable questions around the precariousness of statehood, the fragility of identity and the conflict between security and freedom. In the story, the...
Theatre Interview: Jamie Lee Money – Spin Cycles, Or An Exercise In Processing
By BRUCE DENNILL It’s time to sweat out the sadness. Spin Cycles at the Baxter Theatre offers a cathartic look into why we search for something deeper when the inconceivable happens to us. After an earth-shattering year, can a journalist spin herself out...
Theatre Interview: Andre Odendaal – Bitter Winter, Or One For The Ages
By BRUCE DENNILL Paul Slabolepszy's new play Bitter Winter, which pays poignant tribute to South African Theatre, will premier at Pieter Toerien’s Studio Theatre at Montecasino in February. Slabolepszy, the recent recipient of a Naledi Lifetime...
Author Interview: Justin Fox – The Wolf Hunt, Or Someone Who Knows Jack
By BRUCE DENNILL Justin Fox is the author of World War II thriller The Wolf Hunt. Writing a book is a huge commitment. What are the elements that need to be in place if you are going to meet whatever writing goals you set? Time. I need big chunks of...
Theatre Interview: Mark Richardson – What’s It All About, Alfie?, Or Doolittle, Experience Much
By BRUCE DENNILL Mark Richardson plays Alfie Doolittle in the new Pieter Toerien production of My Fair Lady at the Artscape Opera House and then Montecasino. In the lead-up to a new production, how do you prepare: - Physically… I have...
TV Interview: Colin Farrell – The Penguin, Or Waddle Be All…
The Penguin on Showmax has an 8.7/10 rating on IMDb’s Most Popular TV chart. Following the events of The Batman, Oz Cobb, aka the Penguin, makes a play to seize the reins of Gotham’s crime world. Directed by Emmy nominee Craig Zobel, The Penguin co-stars an...
Theatre Interview: Jennie Reznek – Magical Myths, Or Investing In An Inventor
By BRUCE DENNILL Magnet Theatre presents new show mAnJE ! MaNJe (an epic). The show is made possible by grants from the National Lotteries Commission and the National Arts Council of South Africa. Meat, fire, metal and plastic. What will come to define...
Theatre Interview: Samantha Peo – Mordant Matriarch, Or Dead Right For The Role
By BRUCE DENNILL Samantha Peo will star as Morticia Addams in MotherCity Theatre Productions' staging of The Addams Family: The Musical at The Homecoming Centre in Cape Town. In the lead-up to a new production, how do you prepare physically,...
Music Interview: Caroline Leisegang – Comes The Night, Or Composing A Comeback
By BRUCE DENNILL Composer Caroline Leisegang recently released her fifth studio album, Comes The Night. What are the aspects of music that most appeal to or thrill you as a listener, from lyrics to arrangements to instruments used to production...
Dance Interview: Holly Gruver – Artists First, Or Of Wholeness And Humility
By BRUCE DENNILL American dancer and choreographer Holly Gruver is the founder of the Bryanston, Johannesburg-based WGRUV Dance Company (that first part pronounced “double-u groove”, for the first initial of Gruver’s husband Will’s name – he is a staunch...
Art Activism: Women’s Rights Are Human Rights, Or Graphic Reminders
The world’s first Global Artivism Conference, taking place in Pretoria from 5 to 8 September will explore the dynamic intersection of the arts and activism, highlighting the pivotal role of creative expression in advocating for societal and environmental...
Author Interview: Lisa Lazarus – The Flight Of The Dancer, Or A Woman Of Letters
By BRUCE DENNILL Lisa Lazarus is the author of The Flight of the Dancer, a portrait of a dancer, her family and her relationships. When, and under what circumstances, did the idea for your latest book come to you? I was doing a MA in Creative...
Book Extract: Born White Zulu Bred – In Tents Adventures, Or Burned By Experience
By GG ALCOCK This extract is from Born White Zulu Bred by GG Alcock, published by Tracey McDonald Publishers and used by permission. Real Estate, Msinga Style My mother and father chose to leave successful and financially comfortable lives...
Author Interview: Ashti Juggath – Peaches And Smeets, Or Beyond The Single Story
By ARJA SALAFRANCA Ashti Juggath is the author of Peaches And Smeets, in which protagonist Smita is caught between the beloved traditions of India and life in a quickly modernising South Africa. Writing a book is a huge commitment. What are the...
Artist Interview: Songezo Zantsi – An Eye For Interaction, Or The Value Of Oil
By BRUCE DENNILL Songezo Zantsi, a visual artist from Cape Town, presented his second solo exhibition, Iyabulela Ilali, along with Vela Projects. Zantsi’s aim is to “create a visual archive of life in South Africa” so he uses his paintings to portray...
Theatre Interview: Rushney Ferguson – The Kittie’s Meow, Or Freedom From Fear
Rushney Ferguson plays the title role in David Kramer's musical Ver In Die Wêreld Kittie at The Blik in Cape Town. In the lead-up to a new production, how do you prepare – physically, mentally and emotionally? Preparation is extremely personal and psychological...
Music Interview: Dale Ray – A Prince Of Performers, Or Pure Purple Patch
By BRUCE DENNILL Prince sold at least 100 million records worldwide during his lifetime and was regarded as one of the best musicians in the world by his peers, playing as many as 27 instruments. Showtime Australia presents 1999 The Ultimate Prince...
Music Interview: Corlea Botha – What Happens In Vegas Is Spectacular, Or Learning To Be Lifted
By BRUCE DENNILL Swingin’ Las Vegas pays homage to the music of the stars over the past few decades who have made Vegas... Vegas! It features the music of Elvis, Frank Sinatra and The Rat Pack, Shirley Bassey and Tom Jones as well as contemporary stars...
Film Interview: Natasha Loring – Girl You Know It’s True, Or Accenting The Details
By BRUCE DENNILL The biographical film drama Girl You Know It`s True tells the story of the meteoric rise and fall of Milli Vanilli, the pop superstars of the late Eighties and early Nineties. Natasha Loring stars as 'Lisa'. In the lead-up to a...
Theatre Interview: Bo Petersen – Pieces Of Me, Or Showing One’s True Colours
National Arts Festival from 25 to 30 June, then runs at The Baxter from 10 to 27 July. Pieces Of Me is a moving, personal story of the unspoken histories that many people carry within them. An exploration of family secrets, with resonances that still echo today. It...
Theatre Interview: Cara Roberts – Candidness Captured, Or A Childlike Wander
By BRUCE DENNILL Actress Cara Roberts plays a young boy in The King Of Broken Things, Michael Taylor Broderick’s gorgeous, charming tale of a child who processes his complex emotional life through in brilliantly creative ways. What’s it like...
Art Interview: Nosiviwe Matikinca – A Shoe-In, Or Found And Fascinating
By BRUCE DENNILL Nosiviwe Matikinca was the winner of the 2023 Sasol New Signatures Art Competition. What sort of training have you received and how important do you thing it is to seek training (in terms of learning first principles and refining...
Theatre Interview: Ashley Dowds – Elvis Is In The Building, Or Hip To Nuance
By BRUCE DENNILL The Return Of Elvis Du Pisanie, written and directed by Paul Slabolepszy and starring Ashley Dowds was first performed in 1992. It tells the story of Eddie du Pisanie (played by Slabolepszy in the original and Dowds in this year's new...
Theatre Interview: Aidan Scott – Disonant Disruptor, Or Smooth Opera-tor
By BRUCE DENNILL Gloucester Productions' 2024 staging of Peter Schaffer’s classic text Amadeus moves from Johannesburg (at Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre) to Cape Town (at Theatre on the Bay). This Tony Award-winning play was first staged in 1979...
Theatre Interview: Noni Mkhonto – Playing The Blue, Or Doing What Any Mentor Wood
By BRUCE DENNILL Disney's My Son Pinocchio Jr at the Peoples Theatre features the beloved classic songs ‘When You Wish Upon a Star’ and ‘I’ve Got No Strings’, alongside a host of songs by Oscar- and Grammy Award-winner and master melodist Stephen...
Music Interview: Lucy Tops – Foundational Standards, Or Orchestral Manoeuvres Make A Mark
By BRUCE DENNILL Finding The Light: An Evening With Musical Theatre Stars is the culmination of a coordinated international fundraising drive with the Kolisi Foundation. The Kolisi Foundation was set up by Siya and Rachel Kolisi in 2019 to tackle some of...
Author Interview: Roger Ashton-Griffiths – Cultural Caper, Or Cat Got Your Bass?
By BRUCE DENNILL Roger Ashton-Griffiths' debut novel The Case Of Cat Adam centres on Dusa Mathavasi (DM), a fictitious Indian state squeezed between today’s Pakistan and Iran. A timely invitation from an old school acquaintance, the Rajah, finds Cat Adam...
TV Interview: Sandra Prinsloo – Koek, Or Animal (Print) Instincts
By ROZANNE ELS Koek is now streaming on Showmax, and early reviews are glowing. Of course, it’s hard to talk about a career-best performance for Sandra Prinsloo: Koek has competition there from films like The Gods Must Be Crazy, Hans Steek die...
TV Interview: Seth MacFarlane – Ted Talk, Or Bear And Grin It
Ted is now streaming Showmax. Ted (Oscar nominee Seth MacFarlane) is back in a prequel series in which the foul-mouthed bear is forced to navigate high school alongside his best friend John (Max Burkholder). It's 1993, and Ted the bear’s moment of fame has...
Music Interview: Ricky Ross – Making Music That Travels, Or Versions With Verve
By BRUCE DENNILL Deacon Blue are appearing in South Africa for the first time in Cape Town and Johannesburg. Singer and chief songwriter Ricky Ross (pictured, third from left) talks about his musical journey. During Covid downtime, your recorded...
Theatre Interview: Charmaine Weir-Smith – Psyched About Social Media, Or In Lou Of Serenity
By BRUCE DENNILL Expelled is a family drama that focuses on the largely ungoverned world of social media. Alex, a Matric pupil at an elite school, gets caught up in a viral scandal and is suspended. Once a post is shared, lives alter in seconds: what’s...
Art Interview: Balekane Legoabe – Collage Education, Or A Feel For Finesse
By BRUCE DENNILL Balekane Legoabe, represented by EBONY/CURATED, will be exhibiting at Investec Cape Town Art Fair. What sort of training have you received and how important do you think it is to seek training (in terms of learning first...
TV Interview: Spinners – Car-acter Study, Or Of Speed And Circles
By CARYN WELBY-SOLOMON Spinners, the first African series selected in competition at Canneseries, is available on Showmax. A co-production between Showmax and CANAL+, the series follows Ethan, a 17-year-old driver working for a gang on the Cape Flats....
Book Extract: Big Bully – Unsocial Media, Or Victims Of Validation
Big Bully: An Epidemic of Unkindness by Marion Scher is published by Bookstorm and available now. This extract is published by permission. A different world In early 2022, Alison Gray, deputy principal of Westerford High School, granted me a...
TV Interview: Gérard Labuschagne – Boetie Boer, Or Background On Brutality
The hit Showmax Original documentary Boetie Boer: Inside The Mind of a Monster is available to watch on Showmax. In 1997, Gqeberha fisherman Stewart Wilken was arrested in connection with the disappearance of a 10-year-old boy, Henry Bakkers. While in...
Book Extract: Flipped – Alfa Female, Or Cued For Questioning
Flipped by Tracey Hawthorne is published by Modjadji Books. This extract is published by permission. ‘I can get a warrant, but I don’t want to officially search your premises. That’ll mean lots more cops, dogs, the works. We don’t want that, do we? It’d...
Music Interview: Majozi – A Great Exchange, Or Melodies And Memories
By BRUCE DENNILL Majozi's latest album, A Great Exchange is available now. What are the aspects of music that most appeal to or thrill you as a listener, from lyrics to arrangements to instruments used to production techniques? To be honest, it's...
TV Interview: Anthony Carrigan – Being With Barry, Or You’ll Hank Him Later
HBO’s dark comedy series Barry, available on Showmax, picked up 50 awards in its first three seasons, including nine Emmys. Wrapping up the critically acclaimed story of hitman-turned-actor Barry Berkman (series co-creator Bill Hader, in a performance that’s...
Music Interview: Basson Laas – Tightly Bound, Or Dreaming Of Dynamics
By BRUCE DENNILL Tightly Bound is the debut single from singer-songwriter Basson Laas. What are the aspects of music that most appeal to or thrill you as a listener, from lyrics to arrangements to instruments used to production techniques? Most of...
Book Extract: The Dead Of Winter by Stuart MacBride, Or Part Of The Hole Story
The Dead of Winter by Stuart MacBride is published by Penguin Random House and is available now. The extract is published by permission. It was supposed to be a simple delivery job for DI Victoria Montgomery-Porter and her sidekick, Edward Reekie - pick...
Theatre Interview: Mark Elderkin – Midsummer Night’s Dream, Or Getting To The Bottom Of A Role
By BRUCE DENNILL Presented by the Maynardville Open-Air Festival, in association with VR Theatrical, A Midsummer Night's Dream weaves a tale of love-struck couples, eccentric actors, and mischievous fairies. The play blurs the line between reality and fantasy,...
Author Interview: Tracey Hawthorne – Flipped, Or The Weathering Of Loss
by ARJA SALAFRANCA Flipped by Tracey Hawthorne is a novel about being seen, what is not seen, and how the previously hidden is revealed when the unexpected happens. In the unusually wet winter of 2010, two teenage girls set off to a party on a farm...
TV Interview: Outlaws – Taking Stock, Or Marauding Matriarch
Mmabatho Mogomotsi, who played Snowey in Yizo Yizo more than 20 years ago, recently made her acting comeback in the Showmax Original Outlaws. She plays Moretlo, the Basotho queen-pin of the largest cattle raiding syndicate in Lesotho. She’s the bane of the...
Theatre Interview: Alby Michaels – 1 And Done, Or Completely Coupled
By BRUCE DENNILL What happens when two people love one another so much that they attach physically? What does “forever, together” look like, and … can two people really be one? These are just some of the life and love questions that come into play in the...
Theatre Interview: Jenny Stead – Keeping A Promise, Or Booked For The Stage
By BRUCE DENNILL Jenny Stead stars in The Promise On Stage, directed by Sylvaine Strike, which runs at the Homecoming Centre in Cape Town from 14 September to 6 October and then at the Market Theatre in Johannesburg from 18 October to 5 November. ...
TV Interview: Rhianne Barreto -The Outlaws, Or Workin’ In A Walken Wonderland
Rhianne Barreto plays Rani in The Outlaws. The comedy's first and second seasons are now streaming on Britbox. Introduce us to your character in The Outlaws. I play Rani Rakowski, a teenager who's just been accepted into Oxford University and is looking...
Theatre Interview: Pieter-Dirk Uys – New News, New Roles, Or All Dressed Up And Something To Say
By BRUCE DENNILL Pieter-Dirk Uys: Sell-By Date / Pieter Toerien's Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg Evita Bezuidenhout is back on stage in this show, along with many of your other older characters. For some audience members, that will...
Music Interview: Dr Tom – Making Music On Magic Strings, Or Surgical Songwriting
By BRUCE DENNILL Matodzi Tommy Mariba, known as Dr Tom, is a medical practitioner who works as an orthopedic and spine surgeon in Pretoria while also venturing out as a musician and recording artist. His passion for music stems from his appreciation of...
Theatre Interview: Sven Ruygrok – Ray Of Bite, Or The Beauty Of Drama
By BRUCE DENNILL Winner of five Naledi Theatre Awards, The Beauty Queen of Leenane is a theatrical masterpiece by acclaimed Irish playwright Martin McDonagh (The Banshees of Inisherin, In Bruge, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Hangmen)....
Author Interview: Dear Barack – Linked In Leadership, Or Memories Of Mutuality
By BRUCE DENNILL As the devastation began to unfold in Ukraine, political activist and author Claudia Clark delivered a timely, potent reminder of the importance of alliances between countries and world leaders in her extensively researched, compelling...
TV Interview: Liam Garrigan – Smouldering In Sanditon, Or Desperately Seeking Susan
Liam Garrigan plays Samuel Colbourne in Season 3 of Sanditon, available on Britbox. What drew you to take your role in Sanditon? Joining the cast of Sanditon was nerve-racking at first! It was already an established, well-oiled machine. The first two...
Theatre Interview: Serena Steinhauer – The Undone, Or Revelling In Resilience
By BRUCE DENNILL The Undone follows the stories of three brave women who dare to say what’s been left unsaid. In their stories, audiences discover what resilience looks like. Their stories are an ode to life; the humour, the tragedy, the loss and the...
Author Interview: Justin Fox – The Cape Raider, Or War On The Water
By BRUCE DENNILL Justin Fox is an author and photojournalist. His book The Cape Raider is the first in a series of war novels and is set in South Africa and its waters. When, and under what circumstances, did the idea for your latest book come to...
TV Interview: Jeremy Strong – Subsequent To Succession, Or Getting Wrong Right
Succession recently came to an end on Showmax, wrapping up one of the most acclaimed series of the century so far. Created by Oscar nominee Jesse Armstrong (Veep), Succession has already won 13 Emmys, including Outstanding Drama Series in 2020 and 2022, but...
Artist Interview: Stompie Selibe – Creativity And Community, Or Mix (Media) And Match
By BRUCE DENNILL Daniel “Stompie” Selibe was born in Soweto in 1974. He trained in art therapy at The Art Therapy Centre in Johannesburg in 2001. His training has given him the tools to work with different people who have experienced many things ranging...
Artist Interview: Tamia Saunders – Face Value, Or Creating Stories
By BRUCE DENNILL Tamia Saunders is located at August House and is the current Female Studio exchange awardee. She is one of the featured artists in Open Studios Joburg 2023. What sort of training have you received and how important do you think it...
Theatre Interview: Pieter-Dirk Uys – All The Right Noises, Or Of Stories And Sofia
By BRUCE DENNILL Pieter-Dirk Uys stars in a new production of his one-man play, The Echo Of A Noise, at Pieter Toerien's Montecasino Theatre. The Echo Of A Noise is a stage memoir, so you’re presenting yourself. But is it you as a character; not...
Artist Interview: Lerato Ntili – Riding The Lighting, Or Into A Healing Space
By BRUCE DENNILL Lerato Ntili was part of the TAF Unearthed programme at the 2022 Turbine Art Fair. What sort of training have you received and how important do you think it is to seek training (in terms of learning first principles and refining techniques? I...
Book Extract: Become A Better Writer – Concentrate On Clarity, Or More Than Just Academic
Become a Better Writer: How to Write with Clarity and Simplicity by Donald Powers and Greg Rosenberg of Clarity Global Strategic Communications is a practical guide for anyone who wishes to write more clearly and concisely. The authors know how much time and...
Theatre Interview: Jack Holden – Controlling Cruise, Or Making A Call On The Future
Jack Holden's hit play Cruise runs in Cape Town at The Homecoming Centre (formerly The Fugard Theatre) from 12-30 April. Cruise is the true story of what should have been Michael Spencer's (Daniel Geddes) last night on earth. When diagnosed with HIV in 1984 , Michael...
Author Interview: SM Thomas – The Diseased, Or Filling The Paige
By BRUCE DENNILL In SM Thomas’s The Diseased, Paige Hanson, a brilliant scientific researcher, is involved in an accident. Her husband Leo is nowhere to be found. As the police start considering Paige’s involvement in his disappearance, she turns to three women in her...
TV Interview: Martin Clunes – Doctored Success, Or Beyond The Harbour
Martin Clunes plays Dr Martin Ellingham in Doc Martin - Season 10 is now available on Britbox. What have you enjoyed most about making the series? My favourite work experience is when everything is off the lorry in the middle of a field. That is when I...
TV Interview: Kenneth Branagh – This England, Or Brexit Strategies
Written by Michael Winterbottom and Kieron Quirke, directed by Michael Winterbottom, Julian Jarrold, Anthony Wilcox and Mat Whitecross and starring BAFTA and Academy Award- winner Kenneth Branagh, This England (on Showmax), based on Boris Johnson’s tumultuous...
Book Extract: Rhino War – On The Horns Of A Dilemma, Or Making Progress Generally
In 2012, retired South African general Johan Jooste was parachuted into the seemingly unwinnable war against rhino poaching in the Kruger National Park. With poaching spiralling out of control, Jooste was given the mandate to ‘go military’, to convert Kruger’s...
Artist Interview: Danna Margo – Stuck On Art, Or Being Glue To Yourself
By BRUCE DENNILL Danna Margo was featured as part of the 2022 Turbine Art Fair Unearthed mentorship programme. What sort of training have you received and how important do you think it is to seek training (in terms of learning first principles and...
TV Interview: Natasha Loring – A Sister Searching, Or The Cape Of Karaoke
Created by four-time SAFTA winner Alex Yazbek, small-town psychological thriller Dam was one of the 10 most-watched titles of 2021 on Showmax and the most nominated drama series at the 2022 SAFTAs, earning rave reviews for breaking the mould of South African TV....
Author Interview: Jeff Moore – The Quiet Houses, Or Aiming For Eyeballs
By BRUCE DENNILL DEA Special Agent Jeff Moore captured the world’s oldest and most successful drug cartel mule, Leo Sharp, and was portrayed by Bradley Cooper (as DEA Agent Colin Bates) in Clint Eastwood’s movie, The Mule. Moore shares his epic journey...
Music Interview: Yaëll Campbell – Mildly Insane, Or Inspiration In Iceland
By BRUCE DENNILL Yaëll Campbell and Brynja Bjarnadóttir met while performing on the streets of Den Haag. A year later, after having moved back to Iceland, Brynja was looking for a male vocalist for one of her tracks and Yaëll came to mind. She decided to...
Book Extract: In the Shadow of the Springs I Saw, Or Directions To Dennis
By BARBARA ADAIR In the Shadow of the Springs I Saw by Barbara Adair, published by Modjaji Books, is available now. The book tells the stories of people who live in the Art Deco buildings of Springs, near Johannesburg. It is the imagined lives of those who live...
Theatre Interview: Albert Pretorius – Tien Duisend Ton, Or Letting Excitement Win
By BRUCE DENNILL Translated into Afrikaans and directed by Nico Scheepers, Tien Duisend Ton brings together two of South Africa’s foremost talents in Albert Pretorius and Cintaine Schutte, who star as a couple seriously considering procreation in the...
Music Interview: Kanii Axtro – Ndizak’bonisa, Or Positive Obsessions
By BRUCE DENNILL Kanii Axtro started performing alongside Msaki, Berita and Zahara in East London in the Eastern Cape. In August 2022, she released her EP Ndizak'bonisa - hip hop soul that touches on themes such as police negligence, inspiring the youth,...
Book Extract: Rewilding Africa – Blood On The Beach, Or Reckoning With Risk
Rewilding Africa: Restoring the Wilderness on a War-Ravaged Continent tells the story of one man’s decades-long mission to preserve the habitats of elephants, rhinos and other iconic wildlife that have populated the vast continent of Africa for thousands of...
Author Interview: Melinda Ferguson – Mushrooming Confidence, Or Trauma And Truth
By BRUCE DENNILL After a near-fatal car accident, Melinda Ferguson found herself shattered by PTSD. After reading that her hero Bill W, father of the AA 12 Step programme, used psychedelics to heal, she decided to embark on a similar journey to address...
Comedy Interview: Catherine Cohen – Doing The Twist, Or Beautifully Inspired
By ALLISON KUGEL Comedian, actress and writer Catherine Cohen is throwback to the likes of musical comedy acts like Carol Burnett and Bette Midler, but with a twist of ultra-femininity, glamour and unabashed self-love. Cohen spent years cultivating a musical comedy...
Theatre Interview: Devonecia Swartz – Calling Us Home, Or Succeeding By Grace
By BRUCE DENNILL In the musical Calling Us Home at Artscape, Grace (Devonecia Swartz), an African princess, flees a devastating war in her homeland, arriving penniless in the freezing, grimy docklands of an American city. The underworld of this city is ruled by the...
Dance Interview: Ahneesh Valodia – Destined For Dance, Or The Potential To Move
By NAVEENA SANIPARSAD An aspiring artist with a passion for dance, a burning desire to take his talent to new heights, and then a medical condition that altered the path he began paving for himself: Ahneesh Valodia is an inspiration to many. “Dance is...
TV Interview: Kate London – The Tower, Or Investing In Interviews
The Tower (on BritBox), is a gritty, London-set thriller starring Gemma Whelan (Game of Thrones, Gentleman Jack) and Jimmy Akingbola (Kate and Koji, Ted Lasso). Whelan plays DS Sarah Collins, an anti-corruption officer surrounded by morally ambiguous and frequently...
Theatre Interview: Isabella Jane – Star-Crossed, Or An UFO She Couldn’t Resist
By BRUCE DENNILL Star-Crossed is an original musical inspired by the life of one South Africa’s most eccentric daughters, Elizabeth Klarer, who claimed she was abducted by an alien from the foothills of the Drakensberg, transported to a Utopian planet in...
Theatre Interview: Anthony Downing – The Last Five Years, Or Opulent Intimacy
By BRUCE DENNILL The Last Five Years is a one-act drama-comedy telling the bittersweet love story of Catherine Hiatt, a struggling actress, and Jamie Wellerstein, an up-and-coming novelist. This old story of love-found and love-lost is told in a fresh...
Theatre Interview: Cruise – Revved By Rehearsal, Or Holden On To Life
By BRUCE DENNILL The Olivier Award-nominated play, Cruise, written and performed by Jack Holden, debuts in South Africa – the first staging outside of the United Kingdom – for six shows only at Theatre Linden in Johannesburg. Presented by HIV@40 and...
Author Interview: David Tabtsky – Filthy Rich Lawyers, Or (Class) Action Stations!
Brian Felgoise has been practicing class-action law for more than 25 years, and he draws upon his real-world interactions with lawyers, judges and plaintiffs to inform his new, satirical legal thriller, Filthy Rich Lawyers, Book One: The Education of Ryan...
Book Extract: Matthew Kenslow – Juggling The Issues, Or The Rigors Of Reading
By MATTHEW KENSLOW Matthew Kenslow is the author of Juggling The Issues: Living With Asperger's Syndrome. The below extract, from the chapter The Struggles Of Reading And Test Taking is used by permission. Since I am quite talkative and enjoy...
Music Interview: Mike Scott – Careful Chemistry, Or An Eye On The Whole Of The Tune
By BRUCE DENNILL The Waterboys are playing shows at the Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden in Cape Town (25 November) and at Marks Park in Johannesburg (27 November) as part of their first South African tour. The band has been around in one form or another...
Author Interview: Marie Sutro – Dark Obsessions Or Getting Stuck In(to) Traffick
By BRUCE DENNILL Flawed but formidable San Francisco Police Detective Kate Barnes is forced to confront an unimaginable evil in Dark Obsessions — the follow-up to Marie Sutro's debut, Dark Associations. Reeling from the trauma of her last case, San...
TV Interview: Siobhan McSweeney – Holding, Or Putting The Cork In It
Siobhan McSweeney plays Brid Riordan in Holding, ITV’s adaptation of Graham Norton’s funny and tenderly perceptive best selling debut novel of the same name. Set in the insular fictional village of Duneen, West Cork, on the edge of Ireland, a place with its own...
Book Extract: Drunk Log, Or The Main Event And Beyond
With the suicide rate at its highest in three decades, the story told in Mark E Scott’s Drunk Log is more relevant than ever, and lends fresh insight into the psychological factors that play an integral role in how people respond to deep trauma. The fast-paced...
Theatre Interview: Graham Hopkins – The Lesson, Or Delighting In Discombobulation
Graham Hopkins plays the Professor in Eugène Ionesco’s gripping play, The Lesson at the Market Theatre. Live performance: the thrill versus the nerves – where are you on that curve as a new show starts? It’s always a bit terrifying. Nerves are essential...
Music Interview: Skip Marley – Change Management, Or Legacy And Learnings
By ALLISON KUGEL Singer-songwriter Skip Marley, born to the late Bob Marley’s daughter Cedella Marley and David Minto, was thrown into the deep end of the Marley music legacy when, at 13, his Uncle Stephen Marley brought him on stage to sing his...
Music Interview: Parable Fifteen – Outside The Lines, Or Principles Of Performance
By BRUCE DENNILL Outside The Lines, a locally produced online series, explores the life and career of Parable Fifteen. During Season One, ten episodes focus on what it means to be a rock band recording an album in South Africa in 2022. In a time when physical music is...
Author interview: DA Galloway – Burning Ground, Or Park And Read
By BRUCE DENNILL Burning Ground by DA Galloway is a historical fiction novel of adventure, tragedy, and romance set in the early days of Yellowstone. When, and under what circumstances, did the idea for your latest book come to you? I was fortunate to secure...
Dance: Beginners’ Ballet For Adults, Or Of Artistry, Aches And Appreciation
By BRUCE DENNILL Beginners Ballet Class for Adults with Mark Hawkins / Various venues Mark Hawkins is a highly-regarded ex-professional dancer and in-demand choreographer, coach and teacher. I am a middle-aged writer who was last any good at anything that...
Theatre Interview: Julie-Anne McDowell Hegarty – The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Or Irish Ayes
By BRUCE DENNILL How Now Brown Cow Productions prepares to take to the stage with its debut theatre production, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, on stage at Theatre on the Square in Sandton from 4 - 29 October 2022. The Beauty Queen of Leenane, a theatrical masterpiece by...
Theatre Interview: Eléonore Godfroy – Child’s Plays, Or Selling The Drama
By BRUCE DENNILL Eléonore Godfroy is the CEO of the National Children’s Theatre in Parktown, Johannesburg. With Covid causing so many problems in theatre generally, where is children’s theatre placed now, as we emerge from the pandemic? Everybody is...
Film Interview: Peter Facinelli – The Unbreakable Boy, Or Brittle But Beautiful
By ALLISON KUGEL Actor Peter Facinelli is best known for his role as Dr Carlisle Cullen in the Twilight Saga films, and as Dr Fitch Cooper in Nurse Jackie. His latest film, The Unbreakable Boy is one which Facinelli championed in his role as producer. He also...
TV Interview: Sanditon – Tom Weston-Jones Or Seeking The Colonel Of A Character
Sanditon, the acclaimed drama (on Britbox) based on Jane Austen’s final, unfinished novel left fans in suspense and clamouring for more after the first series’ finale. Season 2 picks up the action nine months later, as the town is growing in popularity,...
Music Interview: Moonlight Rhythm Society – Data Creation, Or Melodic Methods
By BRUCE DENNILL Moonlight Rhythm Society (MRS) consists of three band members. Peter Gaylord, Marcus Oberlechner and Andreas Oberlechner have been together in various band permutations since the mid-1980s. MRS is inspired by artists such as Sting, Steely Dan,...
Book Extract: A Collection Of Short Stories And Poems, Or Running Towards Trouble
A Collection Of Short Stories And Poems by Gary Smith is available now. This excerpt is published by permission. The Good Samaritan This morning was going to be a beautiful day for my long run of eight miles. I wanted to get out there before it got too...
Theatre Interview: Siyasanga Papu – Marikana The Musical, Or Commissioning Consciousness
By BRUCE DENNILL August 2022 this year marks the 10-year anniversary of the Marikana Massacre, which saw the killing of 34 protesting mineworkers by police in Marikana, Northwest. To commemorate the harrowing event, the critically acclaimed Marikana - The...
Book Extract: Mind Over Mountain – High Time, Or Staying On The Front Foot
Robby Kojetin lives in Johannesburg, South Africa and is a high-altitude adventurer. Since an accident in 2006, which resulted in him breaking both of his ankles, he has gone on to become one of only a handful of people to have stood on top of the world's...
Dance Interview: Vincent Sekwati Koko Mantsoe – Liling, Or Weaving Culture’s Cloth
By BRUCE DENNILL Showcasing the dancers from the National School of the Arts, Dance Spectrum “Epiphany” plays at the Lesedi Theatre from 19 – 21 August. The work includes neo-classical ballet, contemporary, Afro-Fusion and Spanish and sees the versatility of...
Comedy Interview: Carrot Top – Red Alert, Or Giving Props Where They’re Due
By ALLISON KUGEL Scott “Carrot Top” Thompson has been making audiences around the world laugh for more than three decades. Since 2005, fans have flocked to his Las Vegas headlining residency at Luxor Hotel And Casino to watch comedy’s King Of Props induce...
Theatre Interview: Anele Situlweni – Ruined, Or There’s Nothing Civil About War
By BRUCE DENNILL Pulitzer Prize-winning play Ruined by Lynn Nottage makes its South African premier at the Market Theatre from 5 August – 4 September 2022, directed by Clive Mathibe. The ensemble includes film leading ladies and gents, Hlengiwe Lushaba Madlala,...
TV Interview: Rob Van Vuuren – Ludik, Or Hold Me Close, Swys Me More
By BRUCE DENNILL Netflix’s first Afrikaans title series Ludik is set to burst onto screens globally on 26 August 2022. The racy, skop-skiet-en-donder six-part series features South African-born Hollywood actor Arnold Vosloo (Silvertone Siege) in the titular role of...
Author Interview: Geoffrey Littlefield – Last Night When I Was Young, Or Way To Go, Sport
By BRUCE DENNILL Bestselling author Geoffrey Littlefield’s Last Night When I Was Young: Sporting Favourites of Mine takes readers on a sentimental stroll down a memory lane lined with elite athletes of the past. Littlefield masterfully intertwines history-making...
TV Interview: Jed Mercurio – Bloodlands, Or Jaded And Goliath
Jed Mercurio is the Executive Producer of Bloodlands on Britbox. Bloodlands is a thriller about fictional detective Tom Brannick, who is forced to grapple with his past when he is sent on the hunt for a mythical assassin. His journey asks questions about what we will...
Theatre Interview: Jesse Lyons – Authentic Way To Fake It, Or The Bathroom Blitz
By BRUCE DENNILL Authentic Way To Fake It (part of the programme for the 2022 Redhill Arts Festival) explores the journey of Fern, an introverted and sarcastic writer who lands up trapped in part of her escape plan at a prestigious event... the bathroom. As the...
Artist Interview: Tumelo Mtimkhulu – Printing In Paris, Or Unburdened Through Art
By BRUCE DENNILL Tumelo Mtimkhulu (born 29 May 2001) is a South African writer, poet and visual artist born in Germiston, Johannesburg. He is part of the 2022 TAF Unearthed programme. What sort of training have you received and how important do you think it is...
Author Interview: Mark E Scott – Drunk Log, Or Write Until The End
By BRUCE DENNILL Drunk Log by Mark E Scott, is a darkly humorous, deeply introspective exploration into one man’s attempt to find peace in the face of unrelenting pain. The entire book covers a period of about eight hours and avoids becoming an ominous dirge through...
Book Extract: Your Marriage God’s Way – Love From Love, Or Husbanding Good Understanding
Your Marriage God's Way by Scott LaPierre is available now. This extract is published by permission. Scott LaPierre is the teaching pastor at Woodland Christian Church in Woodland, WA, and an author, and conference speaker. He holds an MA in Biblical Studies...
Artist Interview: Pholile Hlongwane – Coiled Capacity, Or All Fired Up
By BRUCE DENNILL Pholile Hlongwane is an Unearthed Artist at this year's Turbine Art Fair, running from 21-24 July at Oxford Parks. What sort of training have you received and how important do you thing it is to seek training (in terms of learning first...
TV Interview: Mario Cantone – And Just Like That, Or Que Sarah
By ALLISON KUGEL After being introduced to fans as Charlotte York’s quick-witted wedding planner on Sex and the City for four seasons, Mario Cantone brilliantly reprised his role as Anthony Marentino on the HBO Max reboot And Just Like That… Cantone’s clever,...
Author Interview: Murder On Autarch 1, Or Preparing Paradoxes
By BRUCE DENNILL Written by Italian authors and life-long friends, Andrea De Magistris and Michele Perni, best-selling Italian dystopian sci-fi novel Murder On Autarch 1, has now been translated into English and Mandarin. Bringing the reader up close and personal with...
Culture Interview: Geena Davis – A Strong A-Gender, Or Equality Is More
By ALLISON KUGEL Academy Award-winning actress Geena Davis has spent decades breaking down barriers for women with powerfully resonant on-screen portrayals that have transcended entertainment and inspired seismic cultural shifts in how women are viewed in art and real...
Music Interview: Gutterblood – Optimistic Orchestrations, Or Grinding Against Greed
By BRUCE DENNILL Scottish band Gutterblood recently released their self-titled debut album. The album was mastered by John McBain (Monster Magnet, Queens of the Stone Age) was has been featured on the influential YouTube channels of Rob Hammer and the legendary...
Theatre Interview: Antony Coleman – Borderline, Or Investing In Kruger Rants
By BRUCE DENNILL Antony Coleman plays Raymond Kruger in Paul Slapolepszy's new play Borderline. Live performance: the thrill versus the nerves – where are you on that curve as a new show starts? As you know, we haven’t been able to perform live for about two...
Theatre Interview: Paul Du Toit – The Unlikely Secret Agent, Or Holding The Brush
By BRUCE DENNILL Paul du Toit recently won the Fleur du Cap Theatre Award winner for Best Director for The Unlikely Secret Agent. Live performance is both one of the main drawcards of being a performer and one of the most stressful parts of it. At what point in...
TV Interview: Neil Cross – The Sister, Or A Grave Sense Of Guilt
The Sister, created and written by Neil Cross and based on his novel Burial, is available on Britbox. Series synopsis: How far would you go to keep a secret? One rainy evening, Nathan is surprised by an unwelcome face from the past. Nathan has never been...
Author Interview: Claire Adlam – This Might Sting A Bit, Or Addicted To Storytelling
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL This Might Sting A Bit by Claire Adlam tells the story of a charmingly dysfunctional family, with a closet full of skeletons, and examines the challenges of addiction. Claire grew up in Harare, Zimbabwe,...
TV Interview: Cindy Williams – My, Myself And Shirley, Or Enjoying Continued Happy Days
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ALLISON KUGEL Television icon Cindy Williams starred as Shirley Feeney for eight seasons on the smash hit ABC sitcom Laverne & Shirley. The female-led situation comedy ruled the primetime television airwaves from...
Author Interview: Nancy Paris – Speaking Fluent Ballet, Or Running Around Lilly Nilly
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL When, and under what circumstances, did the idea for your latest book come to you? Pardon My French – It’s The Language Of Ballet is my first book and the lead story for the series The Adventures of...
Artist Interview: Catherine De Villiers – Living To Learn, Or Art As Adventure
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Catherine De Villiers is an artist working from her home base of Betty's Bay, near Cape Town. What sort of training have you received and how important do you think it is to seek training (in...
Film Interview: Tony Goldwyn – King Richard, Or Love To Make A Point
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] Tony Goldwyn stars as Paul Cohen in King Richard, the story of Richard Williams, father of tennis superstars Venus and Serena Williams. What was your reaction when you first read King Richard? I couldn’t believe I...
TV Interview: Jodie Sweetin – A Fuller Life, Or Punting Parenting
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ALLISON KUGEL Jodie Sweetin enters the room with a 'take me as I am; confidence that makes no apologies. She seems rooted in something profound after a past filled with the rigours of child stardom, substance abuse...
Interview: Nathan Waywell – An Instrumental Influence, Or A Culture Of Entertainment
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Nathan Waywell, a member of well-known bands including Amersham and Cassette and an alumnus of Parktown Boys High School, has drawn on both of these aspects of his personal history to create, or help...
Film Interview: Hollywood Bulldogs – Stunt Casting, Or The Attraction Of Action
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Hollywood Bulldogs, available on Britbox, is a documentary that explores how, from Bond to Batman and Star Wars to Superman, a small community of British stunt performers kicked, punched, crashed, and...
Author Interview: Tiffanie Tate Moore – FloweTry, Or The Future In Her Hands
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Dr Tiffanie Tate Moore served in the US Navy and practised as a successful OB/GYN. But after devoting her life to saving others, her own life took an unexpected turn. Moore suffered a serious fall that...
Film Interview: Jeffrey Wright – The Batman, Or Going Pair-Shaped
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] Jeffrey Wright stars as Lt James Gordon in The Batman. How did this role come to you? It came to me via phone call from my agent. The old-fashioned way. Yes, in the usual way. I got a call, and I was...
Book Extract: Abundantly Empty – Baby Steps, Or Try And Try Again
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] Cathy Raubenheimer is a 46-year-old woman, who only started trying to start a family at 38 after travelling and building her career. “Even though I knew that biological clock was ticking, I was confident that falling...
Film Interview: Aizza Fatima – Americanish, Or Religion And Reason
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ALLISON KUGEL Pakistani-American filmmaker and actress Aizzah Fatima has managed to do what many before her could not. She turned her intimate stage play, Dirty Paki Lingerie, a monologue-driven piece about everything...
Theatre Review: Locked Upside Down – Stir Crazy Send-Up, Or Music To Mend By
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Locked Upside Down / Directed by Alan Swerdlow / Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg Having been part of the last production to run at Daphne Kuhn’s Theatre On The Square before...
TV Interview: Phil Hunter – Vera, Or Restrictions And Renewal
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] Season 11 of Vera is now available for streaming on Britbox. Brenda Blethyn returns in the role of DCI Vera Stanhope. Heading up a team at Northumberland and City Police, Vera is obsessive about her work and dogged in...
Artist Interview: Liora Kaplan – Rhythms of Permanent Resonance, Or Tension Transformed
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL CCA Tel Aviv-Yafo, a non-collecting institution fostering practices, discussions and reflections connected to the most relevant issues of our times, is hosting Rhythms of Permanent Resonance, a solo...
Theatre Interview: Locked Upside Down – Hitting The Mother Load, Or Stages Of Friendship
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Locked Upside Down is a new, original musical revue, running from 9-26 February 2022 at Theatre On The Square. The production was conceived by and stars Sharon Spiegel-Wagner, Lorri Strauss and Cathrine...
Theatre Interview: Stephanie Baartman – Music Of The Night, Or Evoking Visual Emotions
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Stephanie Baartman is a South African singer and actress best known as Bibi in the kykNET soapie Getroud Met Rugby. She started singing professionally in 2010, when she was a contestant on the third...
Artist Interview: Willy Karekezi – Installing Expectations, Or Connecting To Emotions
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL The Investec Cape Town Art Fair returns to its physical space at the Cape Town International Convention Centre from Friday 18 to Sunday 20 February 2022, and will be the first-ever hybrid Fair. The work...
Artist Interview: Dudubloom – Investing More, Or Picking Up The Threads
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL The Investec Cape Town Art Fair returns to its physical space at the Cape Town International Convention Centre from Friday 18 to Sunday 20 February 2022, and will be the first-ever hybrid Fair. The work...
Author Interview: Antonio Biggio – Eddie Must Die, Or Maiden Voyage
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Eddie Must Die by Antonio Biggio topped Amazon Italy’s top seller list for 15 weeks. A literary first - a fictional thriller novel featuring Iron Maiden as a key component to the plot - Eddie Must Die...
Theatre Interview: Natasha Sutherland – Shirley Valentine, Or Letting Go And Building Up
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Natasha Sutherland stars as Shirley Valentine in VR Theatrical’s production of the play of the same name, written by Willy Russell and directed by Gina Shmukler. This is a story dealing almost...
Film Interview: Master P – Unknown, Or Build To Be Better
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ALLISON KUGEL Sitting among displayed awards gathered from an unrivalled multi-hyphenate career, Master P began our conversation by allowing me to take the floor. He is a master delegator with a brilliant sense of...
Artist Interview: Joni-Leigh Doran – Cognisance, Or Horses Of Another Colour
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Cognisance – An Exhibition of Equine Paintings by Joni-Leigh Doran highlights the enduring but complex relationship between horses and humans. In these paintings, the spectral representation of the horse...
Industry Interview: Mathew Knowles – Making Vax Tracks, Or Skills Over Segregation
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ALLISON KUGEL Music executive, artist manager, entrepreneur, activist, lecturer, author and cancer survivor, Mathew Knowles brought the world multi-platinum selling girl group Destiny’s Child, singer-songwriter...
Artist Interview: Marelise Jacobs – Night Drawings, Or Pencilling In A Career
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Artist Marelise Jacobs recently presented her first online art exhibition, Night Drawings. The Night Drawings series was inspired by a social media post Jacobs came across one night in 2019, about the...
Film Interview: Wendy Morgan – Mercy, Or Animal Farm(ing) Revisited
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL The powerful docudrama Mercy is British actress Wendy Morgan's directorial debut. In the film, she unveils the truth behind the devastation caused by animal agriculture, told though the eyes of a pig...
Book Extract: Warriors, Or Rowing And Ramifications
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] Warriors: An Epic Battle For Olympic Rowing Victory by Danielle Brittain is published by Bookstorm. This excerpt is published by permission. WOLF PACK I have seen enough rowing to grasp that it was never meant to...
Film Interview: Neil Patrick Harris – The Matrix Resurrections, Or Analyzing Mr Anderson
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] Neil Patrick Harris plays The Analyst in The Matrix Resurrections. As a fan, as an artist, what does stepping into the world of The Matrix mean to you? Well, there are very few franchises, really, outside of...
TV Interview: Ukweli Roach – Annika, Or That’s The Way We Loch It
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] Ukweli Roach plays DS Tyrone Clarke in murder mystery series Annika, streaming on Britbox. What drew you to this project? It was a great chance to play a type of character I had not been asked to portray before....
Author Interview: Zakes Mda – Wayfarers’ Hymns Or Faro And Away
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Zakes Mda’s new novel Wayfarers' Hymns moves from Lesotho’s Mountain Kingdom to the City of Gold through the history of famo. Famo music was born in the drinking dens of migrant mineworkers in Lesotho,...
Theatre Interview: Didintle Khunou – A Better Life, Or Tendering One’s Reservations
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL A Better Life was commissioned and produced by The Market Theatre as part of its 45th anniversary programming celebration. Making his eagerly awaited comeback to the theatre after ten years is director...
Theatre Interview: Charlie Bouguenon – A Christmas Carol, Or A Skinflint Sensation
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL A Christmas Carol is Charles Dickens’ 1843 Christmas classic - it's now played around the world for nearly 180 years! Many of its themes still resonate with modern society, making the story a favourite...
Music Interview: Stephan Moccio – Instrumental In Success, Or Have A Good Weeknd
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ALLISON KUGEL Sitting down with Oscar and Grammy-nominated music composer, writer and producer, Stephan Moccio, I look across at his piano, which has given life to some of the most iconic songs in popular music. He...
TV Interview: Sandy Sidhu – Nurses, Or Adventures In Script-Land
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] Television drama Nurses (available on Universal TV on DStv) follows five young nurses working on the front lines of S. Mary's Hospital, dedicating their lives to helping others, while figuring out how to help themselves....
Author Interview: Chris Leicester – 180° Chord, Or All Riot On The Night
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL In 180° Chord by Chris Leicester, detective-sergeant with fantastic conviction rates suddenly finds himself convicted of murder and imprisoned in a facility he has sent many criminals to. There's a riot,...
TV Interview: Daisy Coulam – Deadwater Fell, Or Isolated Issues
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] Daisy Coulam is the writer and creator of Deadwater Fell on Britbox. What is Deadwater Fell about? Deadwater Fell is about a tragedy that occurs in a remote Scottish village. It’s seen through the eyes of two...
Podcast Interview: Danica Patrick – The Fast And The Female, Or Crossing The Wine
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ALLISON KUGEL As a race-car driver, Danica Patrick broke barriers and set records with her on-track performance. It wasn’t long before she joined the mainstream ranks by succeeding in the male-dominated world of...
Author Interview: Zeenat Sultan – A Family Complete, Or Interest Re-Kindled
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL The first instalment in a new family saga by Zeenat Sultan, A Family Complete offers readers an enthralling rags to riches story as Aruba’s story unfolds, from growing up in Karachi to finding love in...
Artist Interview: Ilhwa Kim – Unfolding Ideas, Or The Seeds Of Satisfaction
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL South Korean contemporary mixed media artist, Ilhwa Kim, recently débuted new artworks created during the Covid lockdown at a solo exhibition happening at the HOFA Gallery London. Titled Seed Unfolding...
Music Interview: Jewel – Never Broken, Or Freewheelin’ Towards Healing
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ALLISON KUGEL The first thing I notice when I sit down with Jewel is her beautifully sculpted cheekbones and trademark smile, but I am instantly redirected toward her glow; a warm and welcoming glow emanating from...
Book Extract: Journey Through Fire And Ice, Or Alive In Alaska
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] At the age of twenty-three, Deanne Burch accompanied her husband, Ernest "Tiger" Burch to the Inuit village of Kivalina, Alaska, a barrier island 23 miles above the Arctic Circle. Over fifty years later, in Journey...
Author Interview: Gareth Woods – Game On, Or Finding Your Inside Voice
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Go Play Inside by Gareth Woods is a collection of lessons for life gathered from a career of playing video games. The book is as much for gamers looking for insights, they can apply to their own lives...
Music Interview: Asanda Delihlazo – Imibono, Or Dreams Realised
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Asanda Delihlazo recently released the EP Imibono. Delihlazo is a folk singer with songs rooted in traditional Xhosa rhythms and harmonies. She refined her talent in musical theatre (including Sarafina!)...
Author Interview: Danielle Brittain – Warriors, Or The Family That Rows Together…
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Danielle Brittain's two sons won Olympic medals for South Africa in rowing, all four of her sons have rowed at top levels, and she is currently the team doctor for the SA rowing team. She faced her own...
Book Extract: The Followers, Or The Complexities Of Choice
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] The Followers by Radhia Gleis tells the story of how, after 25 years in a cult, under the influence of a narcissistic sociopath, the author sought to understand why she made the choices she made in her life, so she could...
Comedy Interview: Alan Committie – Apocalaughs Now, Or Dystopian Drollness
By BRUCE DENNILL Alan Committie's latest show, Apocalaughs Now, runs at Pieter Toerien's Montecasino Theatre from 27 October to 14 November. Pandemics are hilarious. Discuss. Mark Twain supposedly coined the laughter equation: "Comedy is tragedy plus time." I'm...
Author Interview: Deanne Burch – Journey Through Fire And Ice, Or Slaked Alaska
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Deanne Burch spent 30 years as an internationally known photographer. She taught in Canada, United States and Canada. During this time, she published several articles in photography journals and...
Author Interview: Fiona Snyckers – The School Gates, Or Driving Ella Mental
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL In Fiona Snyckers' latest book, The School Gates, Ella Burchell, burnt out after years as a professional dancer, moves to a small town on the KwaZulu-Natal north coast hoping to rebuild her life. Things...
Dance Interview: The Queen Show – Grace In The Galleria, Or Some Ballet To Love
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL The Queen Show, a celebration of ballet and dance choreographed to the timeless music of Queen by Michael and Angela Revie, is the first live professional ballet and dance performance in Fourways Mall,...
Artist Interview: Penny Siopis – Shame, Or Pictures Of Perplexity
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By REBECCA CAIRNS, CNN Growing up in South Africa in the 1950s and '60s, it was inevitable that Penny Siopis' work would be political. The multimedia artist was born during apartheid, South Africa's period of legislated...
Author Interview: Radhia Gleis – Following On, Or Beyond The Buddhafield
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL The chilling 2016 documentary Holy Hell revealed to audiences the truth about the Buddhafield cult. But Radhia Gleis, featured in the documentary, knows more than any one film could possibly capture....
Artist Interview: Xhanti Zwelendaba – In Defiance Of Disciplines, Or More Than Words
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Xhanti Zwelendaba is a Featured Artist of the Year at the Turbine Art Fair 21. What sort of training have you received and how important do you think it is to seek training (in terms of learning...
TV Interview: Susan Lynch – Unforgotten, Or Taking A Punt On Reunions
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] Susan Lynch reveals that the complex character of Liz Baildon drew her to the role in the fourth series of ITV’s highly anticipated crime drama, Unforgotten (streaming on BritBox). Liz is a challenging character,...
Book Extract: Women Out Of Water – Horse, Or Of Pain And Paddocks
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] This extract is taken from the beginning of Horse, story one in the short story collection Women Out Of Water by Sally Cranswick (published by Modjaji Books). Published by permission. The man put the rug on its...
Artist Interview: Joni Brenner – Malleable Intentions, Or Surprised By Optimism
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Joni Brenner is one of the mid-career South African artists featured in TAF Off the Grid, curated by Karel Nel – part of the TAF Special Projects programme at the Turbine Art Fair 21. What sort of...
Theatre Interview: Dolly Louw – Spellbinding, Or Panto Persistence
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Dolly Louw has mastered the delivery and style of the pantomime and stars as GogoMama the Merry-Fairy Godmother in Cinderella at Joburg Theatre from November 5 to December 24 2021. The show also stars...
Artist Interview: Fumani Khumalo – Ingrained In Ink, Or The Hue Of History
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Fumani Khumalo is part of the TAF Unearthed creative mentorship programme at the Turbine Art Fair 21. The 2021 artists are mentored by Nkhensani Rihlampfu and Thembi Matroshe. What sort of training...
Artist Interview: Collen Maswanganyi – Saw And Conquered, Or Wooden Performance
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Collen Maswanganyi is one of the mid-career South African artists featured in TAF Off the Grid, curated by Karel Nel - part of the TAF Special Projects programme at the Turbine Art Fair 21. What...
Film Interview: Michael Rooker – The Suicide Squad, Or Shot By Gunn
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] Welcome to hell - aka Belle Reve, the prison with the highest mortality rate in the USA. Where the worst super-villains are kept and where they will do anything to get out - even join the super-secret, super-shady Task...
Artist Interview: Angel Valerio – Fantasy And Freedom, Or Dragged Into The Light
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Angel Valerio is part of the TAF Unearthed creative mentorship programme at the Turbine Art Fair 21. The 2021 artists are mentored by Nkhensani Rihlampfu and Thembi Matroshe. What sort of training...
Author Interview: Sally Hoedel – Destined To Die Young, Or A Story Fit For The King
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Destined To Die Young is the definitive examination of why the world lost Elvis Presley on August 16, 1977, when he was only 42 years old. Author Sally Hoedel offers factual and scientific data, plus...
Music Interview: Tomi Thomas – Hurricane, Or Conveyed Via Creativity
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Rising star Tomi Thomas recently released his Hopeless Romantic EP. The new collection features a collaboration with Buju Banton on the track Hurricane, which premiered on Buju’s birthday, July 15th....
Book Extract: Khaya Dlanga – It’s The Answers For Me, Or Snooping And Side-Effects
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] In March 2020 Khaya Dlanga found himself bereaved, alone and facing an indefinite lockdown as a result of COVID-19. Like most of us, he turned to social media to maintain some human connection and his followers came...
TV Interview: Elsubie Verlinden – Live Your Dream, Or Aspiring To Inspire
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] The reality television show Live Your Dream launched on Via.tv (DStv channel 147) in August. The lifestyle channel celebrates ordinary people and the world they inhabit, thanks to Elsubie Verlinden and her unrelenting...
Author Interview: Graham Williams – The Chichester Diamond
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL In the summer of 1545, there’s murder in the Cathedral of Chichester. An honest family of stonemasons heads to the city to repair the building, only to find the massive spire is in danger of collapse and...
Author Interview: Sally Cranswick – Women Out Of Water, Or Depths Worth Exploring
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL In the ten short stories in Women Out Of Water, published by Modjaji Books, Sally Cranswick pulls aside the covers to let readers into the lives of women thrown out of their comfort zones. With chilling...
Author Interview: Donna Francart – I’ve Seen Dead People, Or As The Spirits Move
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL It was typical for Donna Francart to go to bed with her makeup on and hair styled; her clothes nearby and her tactical boots by the door. Seconds count when duty calls, and death doesn’t care if it’s the...
Theatre Interview: Michelle Douglas – Dusk, Or Of Adrenalin And Angst
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Michelle Douglas stars as Tessa, a wife and mother who is struggling to come to terms with terrible loss in the Market Theatre's production of Mark Scheeper's play Dusk. Live performance:...
TV Interview: Andy Gathergood – Professor T, Or Giving Rabbit A Run
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] Every aspect of Professor Jasper Tempest’s (Ben Miller) life is precisely calibrated and rigidly structured. Impeccably dressed and meticulously punctual, he lectures daily at the Cambridge Institute of Criminology,...
TV Interview: Vinessa Antoine – Diggstown, Or Uncommon Law
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Diggstown is a Canadian legal drama that airs on Universal TV (Thursdays, 8pm, DStv Channel 117) in South Africa. Vinessa Antoine plays Marcie Diggs, who leaves a high-powered corporate job to work in a...
Author Interview: Gary Revel – To Live Or Maybe Not, Or Character Assassinations
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Playing poker with men in a rough and tumble southern juke joint is not the typical activity of a 10-year-old boy but it was for Gary Revel. Dancing with waitresses to rock and roll, blues and country...
Film Interview: Tara Reid – Doggmen, Or Hi Happy Hereafter
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ALLISON KUGEL Tara Reid burst onto the scene as the flawless blue-eyed babe of the iconic 1999 camp comedy American Pie, a Fast Times At Ridgemont High for twenty-something Gen-Xers and precocious millennials. Her...
Artist Interview: Elizabeth Kruger – Plastic Perspectives, Or Wasting Not, Wanting More
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL This year has seen the rise of art as non-fungible tokens (NFTs), with digital artist Beeple’s NFT fetching $69.3m at a recent Christie’s auction. Much noise has been made around NFTs and climate change,...
Author Interview: DM Fletcher – Best Eaten Cold, Or Of Coasts And Conflicts
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Best Eaten Cold by DM Fletcher is set in World War Two in South Africa. Theresa is tracking German submarines off the southern coast. She becomes involved, through her lover, with a pro-Nazi organisation...
Author Interview: Zinhle T Matthews – My Family Of Superheroes, Or Pint-Sized Powerhouses
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL My Family Of Superheroes by Zinhle T Matthews uses the power of positive affirmation to help children access their inner hero. Specifically written to be read by a parent or caregiver with a child, the...
Artist Interview: Chuma Maweni – Taking The Wheel, Or All Gone To Pots
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By EUGENE YIGA Born in Port Elizabeth and raised in the Eastern Cape, Chuma Maweni loved drawing with pencils and crayons when he was a boy. Although he didn’t know if what he was doing at the time counted as art, the...
Book Extract: US Marines In The Congo-Beni War, Or Probing Propaganda
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] US Marines In The Congo-Beni War by Hubert Kabasu Babu Katulondi (published by Author House) tells the story of a US marine sent to the Congo by the Pentagon to be part of a team of military instructors selected to train...
Author Interview: Craig Higginson – The Book Of Gifts, Or Excited By Exchange
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ARJA SALAFRANCA Craig Higginson’s latest novel, The Book of Gifts, is a beguiling read, steeped in the rhythmic patterns and sweeps of the tides and movements of water. It is also a novel that plumbs the psychological...
Film Interview: Lin-Manuel Miranda – In The Heights, Or A Life Re-Lived
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] Lin-Manuel Miranda came up with In The Heights as a teenager, saw it became a Best Musical winner on Broadway and is now the producer of the film of the same name. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0CL-ZSuCrQ When you...
Music Interview: Simulated Youth – Digital Memories, Or Danceable Depth
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Simulated Youth (Detroit- and Phoenix-based electronic music songwriter Zach Tanghetti) recently released Digital Memories, featuring Rielle and Camoragi. What is your first and most important...
Film Interview: Oshoveli Shipoh – Hairareb, Or Surviving The Drought
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Director Oshoveli Shipoh's film Hairareb, on the programme for the Durban International Film Festival, tells the story of a well-off and respected elder in his community, who has experienced much loss...
Film Interview: Jason Staggie – Hard Livings, Or Family Findings
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Director Jason Staggie's film Hard Livings, on the programme for the Durban International Film Festival, is a documentary exploring the impact of the feared Cape Town street gang of the same name. ...
Film Interview: Khalid Eljelailati – Nandi, Or Independently Relatable
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Director Khalid Eljelailati's film Nandi is on the programme for the Durban International Film Festival. Nandi and Carl, two meth addicts, struggle to make ends meet and are forced to turn to...
Film Interview: Loren Loubser – Removed, Or Doing Right By Redhill
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Director Loren Loubser's short film Removed, which is on the programme for the Durban International Film Festival, centres around the topic of land reparations and forced removals, a conversation that is...
Film Interview: Minenhle Luthuli – Heart Attack, Or Finding Forgiveness
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Director Minenhle Luthuli's short film Heart Attack, part of the programme at the Durban International Film Festival, is about an acclaimed cardiothoracic surgeon who finds out that she will have to...
Film Interview: John DeVries – The Other Side, Or The Filmmaker Strikes Back
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL In director John DeVries' short film The Other Side, part of the Durban International Film Festival programme, a young woman and her pursuer are transported into an alternate dimension that challenges...
Film Interview: Seko Shamte – Binti, Or Comfort In Cinema
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL In director Seko Shamte's film Binti, which is on the programme for the Durban International Film Festival, four Tanzanian women are unknowingly connected through their ability to persevere extreme...
TV Interview: Jenna Elfman – Fear The Walking Dead, Or Non-Nuclear Family
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ALLISON KUGEL In AMC’s hit series, Fear The Walking Dead, the post-apocalyptic spin-off series of The Walking Dead, now in its sixth season, actress Jenna Elfman delivers a tour de force performance as former ICU...
Music Interview: Neil Gonsalves – Blessings And Blues, Or Ritualistic Roots
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Durban-based composer, pianist and educator Neil Gonsalves recently released his new record, Blessings And Blues. The album was recorded in December 2019, just before the COVID-19 pandemic, and in a year...
TV Interview: The Victim – Justice Scotched, Or History Holds On
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] The Victim is a thriller told through the eyes of the plaintiff and the accused. Set within Scotland’s unique legal system, the drama asks the question: who really, is the victim? Kelly Macdonald plays Anna Dean, whose...
Author Interview: Pamela Burke – 20 Women Storytellers, Or Meetings With Media Mavens
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Author Pamela Burke is spotlighting 20 women storytellers who inspire and motivate many in her second anthology, 20 Women Storytellers: Taking Action with Powerful Words and Images . As the founder...
Author Interview: Justin Fox – The Cape Raider, Or Research And Rollers
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL The Cape Raider by Justin Fox is a sweeping historical adventure, the tale of a broken hero who has to find himself despite the trauma of war, a domineering father and the death of his mother during the...
Artist Interview: Dr Nathani Luneburg – In Loving Memory Of Loekie And All The Others, Or Animals And Animation
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Artists and sisters Dr Nathani Lüneburg and Dr Liezel Lüneburg will share the White River Gallery space in two new, deeply reflective, and thought-provoking solo exhibitions. In a testament to the...
Theatre Interview: Paul Du Toit – The Unlikely Secret Agent, Or Perplexing The Police
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Actor, director and producer Paul du Toit has written a new play based on Ronnie Kasril's book The Unlikely Secret Agent. The play tells the story of Eleanor Anderson (Erika Marais) who was detained by...
Author Interview: Kojo Baffoe – Listen To Your Footsteps, Or Giving Form To Feelings
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Kojo Baffoe's first book Listen To Your Footsteps is a collection of perspectives on what it means to be a multi-faceted man in complex times. How do you know when an idea is worthy of developing...
Theatre: Kiss Of The Spiderwoman – Making Drama Cell, Or Intrigued By Intimacy
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL In the play Kiss Of The Spider Woman, adapted by Argentinean author Manuel Puig from his own 1976 novel in 1983 and translated by Allan Baker, a transgender woman, Molina, and a political...
TV Interview: Didintle Khunou – Isono, Or Staying To Survive
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Didintle Khunou stars as Esther Ndlovu in BET Africa telenovela Isono. Esther is the only daughter of protagonist Mary Ndlovu (Nthati Moshesh), growing up sheltered and away from her family as she...
Book Extract: It’s Not About The Bats, Or The Hunt For A Better Plan
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] The Covid-19 pandemic put the spotlight on how human expansion has led to an increase in zoonotic viruses jumping species, and calls on us to re-set our relationship with nature. In It's Not About The Bats, author Adam...
Film Interview: Ryan Kruger – Fried Barry, Or Cult Commencement
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] Cape Town-based actor and director Ryan Kruger’s first independent full-length film Fried Barry has already picked up an impressive 22 awards at international film festivals. As a winner of SAMA, MTV and GOEMA Awards,...
Music Interview: Bonfire Buffalo – Remember Me, Or Survival Serenade
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL After a three-year hiatus, alternative rock band Bonfire Buffalo are back with the ballad Remember Me. Bonfire Buffalo decided to release the song as a single, saying it is apt for the tough times we are...
Theatre Interview: Camilla Waldman – Rose, Or Realities Retrospectively
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Rose is the personal confession of an extraordinary woman in her remembering of a life lived to the full. Three husbands and a hippy lover, plus experiments with memory and magic - this is the story of a...
Book Interview: Garth Japhet – Like Water Is For Fish, Or Soul Stories
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Drawing from his deeply personal experience of the power stories, Heartlines CEO Dr Garth Japhet’s debut book Like Water Is For Fish is a testimony to the ways stories shape our lives, influence our...
TV Interview: Skemerdans – Join The Club, Or Making A Night Of It
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] Skemerdans co-directors Amy Jephta and Ephraim Gordon discuss their new Showmax Original show. Where did the idea for Skemerdans come from? Amy: We love the noir genre, so we had an aesthetic in mind. We wanted to...
Music Interview: Gilli Moon – Beautiful Mess, Or Binging For The Better
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Australian singer, songwriter and producer Gilli Moon is an indie music success who recently released Beautiful Mess - a double album that combines pop beats, piano, rock, and R&B. “Influence” is a...
Book Extract: Like Water For Fish by Garth Japhet, Or Grace Under Blood Pressure
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] As a child, Garth Japhet stumbled upon the healing power of story – fictional, factual and his own. What magic was at work? If stories had changed him, could he use story to change others? This question set him on the...
Film Interview: RZA – Cut Throat City, Or A Picture Processing Poverty
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ALLISON KUGEL As leader of multi-platinum selling rap group, The Wu-Tang Clan, RZA, or Bobby, as he is known to close friends and colleagues, had a particular way of putting beats to razer-sharp lyrics that made you...
Film Interview: Joy Corrigan – Out Of Death, Or Modelling A Positive Outcome
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Model-turned-actress, Joy Corrigan stars alongside Bruce Willis in forthcoming thriller Out Of Death. Joy's early work started by modeling for popular brands and fashion designers such as Guess, Urban...
Film Interview: Benedict Cumberbatch – The Mauritanian, Or Turning From Torture
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] Benedict Cumberbatch has acted alongside many Hollywood greats, but the English actor was “geeking out” when it came to working with Jodie Foster in The Mauritanian. Benedict did not plan on starring in the film. He...
TV Interview: Javon Johnson – The Oval, Or Maybe The Butler Did It?
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Javon Johnson plays the butler, Richard Hallsen, in Tyler Perry's The Oval. Can you distil what it is that you love about film and/or television acting particularly – over other types of...
Author Interview: Bronwyn Williams – The Future Starts Now, Or When Tomorrow Comes
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL The Future Starts Now: Expert Insights Into The Future Of Business, Technology and Society by Theo Priestley and Bronwyn Williams is a comprehensive history of tomorrow, exploring groundbreaking topics...
TV Interview: Famke Janssen – The Capture, Or A Picture Tells A Thousand Lies
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] The Capture, on BBC1, is a six-part surveillance thriller that looks at a troubling world of fake news and the extraordinary capabilities of the intelligence services. In this ‘post-truth era’, can we really believe what...
Author Interview: Alison Sawyer Current – The Dog Lady Of Mexico, Or A Honeymoon For Hounds
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL You’ll hug your cat or dog more tightly after reading The Dog Lady of Mexico, the remarkable true story of Alison Sawyer Current and the nonprofit rescue organisation she launched more than 20 years ago....
Music Interview: Future Radio – Fire And Fire, Or The Freedom To Make A Statement
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Future Radio recently exploded onto the scene with debut single and music video Fire And Fire. In a time of global disillusionment as social unrest, protest and lockdowns weigh heavy on humanity this...
Book Extract: Meditating with Rhinos by Helena Kriel, Or Patching Up A Pachyderm
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] Helena Kriel finds herself in deep personal crisis, where she's forced to ask herself: Where do I belong? After the writers' strike in LA renders her useless and her marriage falls apart, she travels back in...
Theatre Interview: Charlie Bouguenon – Pass Over, Or Endgame Ecstasy
By BRUCE DENNILL Pass Over at The Market Theatre is written by Antionette Nwandu and directed by James Ngcobo by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French Inc. The play explores the unquestionable human spirit of young black men who dream about a...
Music Interview: Tommy Lee – Andro, Or The Thrill Of Collaboration
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ALLISON KUGEL Tommy Lee has something to say about a lot of things. Iconic drummer for the multi platinum-selling rock band Mötley Crüe, solo artist, master of mayhem and … philosopher? To have a conversation with Lee...
Author Interview: Shanthini Naidoo – Women in Solitary, Or Each One A Her-O
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL ‘The freezing loneliness made one wish for death,’ journalist Joyce Sikhakhane-Rankin said of solitary confinement. With seven other women, including Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, she was held for more than...
Music Interview: Kristi Lowe – Take Me Away, Or Loving Through Loss
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Cape Town singer-songwriter Kristi Lowe returned to the pop domain in 2020 with the release of her single Take Me Away. A poignant ballad about struggling with the loss of a loved one and learning to...
Book Extract: Death Flight by Michael Schmidt, Or Aviation Abomination
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] In the late 1970s, as the apartheid government fought a desperate and dirty battle to stay in power, its security forces devised a chilling new tactic. A shadowy, top-secret unit called Delta 40 was established, tasked...
Julia Anastasopoulos – Tali’s Baby Diary, Or Feel The Momfluence, Babes
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Tali (Julia Anastasopoulos) is back and - surprise! - she’s pregnant! While she works on her new look as a momfluencer, Darren and Rael negotiate the choppy waters of the Cape Town property game. And of...
Television Interview: Lea Vivier – Dam, Or YOLO As Yola
By BRUCE DENNILL In Showmax Original film Dam, Yola Fischer (Lea Vivier), who returns from Chile to the Eastern Cape to bury her father, only to be tormented by spirits in the farm house she has inherited. But with her mother institutionalised, and her own meds...
Author Interview: Lynn Joffe – The Gospel According To Wanda B Lazarus, Or It’s All About Who Jew Know
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] The Gospel According To Wanda B Lazarus by Lynn Joffe is a funny, feminist take on the myth of the Wandering Jew. Wanda freewheels through the ages, relating musically-charged, irreverent tales in her quest to...
TV Interview: Shannon Esra – Lioness, Or An Exercise In Roar Emotion
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL In M-Net series Lioness, Shannon Esra plays Samantha, a woman who loses her children, her lover and her freedom when she is framed for fraud committed by her husband before his death. Can you...
Author Interview: Reverend Al Sharpton – Rise Up, Or Action And Activism
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ALLISON KUGEL For many Black Americans, he is next to a Messiah. For many non-Black Americans, he is thought to be an agitator, riling up already uncomfortable societal quagmires that are better left swept...
Theatre Interview: Julie-Anne McDowell Hegarty – Writing Collectively, Or Uncowed By Covid
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL The How Now Brown Cow production company recently launched a programme called The Writers' Collective, which will present the opportunity for three groups of writers to work with a mentor over a period...
Author Interview: Vivian De Klerk – Not To Mention, Or Communicating Cognitive Clues
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL As her 21st birthday approaches, Katy Ferreira has not left her bedroom for close on two years. In fact, she has not left her bed – at 360 kilograms, she simply can’t. Characterised by an indomitable...
TV Interview: Tonya Cornelisse – Hitman In A Van, Or Storytelling Via Moping
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] Actress and writer Tonya Cornelisse has had an illustrious career in theatre, film, and television. From acting in Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf on Broadway to winning the audience award for her writing at Sundance to...
Music Interview: Cameo Bobo – 2020 Is My Year, Or Parlaying Positives From The Pandemic
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL With a pandemic, racial injustices and the crazy politics of the last few years, Americans may have been in need of a major pick-me-up. Recording artist Cameo Bobo, from Nashville, offered that...
Film Interview: Fatima – Mary, Did They Know?, Or A Story Enshrined On Screen
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] In the powerful and uplifting drama Fátima, based on historical events, a 10-year-old shepherd and her two younger cousins in Fátima, Portugal, report visions of the Virgin Mary, inspiring thousands of believers and...
Music Interview: Rinel Day – Standing Up, Or Alive To Something Good
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Six years after her previous album, Rinel Day released a new song, Ek Het Opgestaan, a meaningful track that complements the positive theme of her new album, which shares that title. “Influence”...
Book Extract: The Power Of Purpose – The Wright Stuff, Or Going Mental
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] In 2016 Richard Wright was confronted with a diagnosis of rare pituitary cancer – a disease about which little is known, other than that it is almost invariably terminal. In attempting to deal with this bleak knowledge...
Author Interview: Alison Tucker – My Best Worst Year, Or An Experience Of Gratitude
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL In My Best Worst Year – A Breast Cancer Story, Alison Tucker gives us an authentic account of her experience, offering insights and advice for others who might one day face the same diagnosis. Readers...
Author Interview: Alix Jans – Amandla, Or Gunning For An Intriguing Chronicle
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Nelson Mandela buried his Makarov semiautomatic pistol on Liliesleaf Farm in 1962, shortly before his betrayal by the CIA and capture by the South African Police. To this day the gun has never been...
Music Interview: Chantelle Barry – Connect, Or Surviving Solitary
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Western-Australian raised with Burmese-Italian heritage, actor, pop star, and voiceover artist Chantelle Barry released a COVID-19-inspired single, Connect, in 2020. She first gained recognition when she...
Author Interview: Alissa Baxter – The Earl’s Lady Geologist, Or Romance’s Rocky Road
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL In Alissa Baxter's new novel, The Earl's Lady Geologist, Cassandra Linfield is a lady fossil collector who declares she will never marry as no man will ever take her studies seriously. When circumstances...
Book Extract: Not To Mention, Or You Can Check Out, But You Can Never Leave
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] Not To Mention by Vivian De Klerk tells the story of Katy Ferreira, who has not left her bedroom for close on two years. In fact, she has not left her bed – at 360 kilogrammes, she simply can’t. This excerpt is published...
Author Interview: Michael Koppy – Words And Music Into The Future, Or Indignant About Ineptitude
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Literary criticism, songwriting analysis, and cultural commentary, Words And Music Into The Future is an uncompromising examination of the current state of popular songs and songwriting in the...
Music Interview: Sibusiso Mashiloane – Downbeat Dances, Or Uniqueness, Again
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Sibusiso “Mash” Mashiloane has a Masters in Jazz Performance and graduated Cum Laude from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. His latest album Amanzi Nemifula: Umkhuleko is a continuation of his previous...
TV Interview: Carlo Arrechea – Roling With The Punches, Or SWAT Goes Around…
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Cuba-born, bilingual actor Carlo Arrechea is a star on the rise in Hollywood, making his US prime time debut in the CBS hit TV series S.W.A.T. where he portrayed 'Gio Torres', a middleweight Cuban boxer,...
Music Interview: Luka 120 – Hip Hop Gospel, Or Going Mega In Monaco
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL South African singer Luka 120 recently released a single, produced by DJ Mapitlo, called God Heal Africa. The single is part of a Christian collection called God's Son, ahead of another new EP titled...
Music Interview: Cantrel – Attracted By Energy, Or A Downhill Success
By BRUCE DENNILL Singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Neil Breytenbach has a side project, Cantrel, when he's not fulfilling his duties in Prime Circle. “Influence” is a loaded, often misunderstood concept. An artist may sound similar to...
Film Interview: Michael Phelps – The Weight Of Gold, Or When All Is Going Swimmingly
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ALLISON KUGEL With his unmatched agility and speed in the water, Michael Phelps holds the all-time record for Olympic gold medals earned. The closest thing to Aquaman on two legs, Phelps, like many pro athletes...
Film Interview: Julian Lennon – Kiss The Ground, Or Now Is The Time To Soil Yourself
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ALLISON KUGEL Filmmakers Rebecca and Josh Tickell, along with Julian Lennon, have worked tirelessly to produce the film Kiss The Ground, an important documentary available on Netflix. The film takes a close look at...
Film Interview: Chris Pine – Wondering Wherefore, Or Steve Is Stunned
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] Chris Pine stars as Steve Trevor in Wonder Woman 1984, alongside Gal Gadot in the title role. Knowing Steve Trevor’s fate in the first film, how surprised were you when Patty [Jenkins, WW84 director] called...
Author Interview: Tim Richman – Highlighting Halfwits, Or Sketching Around Scaffolding
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Tim Richman is the publisher and co-author (with Alexander Parker) of 50 People Who F***ed Up South Africa, published by Burnet Media and illustrated by Zapiro. How do you know when an idea is worthy of...
Film Interview: Will Forte – Scoob!, Or Dedicated Dogsbody
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] Will Forte voices Shaggy in Scoob! What are your first memories of Scooby-Doo? I don’t ever remember the world without Scooby-Doo. I don’t even remember the moment that I first saw Scooby-Doo. I just feel...
Music Interview: Sya Zwide – Isiqubulo, Or Arrival Announced
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Johannesburg singer-songwriter Sya Zwide recently released his debut Afro-pop EP, Isiqubulo. These five songs dig into personal experiences of life, love and heartbreak. The EP includes previously...
Music Interview: Jann Klose – Pilot Light, Or Prince Of Storytelling
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Award-winning artist Jann Klose’s new single and music video Pilot Light has passed 1,000,000 views on YouTube. The video was shot during lockdown after the passing of Jann’s manager Gary Salzman from...
Book Extract: Maggie – War Stories, Or Seeking To Survive
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] Margaretha (Maggie) Jooste was only 13 years old when the Anglo-Boer War broke out and irrevocably changed her life. After months of house arrest in the family’s home in Heidelberg in the Transvaal, Maggie, her mother...
Author Interview: David Bristow – Big Pharma, Dirty Lies, Busy Bees And Eco Activists, Or Of Profits, Power And Poop
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL David Bristow's new book Big Pharma, Dirty Lies, Busy Bees and Eco Activists: 20 Environmental Stories from South Africa covers environmental topics include pesticides, poaching, petrol, plastics,...
TV Interview: Emma Thompson – Years And Years, Or Just When Everything Was Going So Orwell
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] British near-future drama Years And Years (watch it on Showmax), was called “2019's most terrifying TV show,” and a “breathtakingly ambitious dystopian drama,” by The Guardian. A collaboration between the BBC and...
Music Interview: Out Cry – Where We Began, Or Songs United
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Out Cry release their single Butterfly from their debut album Where We Began recently. It was recorded in Bellville Studios with producer Theo Crous. Butterfly features rapper "V", who conceptualised the...
Comedy Interview: Alan Committie – The Lying King, Or Peer To Peer Cheer
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Pieter Toerien's Montecasino Theatre is re-opening after six months of lockdown with a run of Alan Committie's The Lying King: Circle Of Laughs. It's been a dramatically different year in terms of...
Music Interview: AC/DC – Power Up, Or Malcolm In The Middle
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] AC/DC have released a new album - Power Up. Lead guitarist Angus Young (AY) and singer Brian Johnson (BJ) talk about the collection. Power Up is here, the band is back together: how did it all come together? AY:...
Music Interview: Gerry Mancuso – Prophesy Progressively, Or Riding The 3rd Entry Wave
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Gerry Mancuso is an instrumentalist and songwriter, producing and arranging a fusion of classic and contemporary instrumental guitar as well as progressive and metal rock music. His new album...
Film Interview: Tracey-Lee Oliver – Kaalgat Karel, Or Enjoying A Winning Streak
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Kaalgat Karel tells the story of Karel Venter, a 30-year-old guy who loves the thrill and accompanying social media stardom of streaking during sports matches. He falls head-over-heels for the paramedic,...
Music Interview: December Streets – Last Forever, Or Of Layers And Love Lost
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL December Streets wrote and recorded new tracks during the lockdown period. During isolation and the music-making process, they reflected on their history as a band and looked back at the events, music,...
Book Extract: Mykonos – Emotions Revealed, Or Trouble In Paradise
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] Mykonos by Bryan Andrews tells the story of Jacques, a South African who is experiencing difficulties – difficulties in his relationship with his wife and children; difficulties in his relationship with his work...
Author Interview: Kelechi ‘Kay Kay’ Uchendu – Bully Friends, Or Avoiding Unfashionable Behaviour
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Kelechi ‘Kay Kay’ Uchendu is the author of Bully Friends and the Founder and CEO of Kay Kay’s World LLC, which includes Kay Kay’s Fashion, a fashion brand that has been featured in British Vogue....
Music Interview: BLVD HVNNY – Nocturne, Or The Movement Of The Muse
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Singer-songwriter Cito (WONDERboom, Absinthè, El Cantante) recently released - as BLVD HVNNY, his latest project - the video for new single Nocturnes, featuring direction by Brad Devine, cinematography...
Book Extract: How Much Of These Hills Is Gold, Or Partners In Pilfering
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] During the Gold Rush, in a re-imagined American West, Lucy and Sam, 12 and 11, are newly orphaned siblings. With their father's body on their backs, they roam an unforgiving landscape dotted with buffalo bones and tiger...
Music Interview: Amersham – Cute As A Button, Or Connected By Magic Thread
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Amersham recently released two new songs, Happy Face and Cute As A Button. Singer Adam Lomas, guitarist Sasha Sonnbichler, drummer Tim Trotter and bassist Nathan Waywell, now a globally scattered...
Music Interview: Mi Casa – We Made It, Or On The Eve Of J’Something Better
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Mi Casa's new album We Made It is a testament to a decade of work. In April, the first single Church Bells was released alongside a video with a space-inspired traditional African wedding. Aptly titled,...
Music Interview: Riaan Pretorius – Obsessie, Or Removing The Facade
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Durban born and raised singer-songwriter Riaan Pretorius has had a long and varied music career. Recently, he released an Afrikaans ballad - Obsessie - written in 2019 after a conversation with old...
Writing: Colleen Higgs – My Mother, My Madness, Or Processed Via Publishing
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By COLLEEN HIGGS My new book, my mother, my madness arose from a secret blog I started in the early days of taking care of my mother. Reflecting on it now, writing in a notebook or journal is different from writing a...
Music Interview: Victor Bravo – Suiderkruis, Or Ode To What You Know
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Suiderkruis is a contemporary pop song by Victor Bravo, a duo comprising singer and songwriter Weco van Basten (WVB) and guitarist Jopie Pienaar (JP). It was produced by Renier Henning Music and features...
Author Interview: Rick Pontz – 103 Pilgrims, Or A Plymouth To Feed
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Author Rick Pontz recently released his new book titled 103 Pilgrims, the first of a series of mystery and thriller novels based on unsolved mysteries from the pilgrims who founded America. The series...
Music Interview: One Voice – Wake Up, Or A Message Four Ways
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL One Voice recently released their second single, Wake Up. It's an energetic dance track, created by Lientjie Sothman to add life to any party. It’s about music’s ability to take over your body and make...
Movie Interview: Ken Jeong – The Dog Days Of Scoob!, Or Mutt-See Viewing
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] Scoob! reveals how lifelong friends Scooby and Shaggy first met and how they joined with young detectives Fred, Velma and Daphne to form the famous Mystery Inc. Now, with hundreds of cases solved and adventures shared,...
Music Interview: Nathan Smith – Closer To Decisions, Or Reflecting On Relationships
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Guitarist, singer and songwriter Nathan Smith recently released two new singles – and a long-awaited album of original works. Closer is Smith's first gospel release. Decisions is a song about love and...
Music Interview: James Deacon – Reason To Create, Or A Bad Future Made Good
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL James Deacon released his single Reason, through Bad Future Records, early in 2020. His first single of a brand new decade was perhaps his most tender to date. “Reason is the first song I’ve written that...
Author Interview: David Mitchell – Utopia Avenue, Or Psychedelic Psojourn
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL David Mitchell's (Cloud Atlas, The Bone Clocks) new novel, Utopia Avenue, introduces readers to four talented musicians - singer Elf Holloway, bassist Dean Moss, guitarist Jasper de Zoet and drummer...
Author Interview: Jacob Dlamini – The Terrorist Album, Or Investigating Apartheid’s Afterlife
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] In The Terrorist Album: Apartheid's Insurgents, Collaborators, and the Security Police, award-winning historian and journalist Jacob Dlamini tells the very human story of apartheid's afterlife, tracing the fates of South...
Author Interview: Bryan Andrews – Mykonos Musings, Or Invocation For Inspiration
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Author Bryan Andrews' new book Mykonos tells the story of Jacques, a South African experiencing difficulties – difficulties in his relationship with his wife and children; difficulties in his...
Music Interview: Hot Water – Bringing It Home, Or Ballad For A Benefit
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Hot Water’s new single Home is out now. Frontman Donovan Copley, delivered a heartwarming lockdown music video for the song to raise funds for the COVID-19 Feed A Child Coalition. The video features...
Author Interview: Philippa Garson – Undeniable, Or Behind The Bloodshed
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Philippa Garson's book Undeniable: Memoir Of A Covert War is published by Jacana and available now. Garson worked for the Weekly Mail during the early 1990s, where she covered the civil war between...
Music Interview: Mark Olson – Magdalen Accepts The Invitation, Or Of Impressions, Isolation And Ingunn
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Husband and wife duo Mark Olson and Ingunn Ringvold released their third album, Magdalen Accepts The Invitation, earlier this year. The album is a walk through both the pair’s overlapping musical...
Film Interview: Frances Sholto-Douglas – Kissing Connections, Or The Thrill Of The Space
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL South African actress Frances Sholto-Douglas as the British beauty Vivian in the teen romantic comedy film The Kissing Booth 2 on Netflix. Born and raised in Cape Town, with a degree in Theatre and...
Author Interview: Bret Michaels – Auto-Scrap-Ography, Or Stadium-Sized Sensitivity
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ALLISON KUGEL On 1 June 2020, Bret Michael's band Poison, in a joint statement with Motley Crue, Def Leppard and Joan Jett and The Blackhearts, announced that their much-anticipated 2020 tour would be postponed until...
Author Interview: Norma Young – We Need More Tables, Or Lining Up Layered Learning
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Norma Young's book We Need More Tables, published by Tracey McDonald Publishers, is available now. How do you know when an idea is worthy of developing into a book? With songs or other shorter...
Music Interview: Jacques Moolman – Into The Rain, Or Honesty Is The Best Melody
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Musician Jacques Moolman has reinvented himself as a blues-rooted crooner under his own name. His first single, break-up ballad “Into The Rain”, features Moolman’s trademark vocals and storytelling...
Music Interview: Tatum – Unholy, Or Problems With Perspectives
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Tatum’s debut EP Bloodsport reinforces her lyrical narrative of a love-turned-toxic. The five-track EP, produced by Paul Gala, is a medley of love songs about the anguish of being in love with someone...
Music Interview: Julie Elody – All Or Nothing, Or Brave Enough To Be Still
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL American singer-songwriter Julie Elody released her single All Or Nothing in May this year, and recently released a video to support the song. “Influence” is a loaded, often misunderstood...
Book Extracts – Time Mavericks Series, Or Yes, It’s A Time Of Trial
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] The third novel in Fiona Snyckers' Time Mavericks series, Time Of Trial, is available now. See an excerpt from the book at the bottom of this post. For context, get an idea of the story in books one and two in the...
Music Interview: Jarrad Ricketts – Midnight Missive, Or A Creative Comfort
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Jarrad Ricketts won acclaim with his SAMA-nominated debut album Break The Rules. Now, he is bringing a message of hope with his first gospel single release entitled You Are Lord. What started out as...
Music Interview: Vinnie Vidal – Classical Style, Or Versed In Vibe
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Vinnie Vidal, from Baghdad, is a singer, songwriter and composer who has produced multiple singles, gaining momentum with his unique sound and versatility, adding integrating jazzy instrumentals and...
Book Extract: The Rise And Fall Of South Africa, Or A Psyche For Success
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] The Rise And Fall Of South Africa by Frans Cronje, published by NB Publishers, is available now. This excerpt published by permission. What will happen On 30 May 2014, under the headline ‘An astonishing record –...
Film Interview: Kenneth Branagh – Tenet Is Central, Or Time Out Of Line
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] Kenneth Branagh plays Andrei Stor, a Russian oligarch, in Christopher Nolan's new film, Tenet. Can you briefly describe your character and his place in the themes of the story? He’s a character that Chris...
Film Interview: Richard Gau – All About Aya, Or Towards The Truth
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Richard Gau stars in Aya, an independent film dealing with the horrors of human trafficking. The piece is part of the SA Indie Film Fest 2020. Can you distil what it is that you love about film or...
Film Interview: Chantelle Barry – Me And My Left Brain, Or The Craft In The Character
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Chantelle Barry is making a name for herself with her new film, Me & My Left Brain. The romantic comedy follows 'Arthur' (Alex Lykos) who suffers from OCD, as he navigates his relationship with the...
TV Interview: Rico Torres – Penny Dreadful, Or Operating Outside The Norm
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Latin-American actor Rico Torres is recognised for his roles on Showtime's Penny Dreadful: City of Angels and HBO's Ballers, in addition to international fashion campaigns and national commercials. From...
Music Interview: Liane Keck – Completely In Luxe, Or All Bases Covered
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Jacqueline Juliane Keck, professionally known as Liane Keck is a singer-songwriter and pianist based in Pretoria, South Africa. She mainly focuses on genres like R&B, pop and hip-hop, while also...
Book Extract: Will by Barbara Adair – Airport Observations, Or Flight Of Fancy
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] Will: The Passenger Delaying Flight by Barbara Adair, published by Modjaji Books, is available now. This excerpt is published by permission. Volker walks slowly, and sometimes he walks fast, across the airport...
Music Interview: Phil Gregory – On English Country’s Side, Or A Man Of Nephew’s Words
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Phil Gregory is a singer songwriter who hails from the South of England, although he currently spends his time between the UK and South Africa. Born in the 1950s, Gregory grew up with a mixture of music...
Music Interview: Scatterchild – Parallel Lines, Or Aiming For Obliquity
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Emotional, aggressive, angular. Three words, three tracks, one EP. English duo Scatterchild build on the confidence gained from their previous record with songs that showcase all the band's strengths....
Author Interview: Mo And Phindi Grootboom – Married To The Job, Or The Family That Writes Together…
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] Mo and Phindi Grootboom are the authors of Stuff We Wish We Knew Before Getting Married, published by NB Publishers and available now. How do you know when an idea is worthy of developing into a book? With songs...
Dance: Gaby Saranouffi – You Looking At #MOI?, Or Mentored To Move
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By TAMMY BALLANTYNE Gaby Saranouffi: #MOI project 2020 - A socially conscious artistic voice in a landscape of violence Gaby Saranouffi’s infectious smile and generous laugh punctuate all her discussions and...
Art Interview: Lindani Nyandeni – Maternal Motivation, Or A Pedestal For Portraiture
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Lindani Nyandeni, an Umlazi, Durban-based artist, is showcasing his art at KZNSA Art Gallery as part of KZNSA's second Young Artists’ Project of 2020. His work is a visual exploration of his childhood...
Music Interview: Yahto Kraft – Love Beyond Lockdown, Or Ugly As Sing
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL After singer-songwriter Yahto Kraft, who came to fame in The Voice SA’s Season 3, released his debut single Ugly, he received an overwhelming response, with a high volume of streams, downloads and views...
Music Interview: Sincerely Anne – She’s On Fire, Or Wondering At Women
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Sincerely Anne’s latest single, She's On Fire has an intense message that's still fun and inspiring, designed to capture the hearts of women around the world. “There are already enough obstacles and...
Book Extract: Dingiswayo – To The Heart Of Heritage, Or Chief Among Narratives
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] Heritage Publishers have published four new titles in the Our Story series: Shaka, Dingiswayo, The Rebellion of Langalibalele and Matiwane’s amaNgwane. First published in 2015, this heritage series has grown from 14 to...
Music Interview: Quincy Megas – Did It Again, Or Living The G-Eazy Life
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Quincy Megas in an up-and-coming rapper originally from Johannesburg but now living in South Korea, where he is pursuing his music full-time as well as being a songwriter for other artists. Megas has a...
Book Extract: Three Hours – A Good Day Marred, Or Snow And Strain
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] Three Hours by Rosamund Lupton is published by Penguin Random House and is available now. This excerpt is published by permission. 9.25 a.m. In the library, Hannah smells cigarette smoke. No one in the library is...
TV Interview: Vicky Jones – Run, Or Why Training Is Important
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] Seventeen years ago, college sweethearts Ruby and Billy made a pact: if either of them ever texted the word “RUN” and the other replied with the same, they would drop everything, board the first train after 5pm out of...
Author Interview: Tom Eaton – It *Is* Him, Or In Examination Of Attitudes
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Author and columnist Tom Eaton's new book Is It Me Or Is It Getting Hot In Here?, published by NB Publishers, is available now. How do you know when an idea is worthy of developing into a book?...
Music Interview: Jimmy Nevis – Hey Jimmy, Or Looking Forward To The Weeknd
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Jimmy Nevis recently released his new single Hey Jimmy. Nevis' last album was released in May 2018, so fans have been waiting two years for new solo material. He was secretly recording, creating and...
Music Interview: Alexa Ray – Begin Again, Or A Soundtrack To Starting Over
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Singer-songwriter Alexa Ray recently released her new single, Begin Again, ahead of a new album, Fearless due in September 2020. “I think we all fantasise about being able to turn back the clock or push...
Book Extract: Is It Me Or Is It Getting Hot In Here?
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] Are we frogs in a boiling pot or a stressed but resilient nation trying to make sense of bizarre times? Are we being ruled by an African liberation movement or a fourteenth century Italian church? And why do SUV drivers...
Theatre Interview: Antony Coleman – Endangered, Or Recollecting The Future
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL The Market Theatre launched its first online theatre season Ditshomo ("legends" or "folk stories") to great success on Thursday 18 June 2020. The season comprises brand-new theatre productions curated...
Music Interview: Francis Onah – Iripia, Or A Song Of Survival
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Francis Onah is a jazz musician, saxophonist, composer, arranger, and singer. He originally began playing the trumpet at age 16, then picked up the saxophone and learned the rudiments in only five days...
Music Interview: Parable Fifteen – Telling Your Heart, Or Parallel Storytelling
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Durban country-rock band Parable Fifteen recently released new song Telling Your Heart. Frontman Marc Andrew Skarda discusses their music. “Influence” is a loaded, often misunderstood...
Author Interview: Rosamund Lupton – Three Hours, Or Of Stories And Sieges
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL In Three Hours by Rosamund Lupton, the unthinkable happens in a rural English village in the middle of a snowstorm: the school is under siege. From the wounded headmaster barricaded in the library, to...
Music Interview: Dave Starke – Shifting Boundaries, Or Taylor-Made
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Dave Starke is a South African singer-songwriter who strives to capture human moments in musical form – to sum up a whole host of thoughts and emotions using just his voice and a guitar. He describes a...
Music Interview: Rise In Red – Personal Progression, Or Living In Between The Lines
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Bloemfontein rock band Rise In Red recently released the single Progression, off the EP In Between The Lines. Lead guitarist Jayson Reynolds talks about the band's music. “Influence” is a loaded,...
TV Interview: Jack Stein – Wine, Dine And Stein, Or Walking A Wine Line
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] When your father is acclaimed British chef and restaurateur Rick Stein, food is sure to play a large part in family life. It’s little wonder, then, that sons Jack and Charlie are following in his footsteps in Wine, Dine...
Music Interview: Stefani – Undone, Or Acting Like What You Aren’t
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Singer-songwriter Stefani recently released her new single, Undone. "Influence" is a loaded, often misunderstood concept. An artist may sound similar to another but have no knowledge of them, or...
Music Interview: Parts X Fiction – The Tide, Or Trying To Take The Time
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL The Tide is the new single taken from Parts X Fiction's forthcoming debut album and follows the band's successful debut single Mad World. The Tide is an infectious earworm that not only shows off the...
Artist Interview: Pitika Ntuli – Return To The Source, Or Inspired To The Marrow
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Pitika Ntuli’s exhibition Azibuyele Emasisweni (Return to the Source), which includes 45 bone sculptures (each with their own praise song) forms part of the virtual National Arts Festival from 25...
Music Interview: Craig Urbani – I Might Like It, Or Working On The Cheyne Gang
By BRUCE DENNILL Singer and actor Craig Urbani has released a new single, I Might Like It, composed and produced by Mark Cheyne. “Influence” is a loaded, often misunderstood concept. An artist may sound similar to another but have no knowledge of them,...
Music Interview: Alexandra May – Typical Girl, Or Take Stories And Add Sparkle
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Singer-songwriter Alexandra May's latest release is called Typical Girl. “Influence” is a loaded, often misunderstood concept. An artist may sound similar to another but have no knowledge of them,...
Book Extract: We Need More Tables – Proving Poverty, Or Deciding To Dignify
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] This excerpt is taken from We Need More Tables by Norma Young, available in bookstores and on Amazon. Imparting Dignity Five years later, I still haven’t figured out why I chose to go on a township tour. Born and...
Theatre Interview: Michelle Douglas – BreaThing Space, Or A Schreiner To Storytelling
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Michelle Douglas’ BreaThing Space, starring Douglas, Natasha Sutherland and Lauren Urmson with Alan Farber directing, takes a deeper look at circumstances and beliefs that shaped the ‘freethinking’ views...
TV Interview: Chantal Herman – Down On The Riviera, Or Liz And Let Live
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL The Riviera is an SABC2 dramedy that explores the complexities of growing up in Cape Town during the 1980s. The series is set in the year 1989 and examines the experiences of a 12-year-old Muslim girl,...
Art Interview: Christie Smith – Inspiration That Resinates, Or Wedged Into A New Niche
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Gallery owner and artist Christie Smith uses her newfound love of creating art to foster human connection and inspire inner expression. The only art gallery in Half Moon Bay, California, Unleashed Art...
Author Interview: Asha Tarry – Adulting As A Millennial, Or Live To Tell The Story
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Author Asha Tarry, an award-winning community mental health advocate, psychotherapist, and certified life coach, wants to help people to live a meaningful life in her book Adulting As A Millennial: A...
Music Interview: Faraway George – Burnt And Found, Or Engage All Senses
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Folk singer-songwriter Faraway George released the single Sugar Cane late last year and followed that up with the recent release of his new album, Burnt & Found. “Influence” is a loaded, often...
Music Interview: Nic Olsen – Atom Man, Or Into The Abstract, Old Son
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Nic Olsen is no stranger to the South African music scene. He was one of the frontmen of popular SA band Perez and has written multiple hit songs such as The Parlotones’ Push Me To The Floor and the...
Theatre Interview: Kiruna-Lind Devar – Cinderella, Or Living The Fairy Tale
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Kiruna-Lind Devar will star as the title character in this year's Joburg Theatre pantomime, Cinderella, directed by Janice Honeyman. Live performance is both one of the main drawcards of being a...
Book Extract: Stuff We Wish We Knew Before Getting Married, Or Finance And Your Future
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] Stuff We Wish We Knew Before Getting Married by Mo & Phindi Grootboom is published by NB Publishers and is available now. This extract is published by permission. Being on the same page financially can save...
Music Interview: The Shabs – We’ve All Been There, Or Don’t Do It Alone
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL The Shabs recently released the video for their latest single We’ve All Been There, taken from the album Can You Hear Us At The Back. Having previously handled video production themselves the band were...
Film Interview: Bryan Stevenson – Just Mercy: Inspired By Inequality, Or To Kill A Mistake
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] Bryan Stevenson is a lawyer and the author of the memoir Just Mercy and an Executive Producer of the film of the same name based on his writing, which stars Michael B Jordan (as Stevenson), Jamie Foxx and Brie Larson....
Music Interview: Werner Bekker – Withdrawal Symptoms, Or Quitting Is For Winners
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Werner Bekker's latest single is called Withdrawal, a musing on the giving up of a vice - smoking, drinking, eating or whatever you do to take the edge off - and how that can cause us to take our...
Film Interview: Jason Collett- The Devil All The Time, Or Both Here Noir There
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Breakout movie star Jason Collett makes a statement in the upcoming star-packed gothic noir drama The Devil All The Time opposite Tom Holland, Haley Bennett, Robert Pattison, Bill Skarsgård, Jason Clarke...
Music Interview: Shania Twain – On The Go Again, Or Still Believing
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ALLISON KUGEL How did a child growing up in poverty in the small mining town in Timmins, Ontario, Canada emerge to become the best-selling female recording artist in history? It's a question that often runs through...
Music Interview: Josh Middleton – Caught Up, Or Juggling Conversations
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Josh Middleton recently released his single Caught Up, ahead of the release of new album A Mild Case of Insomnia, to be released later this year. Middleton wrote and produced Caught Up with producer...
Author Interview: Jane Kirsten – A Lute Of Eleven Strings, Or Celebrating Sweet 16th…Century
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL A Lute of Eleven Strings by Jane Kirsten is published by Porcupine Press and is available now. How do you know when an idea is worthy of developing into a book? With songs or other shorter...
Music interview: Jack And June – Light The Way, Or Aiming For Ease
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Jack & June is a duo founded by Jacqueline Tolken and Peter Hoven in 2016 in Gauteng. While Jacqueline and Peter continue their solo endeavours, they perform, as a duo, a varied, unique range of...
Author Interview: Joseph And Justine Simmons – Old School Love, Or Write This Way
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ALLISON KUGEL In a time when life feels fragile and love can seem fleeting, there are signposts reminding us that life holds immeasurable meaning and love can last a lifetime if we have vision and faith and accrue the...
Music Interview: Ashlinn Gray – Best Friend, Or Love Yourself First
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Singer-songwriter Ashlinn Gray recently released the single Best Friend. “Influence” is a loaded, often misunderstood concept. An artist may sound similar to another but have no knowledge of them,...
Author Interview: Eric George de Jong – Running Dogs And Rose’s Children, Or In Search Of A Stand-Out
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Eric George de Jong’s African memoir Running Dogs & Rose’s Children tells the story of Eric and his wife Jenny and their plunge into parenthood when they adopted three siblings from the children’s...
Music Interview: Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins – TLC Is Good For You, Or Oil Be Alright
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ALLISON KUGEL TLC's Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins' life is one filled with overcoming insurmountable odds and finding blessings in unexpected places. Watkins was diagnosed with sickle cell disease at the age of seven and...
Book Extract: Wanderings – Bajić Instinct, Or Hitting A Homer Run
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] Wanderings: The Retelling Of The Classical Story Of Kind Odysseus And Queen Penelope by Aleksandar Bajić is published by Porcupine Press and available now. This extract published by permission. ‘Tomorrow morning...
Music Interview: Frances Clare – Time To Go, Or Of Words And Work
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Cape Town-based band Frances Clare recently released their single Go. Singer-songwriter Frances Clare elaborates... “Influence” is a loaded, often misunderstood concept. An artist may sound similar to...
TV Interview: Tom Perrotta – Mrs Fletcher, Or Sex And The Single Mom
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] Mrs. Fletcher, a new HBO series based on the bestselling novel by Tom Perrotta (The Leftovers, Little Children), is now streaming on Showmax. Included on Best of 2019 lists by the likes of GQ and Uproxx, Mrs. Fletcher is...
Music Interview: Josh Wantie – Throwing Out A Lifeline, Or Loving What Is Lost
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Durban-born, London-based artist Josh Wantie released the single Young in 2019 and the EP Lifeline in January this year. “Influence” is a loaded, often misunderstood concept. An artist may sound...
Author Interview: Jesmane Boggenpoel – Two’s A Charm, Or When Twin Sets Remain In Fashion
While the occurrence of non-identical twins in families across multiple generations is not uncommon, the birth of identical twins happening again and again is considered very rare. But cases do exist, and one such instance is the family of author Jesmane Boggenpoel,...
Theatre Interview: Vanessa Williams – City Of Angels, Or Settled In The Sunshine
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ALLISON KUGEL Vanessa Williams is a creature unlike any other. It's as though she came here to impart the ins and outs of living life on one's own terms. From unwitting societal lightning rod during the 1980s to...
Book Extract: Endgame – Long Road Ahead, Or Whisky A Go-Go
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] Endgame by Wilna Adriaanse is available now. This extract published by permission. Prologue The sun was going down when Ellie drove into the town. Old houses and orchards lined both sides of the broad street. A...
Music Interview: Them Dirty Shrikes – When November Comes, Or Diamond Is A Girl’s Best Song
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Doomy alternative rock band Them Dirty Shrikes were formed in Pretoria, South Africa in 2016 and have gained good standing in the local live scene after performing at the country’s top festivals,...
Music Interview: Arno Carstens – Don’t Let It Be Out Of The Blue, Or Doing Double Duty
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL South African singer-songwriter Arno Carstens released two singles, Don’t Let It Be and Out Of The Blue simultaneously towards the end of last year. These were the third and fourth singles from his...
TV: Liev Schrieber – Ray Donovan The Seventh, Or The Life Of Liev
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] In the title role of Ray Donovan, Liev Schreiber has been nominated for five Golden Globes and three Emmys for his performance as a fixer who does the dirty work so his rich and powerful clients come up smelling...
Author Interview: Rick Ross – Reaping The Hurricane, Or Of Hustlin’ And Having
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ALLISON KUGEL One conversation with rapper Rick Ross will have you questioning the definitions of success, wealth and opportunity - how to identify opportunity, how to achieve success and how to maintain it while...
Theatre Interview: Bernard Jay – The Color Purple: Mauve On The Move, Or Perspectives On Progress
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Joburg Theatre and Bernard Jay have announced that their highly acclaimed production of the musical The Color Purple will travel to the SAIC-Shanghai Culture Square Theatre in China for 14 performances...
Music Interview: Christian Heath – Here I Am, Or Into The Stream
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Singer-songwriter Christian Heath has a new album out - Here I Am. “Influence” is a loaded, often misunderstood concept. An artist may sound similar to another but have no knowledge of...
Music Interview: Toya DeLazy – Grooves And Grime, Or Having All The Funani
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Packing a distinct cross-continental sound, and futuristic visuals, London-based South African MC, Toya Delazy, released new single Funani late last year. Rapping Zulu over a gritty garage beat,...
Author Interview: Deepak Chopra – Learnings On Loneliness, Or The Significance Of Support
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ALLISON KUGEL Deepak Chopra has been a mentor of mine from the day of my first interview with him more than a decade ago. I will never forget the day in 2008 when I asked him to explain such existential concepts as...
Music Interview: Jeri Silverman – Fall For This, Or Synthesizing A Stand-Out
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Jeri Silverman’s music is darkly self-reflective folk-pop that’s both moving and uplifting. The South African-born singer developed her visceral writing style amid the hustle of living in New York...
Theatre Interview: Siya Mayola – “Master Harold” And The Boys, Or Where Process Meets Perspective
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Siya Mayola stars as Willy, alongside Kai Luke Brummer as Hally and Desmond Dube as Sam in the new Fugard Theatre production of Athol Fugard’s masterpiece "Master Harold"...And The Boys, directed...
Book Extract: The Mourning Bird – Aching And Adulting, Or Getting The Porridge Just Right
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]The Mourning Bird by Mubanga Kalimamukwento is about Chimuka, an 11-year-old orphaned Zambian girl in the 1990s, and also a national portrait of Zambia in an era of strife. This extract published by permission. ...
TV Interview: Patricia Boyer – Lockdown, Or Play Ball Or Get Sued
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Patricia Boyer stars as Sue in Lockdown. Season 5 is now available on Showmax. Prison dramas: how does the constrained environment of the context heighten or concentrate the emotion of a more traditional...
Music Interview: Doc Maclean – Out Of The Blues, Or All We Hear Is Radio N’Ganga
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Doc MacLean is touring South Africa again with his N'ganga Blues Tour, and the bluesman is living up to his touring slogan: "No venue too large, too small, too grand or too humble," playing everywhere...
TV Interview: Steven Spielberg And Alex Gibney – Why We Hate, Or Hope Beyond Horror
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] Why We Hate (16PVL, available on Showmax)is a documentary story exploring one of humanity's most primal emotions. “Humans have an unparalleled ability to love and co-operate. So why do we sometimes act cruel and hateful?...
Theatre Interview: Chris Djuma – Kings Of The World, Or Conversations With Character
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Chris Djuma stars in The Kings of the World, William Harding's directorial debut, at the Market Theatre. Live performance is both one of the main drawcards of being a performer and one of the most...
Theatre Interview: Sharon Spiegel-Wagner – Loving You, Or Connecting Through Compositions
By BRUCE DENNILL Loving You, at the Auto And General Theatre On The Square, is an exploration of love and relationships through the loves songs of musicals new and old. It stars Sharon Spiegel-Wagner, Lori Glaschen, Musanete Sakupwanya and Lance Maron and is...
Theatre Interview: Kristian Lavercombe – Mingling With The Riff Raff, Or The Joy Of The Job
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Kristian Lavercombe plays Riff Raff in the Pieter Toerien and Howard Panter production of Rocky Horror Show at the Teatro at Montecasino. Live performance is both one of the main drawcards of...
Author Interview: Steven Boykey Sidley – Leaving Word, Or Roles Re-Written
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Steven Boykey Sidley’s latest novel, Leaving Word, is available now. Note: this interview contains minor spoilers. Writing as therapy is a common enough phenomenon, but having a publisher...
Film Interview: Dennis Quaid – Midway: Free Enterprise, Or Full Of Bull
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]Dennis Quaid plays Admiral Bull Halsey in Midway, about the attack on Pearl Harbour and the Battle of Midway in the Second World War. What excited you about the story and made you want to take on this role? The first...
Music Interview: Janie Bay – Almost There, Or Perpetually Arriving
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Singer-songwriter Janie Bay's recently released the single Amper Daar ("Almost There") and has followed that up with new song Die Heelal. “Influence” is a loaded, often misunderstood...
Book Extract: I Am Costa – From Meth To Marathons, Or Building (Around The ) Blocks
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]I Am Costa - From Meth To Marathons by Costa Carastavrakis, published by Bookstorm, is available now. This extract is published by permission. One block ‘Trexa trexa! Tha se piaso me tin pantofla - Yiayia (Run,...
Music Interview: Matinino – Artworks That Don’t Expire, Or Alternative Anger Expressed
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Martinique du Toit, who uses the stage name Matinino for her solo project, started playing piano at the age of five and started writing music for vocals and piano at the age of 10. ...
TV Interview: Byron Mann And Tzi Ma – Wu Assassins, Or For The Times, They Are Now Asian
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ALLISON KUGEL There's something about an action-packed storyline with science fiction flair and brilliantly executed martial arts work that never fails to capture an audiences' imagination. Netflix series Wu...
Film Interview: Ian McKellen – The Good Liar, Or Deciding What To Display
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]Ian McKellen stars as Roy Courtnay in The Good Liar, directed by Bill Condon. Are suspense thrillers among your favorite kinds of film? If I can make my television work, I might flick through the documentaries, and...
Music Interview: Justin Serrao – Perfect Stranger, Or Going To The Country
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Singer-songwriter Justin Serrao recently released a video for his song Perfect Stranger. “Influence” is a loaded, often misunderstood concept. An artist may sound similar to another...
Theatre Interview: Germandt Geldenhuys – Every Dame Of The Week, Or The Deal’s In The Dialogue
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Germandt Geldenhuys stars as the Dame, Mies Miemie Mosbolletjie-Melba, in the pantomime Jack And The Beanstalk at Joburg Theatre. Live performance is both one of the main drawcards of being...
Book Extract: Magirus – The Story Of A Second-Class Citizen, Or Beyond The Band
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]Magirus – The Story Of A Second-Class Citizen by Clive Hay is available now. This extract is published by permission. We were blissfully unaware that our status was going to change from an army band playing for the...
Music Interview: John Tsenoli – Oh Boy, Or Caring About Us
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL John Tsenoli's debut single I'm Just A Boy is available now. “Influence” is a loaded, often misunderstood concept. An artist may sound similar to another but have no knowledge of them, or...
Author Interview: Tony Park – Reach Out For Research, Or Hunting The Ghost Of A Story
By BRUCE DENNILL Australian author Tony Park's latest book, Ghosts Of The Past, is published by Pan Macmillan and is available now. How do you know when an idea is worthy of developing into a book? With songs or other shorter formats, you can get to a...
Film Interview: Todd Phillips – Joker, Or Joaquin The Walk
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]Todd Phillips, director, producer and co-writer of Joker, chats about getting the film made, and its themes. You’ve said that certain films from the 1970s and 1980s spoke to you and inspired you to be a...
Music Interview: Wandile Mbambeni – Tell Me, Or Live Is Lovely
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Wandile Mbambeni’s debut album Kwakumnandi is out now. His new single, Peace Of Mind, has just been released. “Influence” is a loaded, often misunderstood concept. An artist may...
TV Interview: Debi Mazar – Younger While Older, Or Starring For Star
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ALLISON KUGEL In the 1990s, Debi Mazar's cat-eyed glamour was spotted everywhere, alongside close friend Madonna. Arm-in-arm, they strolled red carpets across two continents and partied with a glittery group of...
Extract – Verwoerd: My Journey Through Family Betrayals – Dutch Reform, Or Outside The Laager
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]Verwoerd: My Journey Through Family Betrayals by Wilhelm Verwoerd, published by Tafelberg, is available now. This excerpt is published by permission. I was well prepared for my first foray on foreign soil. Apart...
Music Interview: Go The Rodeo – MK Computed, Or Bona Fide For The Fans
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Go The Rodeo is an alternative electro-rock band from Johannesburg. Their current line-up is Robert Mitchley (bass guitar, backing vocals, keyboard), Corne van Niekerk (vocals, guitar) and Craig Atkinson...
Theatre Interview: Brian d’Arcy James – The Ferryman: Jez Because, Or Beyond The Troubles
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ALLISON KUGEL Actor Brian d'Arcy James delivers a tour de force performance as dashing and tormented Quinn Carney in the Broadway play, The Ferryman, winner of four 2019 Tony Awards including Best Play, Best Author...
Book Extract: Holding The Fort by Toni Strasburg – The Parents Trapped, Or Having A Gaol Time
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]Holding The Fort by Toni Strasburg, published by NB Publishers, is available now. This extract published by permission. We didn’t know how long our parents would be in detention and grown up as I was in some ways,...
Author Interview: Louis Giglio – Never Forsaken: Fulfilled By A Father, Or Dealing With Daddy Issues
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Passion Movement founder and pastor of Passion City Church in Atlanta, Louie Giglio is also the author of a number of books. His latest offering for adults is Not Forsaken: Finding Freedom as Sons...
Author Interview: Robert Prior – The Power Of Comparison: Prior Knowledge, Or Faith In Flexibility
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Robert Prior is the author of The Power Of Comparison: A Manual For Better Living, promoted by Authoramp. How do you know when an idea is worthy of developing into a book? With songs or...
Music Interview: Carmen Rodrigues – Let It All Go, Or Get It All Back Through Music
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Durban-based singer-songwriter Carmen Rodrigues has released Let It All Go, her debut full length album, recorded and produced by Marc Skarda from October Sun Productions. The tracks reflect an...
Music Interview: Pierre Greeff – Cutting Through The Noise, Or Dealing With Disappointment
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Die Heuwels Fantasties recently released new single Jy Stel My Teleur ahead of a new album. Singer Pierre Greeff, who also heads up music label Supra Familias and co-owns the Liefde By Die Dam...
Film Interview: IT Chapter Two – Choosing The Children, Or A Clown Completed
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]Barbara Muschietti is one of the producers for IT Chapter Two. When did the casting for IT Chapter Two really begin? I think we started casting the film in our minds even before we were casting the kids. You cannot...
Theatre Interview: Justin Swartz And James McPhail – Ensemble The Troops, Or Enjoying The First Act
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Justin Swartz and James McPhail (both Oakfields College alumni) are two of the pantomime first-timers in this year’s Bernard Jay production, Jack And The Beanstalk, at the Joburg Theatre – written...
TV Interview: Raven-Symoné – To The Genre Born, Or Going Behind The Screens
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ALLISON KUGEL Raven-Symoné's alter ego, Raven Baxter, has been a staple on The Disney Channel since the child actor-turned-Hollywood renaissance woman debuted her famous character on the hit show, That's So...
Book Extract: Life Interrupted – Relationship Noir, Or Loved To Seth
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]Life Interrupted by Samantha Smirin (published by Jacana Media) is a memoir about the true struggles of living with mental health issues. Bipolar is not glamourised or sensualised here - Samantha Smirin writes on her real...
Book Extract: The Real Interior – Prosper For Papa, Or Don’t Mess With Mama
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]The Real Interior by Nthabi Taukobong is published by Tracey McDonald Publishers and is available now. This extract published by permission. UPBRINGING My father created an environment for us to be, and do, our best. He...
Theatre Interview: Musanete Sakupwanya – Forever Plaid: Catholic Ambitions, Or In Harmony With His Craft
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Musanete Sakupwanya stars in the new VR Theatrical production of Forever Plaid, the story of Jinx, Sparky, Francis and Smudge, four young male singers who landed their first big gig at an airport...
Theatre Interview: Ben Voss – Benny Bushwhacker: Constantly Creating, Or Enjoying Taking The Pith
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Ben Voss stars in a new one-man show, Benny Bushwhacker: Human Nature. The piece is written by John van de Ruit and directed by Janice Honeyman. Live performance is both one of the main...
TV Interview: Robin Givens – Enduring Ambitions, Or The Art Of Givens Takes
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ALLISON KUGEL Actress Robin Givens has played many roles in her life, retiring wallflower not being among them. She burst onto the scene as the beautiful and brainy Darlene on Head Of the Class, a sitcom that...
Book Extract: Life Through The Bars – Improving Incarceration, Or Understanding Contexts For Crimes
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]Light Through the Bars: Understanding and Rethinking South Africa’s Prisons by Fr Babychan Arackathara is published by Mercury and Burnet Media. This extract published by permission. Family Matters ...
Music Interview: Caroline Leisegang – My Body Of Preludes: Keys To Success, Or Enjoying The Richter Scales
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Composer Caroline Leisegang released her new album, My Body Of Preludes, on August 2. “Influence” is a loaded, often misunderstood concept. An artist may sound similar to another but have...
Theatre Interview: Joseph Gerassi – Redfest, Or The Art Of Education
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Joseph Gerassi, Executive Head of Redhill School, is a man who believes in the value of art in education. Four years ago, he came up with the idea of RedFest, an arts festival hosted by the...
Music Interview: Oystercatcher – One Plus One Is More, Or Pearls Of Rhythm
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Oystercatcher is a music collective based in Manchester. At its core are multi-instrumentalists Caitlin Laing (vocals) and Tom Chapman (bass), although the line-up changes fluidly, ranging from a...
Music Interview: Crimson House – Bounceology: Imagine The Possibilities, Or Deep In The Red
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Seven-piece Cape Town outfit Crimson House recently released a new album called Bounceology, which they are touring around South Africa. Frontman Riaan Smit discusses his musical perspectives....
Theatre Interview: Craig Morris – Play List, Or All Work And More Plays
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Craig Morris stars in Play List at POPArt Theatre. Play List is an exciting new format that acknowledges the emerging trend towards short-form theatre. The audience is presented with a ‘play...
Theatre Interview: Earl Gregory – Kinky Boots, Or To Truly Be In Another’s Shoes
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Kinky Boots is running at Cape Town's Fugard Theatre until 2 February 2020. Earl Gregory plays drag queen Lola. Live performance is both one of the main drawcards of being a...
Music Interview: Sean Koch – Your Mind Is A Picture, Or Aiming Outside The Frame
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Singer-songwriter Sean Koch has released his debut album Your Mind Is A Picture, along with the single of the same name. He is currently touring Europe to promote the collection. ...
Film Interview: The Kitchen – If You Can’t Stand The Heat, Get Out Of The Gang
A portly police officer steps out of the toilet stall at a tired, Seventies-era diner in New York City’s infamous Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood. He thinks he has a moment to himself. Instead, he is confronted by the imposing trio of Kathy (Melissa McCarthy),...
Art: SculptX – Art Is All Around Us, Or Foundry Footage
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]SculptX, the largest annual sculpture fair in South Africa, run from 30 August to 29 September 2019 at Melrose Arch. Over 200 artworks created by more than 90 established and emerging sculptors will be showcased in indoor...
Music Interview: Zolani Mahola – The One Who Sings, Or A Journey Of A Thousand Miles Begins With A Solo Step
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL New Year’s Eve, 31 December 2019, Zolani Mahola will perform at Kirstenbosch Gardens in Cape Town for the last time as the lead singer of internationally acclaimed band Freshlyground before taking...
Music Reviews: Who’s That Guy Ben, Or Fire 4 Ever
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Ben Haenow: Ben Haenow Prince: 4 Ever WorshipMob: Carry The Fire Guy Buttery: Guy Buttery X-Factor winner Ben Haenow’s debut album is a fine showcase for his blue-eyed soul voice,...
Music Interview: PHFat – Sex, Love And Heartbreak, Or Aspects Of Love (But Not That One)
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL “Influence” is a loaded, often misunderstood concept. An artist may sound similar to another but have no knowledge of them, or be a superfan of someone whose output is completely different to...
Theatre Interview: Jaco Van Rensburg – From Passion To Production, Or Bringing Theatre Into The Digital Age
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Jaco van Rensburg is the Executive Producer with theatre production company VR Theatrical, and is one of the driving forces behind a number of exciting productions. And his shows no signs of...
Music Interview: Werner Bekker – Songs And Storytelling, Or A Broken Man Under Construction
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Werner Bekker will appear as part of the Parklife Gourmet Food & Music Festival on 9 August at the Emmarentia Botanical Garden. Tickets are available now. His new EP, Parts Of A Broken Man, is...
Theatre Interview: Pieter-Dirk Uys – #HeTwo: He’s With Her, Or No Fixed Agender
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Pieter-Dirk Uys’ new show #HeTwo, in which he appears on stage with the elegant Evita Bezuidenhout, runs at Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre from 31 July to 18 August and at the Theatre On The...
Theatre Interview: Sharon Spiegel-Wagner – Tinder For A Flame, Or Igniting A Light In The Dark
By BRUCE DENNILL Sharon Spiegel-Wagner plays 'Jody' in dating comedy The Dead Tinder Society (Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, 25 July to 25 August). What are your personal feelings about Tinder? I never really knew about Tinder before I went to...
Theatre Interview: Ashleigh Harvey – Best Play To Date, Or Swiping Write
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Ashleigh Harvey is the writer behind new stage comedy The Dead Tinder Society (Pieter Toerien's Montecasino Theatre, 25 July to 25 August) which explores the "funny, scary, vulnerable world of...
Book Extract: Recover From Burnout, Or Too Much For No Good
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]Recover From Burnout by Judy Klipin is published by Bookstorm and is available now. This extract is published by permission. Burnout is a result of doing too many of the wrong things. In my 12-year career as a life...
Art Interview: Mari Dartnall – Adriaan Boshoff Museum, Or All The Treasures Of The Orient
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]The world's largest collection of works by pre-eminent South African Impressionist Adriaan Boshoff can be seen in a world-class new art museum dedicated to the artist's life and paintings. The Adriaan Boshoff Museum –...
Film Interview: Ry Russo-Young – The Sun Is Also A Star, Or Love Knows No Borders
The Sun Is Also A Star is a 2019 American teen drama film directed by Ry Russo-Young and written by Tracy Oliver, based on the young adult novel of the same name by Nicola Yoon. The film stars Yara Shahidi and Charles Melton, and follows a young couple who fall in...
Theatre Interview: Alan Swerdlow – Family Secrets, Or Soap Up, Sonny
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Family Secrets, by Italian playwright Enrico Luttmann, stars Dorothy-Ann Gould and Sven Ruygrok, is directed by Alan Swerdlow and designed by Kosie Smit. It tells the story of a mother and son, a...
Music Interview: The Shabs – Acoustic Acceleration, Or Symbiotic Storytellers
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL The Shabs, a four-piece folk-punk band from Cape Town (Jon Shaban - guitar and vocals; Ryan McArthur - upright bass and backing vocals; Jon Case - drums; and Sophie Doherty - melodica and vocals),...
Television Interview: Pam Grier – Self-Sufficient Certainty, Or Rural Resonance
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ALLISON KUGEL If you were to ask any director who's worked with Pam Grier, they would likely tell you that having Pam on their set is a game-changer. She knows what she wants and what she brings to the table -...
TV Interview: Kate Fleetwood – Sulking Sibling, Or Opening The Feodora
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]Historical drama Victoria returns to ITV Choice (DStv channel 123) for its third season on 3 June and with it, a brand new character: Queen Victoria's older sister, Princess Feodora. According to the Radio Times,...
Music Interview: Zacas – Turning The Corner, Or Of Folk And Fraternity
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Brothers Luigi (vocals) and Salvatore (guitar and backing vocals) Zaca write, record and perform together as Zacas, telling lyrical stories based on experience, backed by intricate folk...
Theatre Interview: Carmen Pretorius – Hart And Soul, Or Making Fickleness Forgivable
By BRUCE DENNILL Carmen Pretorius is on a fantastic run at the moment, following up an award-winning turn as Maria in The Sound Of Music with one of her dream roles as Roxie Hart in the Showtime Management production of Chicago, currently running in...
Author Interview: Deon Maas – Witboy In Berlin: Adventures In The First World, Or Of Immigration And Immersion
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Deon Maas' new book Witboy In Berlin: Adventures In The First World is an examination of the author's time settling into the German capital as a resident, rather than as just a visitor... Changing...
Film Interview: David F Sandberg – Shazam!, Or Hello Hero With Humour
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]David F Sandberg is the director of Shazam!, starring Zachary Levi, Mark Strong and Asher Angel. https://youtu.be/2aTynO5lnYc With Lights Out and Annabelle: Creation, you’ve established yourself in the...
TV Interview: Rita Moreno – One Day At A Time, Or Viva Hispania!
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ALLISON KUGEL Multi-award-winning actress, singer and dancer Rita Moreno blazed an iconic trail as the first mainstream Hispanic actress to grace Hollywood when she exploded onto the big screen as Anita in 1961...
Extract: The Senior Adviser – Pirates And Plunder, Or Of Treasure And Terrorism
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]The Senior Adviser by Edmund-George King is published by Porcupine Press and available now. This excerpt is published by permission. ‘Of course, the Minister could have written to you himself,’ he said, ‘but he...
Theatre Interview: Victor Trevino – Men In Tutus: To The Victor Go The Questions, Or Eloelling At Ballet
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]Ballets Eloelle's Men In Tutus runs in Johannesburg from 12 to 14 April and in Cape Town from 18 to 21 April. Ballet Eloelle's founder and artistic director is Victor Trevino. Trevino started dancing at a the age of 19 in...
Theatre Interview: Natasha Sutherland – Brutal Legacy, Or Going, Going, Go On
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Natasha Sutherland stars in her own adaptation of journalist and television and radio personality Tracy Going’s hard-hitting memoir Brutal Legacy, which deals with Going’s growing up with a...
Theatre Interview: Ashleigh Butcher – Hen Party, Or Uke Can Do Anything
By BRUCE DENNILL Ashleigh Butcher is currently starring in the National Children's Theatre production of Duck For President, running until April 7. Children's theatre: relative to other theatre, acting or singing work, does it require a different...
Book Extract: Dead Of Night, Or Things Aren’t Looking Good, Sausage
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]Dead of Night by Michael Stanley is published by Orenda Books and is available now. This excerpt is published by permission. Prologue Michael Davidson wiped the sweat off his face, irritated that his hand was...
Music Interview: Michael Buble – Learning From Life, Or Living To Love
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ALLISON KUGEL Michael Buble’s first order of business when we began our conversation was to immediately put me at ease around his celebrity. The multi-Grammy and multi-Juno Award-winning singer, who has sold...
Music Interview: Richard Shelton – Sinatra And Me, Or To Be Frank
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Sinatra And Me, starring Richard Shelton as Frank Sinatra is currently touring South Africa, with the award-winning Shelton backed by Adam Howard's Joburg Big Band. The tour takes in Pretoria (20...
Artist Interview: Willie Bester – Burning Issues, Or Running With The Wolf
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]Out Of The Furnace is an international collaboration between South African Willie Bester and Austrian Wolf Werdigier, running at the Melrose Gallery at Melrose Arch, Johannesburg from 14 March to 14 April 2019. Artists...
Film Interview: Mario Van Peebles – Armed And Intelligent, Or Think Before You Shoot
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ALLISON KUGEL Born of a revolutionary bloodline to activist filmmaker, Melvin Van Peebles, you could say that Mario Van Peebles was born to make films that nudge our social consciousness and encourage us to...
Music Interview: Schalk Joubert – Jazz In The Quad, Or In Woordfees And Deed
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By LINY KRUGER Jazz in the Quad at the US Woordfees / 9 March, 21h30 / Visuele Kunste Vierkant, Stellenbosch / Tickets at Computicket Schalk Joubert & band, featuring Sima Mashazi / Schalk Joubert (bass),...
Music Interview: Katie Anne Mitchell – The Many Lives Of Mockingbird, Or Of Folk And Feathers
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Katie Anne Mitchell is a singer, songwriter and actress based in Los Angeles. Her debut album is called The Many Lives Of Mockingbird. You have songs and spoken word storytelling on The...
Music Interview: Imogen Heap – Instant Rewards, Or The Gloves Are On
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Imogen Heap is currently touring the world, giving workshops and masterclasses on the pioneering music industry models and technology with which she is involved. In terms of moving beyond...
Music Interview: Ard Matthews – Together Alone, Or The Power Of Positive Playing
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Ard Matthews is part of the line-up for the 2019 installment of Amp Events' Rock On The Lawns, headlined by The Cure and also featuring Fokofpolisiekar, Karen Zoid, Zebra & Giraffe, Opposite...
Music Interview: Guitar Wizards – Anything Acoustic, Or Kings Of Six Strings
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Guitar Wizards, running at Joburg Theatre from 28 Feb to 2 March, features genre-busting classical guitar duo CH2 and Polish sensation Marcin Patrzalek playing their intricate and explosive brands...
Theatre Interview: Kate Normington – Into The Woods: Speaking Smooth Sondheim, Or Witch Way Forward?
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Kate Normington is playing The Witch in the Pieter Toerien and Kickstart production of Stephen Sondheim's Into The Woods at the Theatre On The Bay in Cape Town (until 2 March) and at Pieter...
Art Interview: Skin Deep, Or Fleshing Out A Philosophy
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] The visionary German artist and social activist SaySay.Love once again poses the question, “What is beautiful?” in his exhibition entitled Skin Deep, running from 12 February to 9 March at Gallery One11, 111 Loop Street,...
Music Interview: James Stewart & Stephen “Sugar” Segerman – Getting Sweet On Songcraft, Or An Un-Usual Combination
By BRUCE DENNILL In A Spoonful Of Sugar And James (3pm on 9 February at Franschoek Cellars and 7.30pm on 28 February at Café Roux in Noordhoek), singer-songwriter James Stewart joins Stephen “Sugar” Segerman, the man behind the rediscovery of Sixto...
Theatre Interview: Michele Maxwell – Hard-Boyled, Or Cooped Up And Conservative
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Michele Maxwell plays the role of the stern, petulant Mrs Boyle in the new Pieter Toerien production of Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap, famously the play with longest initial run in theatre...
Book Interview: Mel B – Escape From Abuse, Or Honesty Is The Spice Of Life
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ALLISON KUGEL Melanie Brown, aka Mel B, has reigned supreme as the spiciest of her bandmates since bursting onto the entertainment scene as Scary Spice in 1996 with the group’s Number One hit Wannabe. With her...
Music Interview: David Guetta – Lucky Number Seven, Or The Man To Beat
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ALLISON KUGEL David Guetta has become a music impresario, churning out genre-busting pop songs that have been topping the charts for nearly a decade with mega-hits like Titanium featuring Sia; Where Them Girls...
Theatre Interview: Bianca Flanders – History Highlighted, Or A Story Remembered For Eva
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ALLISON FOAT Krotoa, Eva van de Kaap is a music theatre production presented by Artscape in association with the Dutch theatre collective, the Volksoperahuis. The production was first performed to...
Film Interview: Olivia Colman – The Favourite, Or Finding Out If Anne Can
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]Olivia Colman is a recipient of three Bafta Awards, with roles in hit series like Peep Show, Green Wing, and Twenty Twelve, and has received tremendous critical acclaim for her dramatic work in Paddy Considine’s...
Book Extract: There Goes English Teacher, Or Interesting Korea Change
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]This is an extract from There Goes English Teacher by Karin Cronje (below), published by Modjaji Books. “Victoria, I’m going to Korea!” “Where’s that?” “Above us somewhere.” Victoria and I are crouched on the loo...
Music Interview: Paula Abdul – Straight Up Revived, Or Dancing To A New Beat
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ALLISON KUGEL On October 3 2018, Paula Abdul hit the road on her North American tour; a tour that’s been more than 25 years in the making, since her 1992 Under My Spell tour which grossed $60 million in ticket...
Book Extract: The Horns – Evolution Of A Theory, Or Parted By Perspective
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]This is an excerpt from The Horns: Book One of the Zambezi Trilogy by Jill Baker, published by Porcupine Press. “What excuse do you think these nations had found that allowed them to feel entitled to just walk in?...
Film Interview: Michelle Yeoh – Crazy Rich Asians: Traditionally Funny, Or Feeling So Young
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]Michelle Yeoh plays Eleanor Young in Crazy Rich Asians. How did you work with director Jon M Chu to bring the character of Eleanor Young to life? The book Crazy Rich Asians is terrific fun and a perfect beach...
Film Interview: Graham King – Bohemian Rhapsody, Or Focus On The Frontman
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]Screening Bohemian Rhapsody for Brian May and Roger Taylor – two founding members, guitarist and drummer, with Queen, one of the giants of rock music – was an emotional experience for Oscar-winning producer Graham...
Television Interview: Regina King – Seven Seconds: Familiar Perspective, Or (Living In Your) Brutal Truth
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ALLISON KUGEL Actress Regina King shines in Seven Seconds on Netflix. With an acting career spanning four decades and multiple awards and nominations, Regina King has effortlessly embodied countless...
Book Extract: These Things Really Do Happen To Me by Khaya Dlanga – Hoisted By Crane
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]This excerpt is taken from These Things Really Do Happen To Me by Khaya Dlanga, published by Pan Macmillan South Africa and reproduced by permission. Lunch with Xolisa and William Shatner (aka Denny Crane) One...
Film Interview: Rainn Wilson – The Meg: Size Does Matter, Or Prodigious Pisces
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]Rainn Wilson plays Morris in giant-ocean-monster thriller The Meg. What drew you to The Meg? My character in the film, Jack Morris, is a fascinating guy. He’s an international businessman who is, perhaps, modelled...
Film Interview: Charl-Johan Lingenfelder – Kanarie: How The Caged Bird Sings, Or Every Niemand Is A Somebody
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Charl-Johan Lingenfelder, is the co-writer of the superb Afrikaans coming-of-age drama Kanarie. More interestingly, he is also the inspiration for the story, with the experiences of the film’s...
Theatre Interview: Michelle Douglas – The Revlon Girl: Good Grief, Or A Rare Welsh Bit
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL The publicity material for Neil Anthony Docking’s play The Revlon Girl, staged at the Auto & General Theatre On The Square, describes, unsurprisingly, the background to the piece’s plot – the...
Book Interview: John Boyne – A Ladder To The Sky: Stolen Stories, Or Acting On Ambition
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL John Boyne’s A Ladder To The Sky is a dark thriller involving lying (bad), death (worse) and plagiarism (oh hell, no). Its protagonist is Maurice Swift, an immensely ambitious writer fortunate...
Theatre Interview: Elizma Badenhorst – The Little Prince: Propelled By Puppets, Or Noteworthy Additions
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL VR Theatrical have made Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince, the beloved tale of a pilot and a young alien prince has been delighting readers since it was first published in 1943, into a...
Theatre Interview: Jayne Batzofin – Measure Up: Celebration Of Self, Or In Equal Measure
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL From the Hip: Khulumakahle's (FTH: K) Measure Up is a visual and dance-based movement exploration of what makes us all unique. When we measure ourselves against others we start to notice...
Theatre Interview: Mncedisi Shabangu – Tshepang: The Third Testament – Breaking The Cycle, Or Taking The Conversation To The Next Stage
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Mncidisi Shabangu reprises his role as Simon in Tshepang: The Third Testament, Lara Foot’s heart-rending play based on a horrific child rape case, at The Fringe, Joburg Theatre. Does the...
Art Interview: Stefan Hundt – A Century Of South African Art, Or Curating Culture
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]Centennial: A Century Of South African Art From The Sanlam Art Collection 1918 - 2018: Sanlam Art Lounge, 11 Alice Lane, Sandton, Johannesburg, until 14 December 2018 From Botha’s devastating Butterfly Box and...
Theatre Interview: Sharon Spiegel-Wagner – Oakfields College Showcase, Or In The Direction Of Success
By BRUCE DENNILL Actress, musician and teacher Sharon Spiegel-Wagner is the director of the 2018 Oakfields College Faculty of Dance and Musical Theatre showcase, which gives the school’s students a platform on which to show off their skills for industry...
Film Interview: Rob Reiner – Shock And Awe, Or Critical Mass Destruction
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ALLISON KUGEL Rob Reiner may have entered show business as an industry legacy, following in the footsteps of his famous father, legendary comedic writer and performer, Carl Reiner. But he quickly paved his own...
Music Interview: Sannie Fox – My Soul Got Stranger, Or Making Some Keys Changes
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Sannie Fox recently released her second solo album, My Soul Got Stranger, which expands the sonic palette introduced on her blues-rocking debut Serpente Masjien and its self-titled follow-up. You have a...
Theatre Interview: Carly Graeme – What You Don’t Know About Women, Or Aiming Cy-High
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL What You Don’t Know About Women: The Songs Of Cy Coleman, featuring Carly Graeme and with musical direction by Rowan Bakker, is a celebration of the music of composer Cy Coleman, and a look at the...
Theatre Interview: Shelley Adriaanzen – Polkadots: The Cool Kids Musical, Or Spot The Solution
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Shelley Adriaanzen is the director of Polkadots: The Cool Kids Musical at Redfest 2018. For more information, go to redhillinnovate.co.za/redfest.html. You worked on the children's show...
Book Extract – Walking To Australia, Or Going Greek In Ethiopia
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]Walking To Australia: 21st Century Excursions Into Humanity’s Greatest Migration by David Robbins is published by Porcupine Press and available now. The excerpt is published by permission. (‘The Finding of the True...
Book Interview: DL Hughley – How Not To Get Shot And Other Advice From White People, Or Of Print And Prejudice
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ALLISON KUGEL Hailed as one of the most prolific stand-up comedians of the past three decades, DL Hughley has never been afraid to dig into ethnic stereotypes, economic disparity, relationships and politics....
Music Interview: Lenny Kravitz – Raise Vibration, Or It’s Enough To Express Yourself
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ALLISON KUGEL Twenty-nine years after releasing his debut album, Lenny Kravitz is still letting love rule, but with an eye towards societal strife. The multi Grammy Award-winning musician delivers an exciting...
Books: Extract – The Trials And Travails Of Stella Bellamy by Barbara Schreiner
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]The Trials And Travails Of Stella Bellamy by Barbara Schreiner is available now. This excerpt is published by permission. Stella has an epiphany. A strange thing to happen standing over a pan of scrambled eggs, ignoring...
Theatre Interview: A Chorus Line – School Of Hard Auditions, Or A Leg Up In Musical Theatre
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL The Oakfields College Faculty of Dance and Musical Theatre's annual production for 2018 is the Tony Award-winning musical A Chorus Line, running at the Joburg Fringe Theatre from 9 – 19 August. Book...
Music Interview: Gwen Stefani – Not Just A Girl, Or What Happens In Vegas
BY ALLISON KUGEL Gwen Stefani spent her childhood and adolescence in Anaheim, California, a suburban girl living just a stone’s throw from Disneyland. It was her older brother, Eric, who founded No Doubt, the hybrid ska/punk/rock band that would help Stefani...
Film Interview: Ian Morgan – Good Mourning, Or Better Fortune
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]Cape Town-based filmmaker Ian Morgan was the winner of the first SundanceTV Shorts Competition for South Africa, with his short film Good Mourning. Tell us about your winning film? Good Mourning is a dark comedy about...
Film Interview: Craig T Nelson – An Incredibles Year, Or Not Doing Things By The Book Club
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]By ALLISON KUGEL From his early days on the comedy stage to playing lovable football fanatic Hayden Fox on the long-running television sitcom Coach, Zeek Braverman on the television drama Parenthood to countless big...
Burlesque Interview: Dita Von Teese – Fair Play, Copper, Or Von Teese Me, Please Me
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ALLISON KUGEL Born out of a time capsule from Hollywood’s golden era, glamour girl and burlesque goddess Dita Von Teese has been captivating imaginations around the world since she burst onto the scene in the...
TV Interview: Allen Maldonado – The Last OG, Or Peele-ing Away The Layers
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]By ALLISON KUGEL From playing Curtis for two seasons on ABC’s megahit Black-ish to starring alongside Tracy Morgan and Tiffany Haddish in the TBS hit series, The Last OG, multi-hyphenate actor-writer-entrepreneur...
Music Interview: Otis Williams – Irresistible Temptation, Or Doing Things The Way They Do The Things They Do
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ALLISON KUGEL Since signing with Berry Gordy’s Motown Records in 1961, the legendary Temptations have gone through many incarnations in their more than 50 years of making music, from fledgling singers riding...
Film Interview: Bronwyn Berry – Love Gilda: It’s A Funny Business, Or Intimate Individual Insight
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] BY BRUCE DENNILL Bronwyn Berry is one of the producers for Love, Gilda, a documentary about writer, actress, comedian and original Saturday Night Live cast member Gilda Radner. The film is enjoying...
TV Interview: Dr Drew Pinsky – Broadcast Benefits, Or Drewing Positive Conclusions
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]By ALLISON KUGEL Dr Drew Pinsky’s long-running call-in show Loveline, with Adam Carolla, aired on MTV for 32 years and pioneered a pop culture adaptation of relationship and safe sex education. The show, featuring...
Books Interview: Kate Turkington – Yes, Really! – Taught By Travel, Or How To Never Say No
By BRUCE DENNILL Kate Turkington has already written a couple of books with major autobiographical elements – There’s More To Life Than Surface, about the connectedness of different cultures; and Doing It With Doris, a collection of travel stories...
Books: Extract From Arabella, The Secret King And The Amulet From Timbuktu By Hamilton Wende
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]Arabella, The Secret King And The Amulet From Timbuktu by Hamilton Wende is published by Clockwork Books and is available online and in all good bookstores. This excerpt is published by permission. Arabella climbed...
Theatre Interview: Lucy Tops – Significant Other, Or Espousing Progression
By BRUCE DENNILL Cape Town actress Lucy Tops stars as Laura in the Fugard Theatre’s production of Significant Other by playwright Joshua Harmon, who also wrote the hugely popular Bad Jews. The latter piece had a fair amount of crassness and cynicism to...
Book Interview: Vivica A Fox – How To Hustle, Or Owning Your Identity With Elegance
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ALLISON KUGEL Kind, conscientious, courageous and refreshingly candid, Vivica A Fox has proven that as Hollywood careers go, second acts are often the sweetest. The multi-hyphenate actress-director- beauty...
Music Interview: Megan Victor-Carelse – Headed For Home, Or To The Victor-Carelse Go The Spoils
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Megan Victor-Carelse is a triple-threat in the traditional sense – she acts, sings and dances – but her official CV lists a much longer list. That document identifies her as an octo-threat:...
Music Interview: Jeremy Loops – Reaching Critical Mass, Or Getting His Freak On
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Jeremy Loops' new album Critical As Water has attracted local and international audiences to his shows, and continues its impressive momentum with the release of new single Freaks. ...
TV Interview: Logan Browning – Dear White People, Or Of Performance And Privilege
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ALLISON KUGEL Her beauty is luminescent, her conviction fierce. It’s a potent combination and why actress Logan Browning’s portrayal of student activist Sam White in the hit Netflix series Dear White People has...
Music Interview: Caroline Leisegang – Remaining Composed, Or Of People, Pianos And Potency
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Caroline Leisegang will be showcasing the compositions from her new album My Body Of Preludes at Circa On Jellicoe in Rosebank on 10 May. Book at Computicket. The publicity ahead of the...
TV Interview: Antonio Banderas – Genius: Picasso, Or Painting A Picture Of An Icon
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] Few painters have been as awe-inspiringly prolific as Pablo Picasso. One of the most influential and celebrated artists of the 20th century, his career spanned more than 80 of his 91 years, during which time he produced...
Film Interview: Naomie Harris – Rampage: Going Ape With The Rock, Or Hanging Out With Gorgeous George
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]Naomie Harris plays Kate Caldwell in Rampage, distributed by Empire Entertainment. What drew you to Rampage and to the character of Kate? I was in the middle of promoting Moonlight and was being perceived as the...
Interview: Andie McDowell – Love After Love, Or Gaining On Gentleness
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ALLISON KUGEL Actress Andie MacDowell’s appeal is in her ethereal glow. From her crown of dark cascading curls to her porcelain complexion and delicate features, MacDowell’s sweet yet sultry sensuality...
Interview: Mark Strong – Maturity To The Max, Or Deep In The Dirt And The Dust
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]Mark Strong plays Max Easton in Deep State, running on Fox Africa from 11 April. Mark, this is your first TV show in a while, what brought you back to the small screen? The story to be honest. I think that’s what...
Interview: Brooklyn Decker – Modelling Messiness, Or App-lied Acting
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ALLISON KUGEL Few models have seamlessly made the transition to the silver screen and television as successfully as Brooklyn Decker. Decker leapt from the cover of Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Issue (the...
Interview: Stone Jets – Growing On The Fly, Or Of Melodies And Motivation
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Singer Given Nkanyane, guitarist Manfred Klose and drummer Eduan Joubert are Stone Jets, a Cape Town band that sounds like a Cape Town band. By that, it is meant that there is are the mbaqanga...
Interview: Walton Goggins – Acting The Antagonist, Or Something A Little Vogel Told Me
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]Walton Goggins stars as Matthias Vogel in Tomb Raider, much of which was filmed in South Africa and which was released on 16 March by Empire Entertainment. Prior to becoming involved in the Tomb Raider movie, did...
Interview: Keith Hutchinson – Restless Resourcefulness, Or Six Degrees Of Syncopation
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Keith Hutchinson comes out to greet me in a Festival International de Jazz de Montreal 1988 T-shirt. He notices me looking at the vintage logo. “I was there,” he shrugs. It’s the sort of thing,...
Interview: Jeremy Thompson – All The Newsman That’s Fit To Print, Or Don’t Fix What’s Not Breaking
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Jeremy Thompson’s autobiography Breaking News tells the story of a 50-year career in media – a rare thing at any point in history but possibly something that will be almost impossible to repeat in...
Interview: Chris Jericho – Putting More Bricks In The Wall, Or The Ego’s Not Landing
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ALLISON KUGEL Listed by Sports Illustrated as one of the greatest wrestlers in WWE history, few wrestlers, or athletes for that matter, have done more to brand their name than Chris Jericho. From the eponymous...
Interview: David Arquette – Jail And Justice, Or Acting On Behalf Of The Incarcerated
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]By ALLISON KUGEL The Arquette family are a band of actors, artists, provocateurs and activists. With the image that David Arquette has crafted for himself as the family’s resident goofball, his newest film, a...
Guest Blog: Edith Piaf – The Little Sparrow, Or Survival Via Intensity
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By NIAMH O'DONNOVAN Perhaps France's greatest popular singer of all time, Edith Piaf is remembered by most for classics such as La Vie En Rose and Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien, songs most street musicians have...
Interview: Dirk Badenhorst – South African International Ballet Competition, Or Cosmopolitan Collaborations Completed
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL This year marks the 10-year anniversary of the South African International Ballet Competition (SAIBC), founded by Dirk Badenhorst. That’s a notable achievement, given the challenges inherent in...
Interview: Damon Dash – All For Honour, Or There’s Nothing Like A Dame
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ALLISON KUGEL The life of Damon Dash appears to be an epic triumph to some and a Shakespearean tragedy to others. It depends on where you’re standing when you look at him. After speaking with the hip hop mogul...
Interview: Tara Louise Notcutt – Shrew(d) Operator, Or Girls Who Are Boys Who Like Boys To Be Girls*
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL The Taming Of The Shrew, directed by Tara Louise Notcutt, runs from 7 February until 3 March 2018 at 20:15 Monday to Saturdays at the Maynardville Open Air Theatre in Cape Town. Book at...
Interview: Chris Cox – Charm Inoffensive, Or Your Mind, His Matter
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL English mentalist Chris Cox is a supremely confident performer, much of whose appeal, ironically, lies in massive self-deprecation – he pitches himself as a “mindreader who can’t read minds”....
Interview: Sebe Leotlela – Purple Pro, Or Getting To The Nub Of Nettie
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Actress Sebe Leotlela returns to the Joburg Theatre after completing a run as part of the ensemble in Janice Honeyman’s pantomime, Pinocchio. She’s reconnecting with the director too, in an...
Interview: Cito – Wonderboom Grows Again, Or Do It Yourself, China
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Wonderboom’s Martin “Cito” Otto sends a message, received as I’m en route to an early breakfast and a chat with the singer and songwriter, which suggests he’s already had too much coffee. “Hey...
Interview: Andy Serkis: Learning To Breathe, Or Of Partners And Paralysis
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] Andy Serkis hadn’t planned on directing Breathe. But once he’d read William Nicholson’s screenplay he knew that he didn’t have a choice. He simply had to do it. For a start, there was a powerful personal connection;...
Books: Extract – Heartbreaker by James Styan
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] Fifty years ago, on 3 December 1967, Christiaan Barnard and a team of South African medical specialists did what was considered to be impossible and performed the world’s first successful human to human heart transplant....
Wine: Prosecco Preferred, Or Bubbling Up
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Champagne – or sparking wine, or whatever derivative you’re used to – can be a polarising product, what with marketing from every side trying to convince you that their version of either...
Interview: Alan Glass – Underwater Zoo: Nothing Fishy About Conservation, Or Of Risks And Reading
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Beautiful Creatures co-creator Alan Glass has expanded the menagerie with a new children’s book called Underwater Zoo, co-written with Ed Jordan. “The premise is that many underwater creatures...
Interview: Zapiro – Art And Activism, Or All The News That’s Fit To Interpret
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL It’s been a bumper year for political cartoonists in South Africa, including everything from state capture to junk status via Robert Mugabe’s resignation. That’s a lot to keep up with. What sort...
Interview: U2 – Songs Of Experience, Or Letters To Loved Ones
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By Tom Doyle Songs of Experience has been two-and-a-half years in the making for U2. As a band you must be very happy to get this record over...
Interview: Ron Sexsmith – Last Rider One Liners, Or In It For The Long Ron
By BRUCE DENNILL Ron Sexsmith is at home – the Canadian singer-songwriter lives in Stratford, Ontario – and in his words, “between records”. However his latest album, The Last Rider, was only released in April 2017, with a tour to follow. Even given Sexmith’s...
Interview: Gavin Elder – Of Nude Girls, Girls On Film And Gilmour
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Gavin Elder began his career shooting music videos for the Springbok Nude Girls before moving on to film Duran Duran during a tour of Japan and, in turn, making Japan his home. In...
Interview: Alan Committie – It’s Not The Length, It’s The Mirth, Or Gags That Matter
By BRUCE DENNILL Comedian, actor and director Alan Committie has, for the last several years, staged an annual solo show at Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre (either prior to or following a run of the same piece at the Theatre On The Bay in Cape Town. That...
Music: John Ellis Releases Growing Silent, Or Have Mercy And Be Still
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]Since his major label debut as frontman for the internationally renowned, GMA Dove Award-winning rock band Tree63, John Ellis has become a stalwart of the artistic and songwriting community. An ASCAP Vanguard...
Interview: Shana Dewey – Dewey-Eyed Splendour, Or S’No Reason To Doubt
By BRUCE DENNILL Joburg Ballet soloist Shana Dewey started with the company, then the South African Ballet Theatre, when she joined company’s Junior Academy as a 13-year-old. That allowed for the odd appearance in a peripheral role in one of their productions....
Interview: Alice Gillham – Build It And They Will Come, Or Expectations Displaced
By BRUCE DENNILL Composer, producer and playwright Alice Gillham’s new musical Calling Me Home recently completed its first run – a brief installation at the Joburg Theatre in Braamfontein, where it met with mixed reviews. The piece was initially something...
Art: Better Lutyens Than Never, Or Of Art And Age
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]The Johannesburg Art Gallery (JAG) has been working feverishly up to the forthcoming celebration of the centenary of the famous Sir Edwin Lutyens building, the grand custom-built housing for the original Foundation...
Film: King Of Imagination, Or Towering Creativity
In a career spanning 50 years and over 80 books, Stephen King has amassed a towering reputation as one of our greatest storytellers. The author of innumerable bestsellers, he has been honoured by the President of the United States with the National Medal for the Arts,...
Interview – Glen Phillips: Appetite For Empathy, Or A Fillip For Integrity
By BRUCE DENNILL Glen Phillips, once and occasionally present Toad The Wet Sprocket frontman, has released a poetic, honest new solo album called Swallowed By The New, on which he examines heartbreak, depression, grief and, ultimately, hope. You've...
Author Interview: Helena Dolny – Before Forever After
What gets people talking about death in ways that make them feel more powerfully alive? Author Helena Dolny’s quest for an answer and belief that we need to talk about living and dying inspired an eight-year learning journey and resulted in Before Forever After, a...
Interview: Nicola Yoon – Everything, Everything
Nicola Yoon is the author of Everything, Everything, the book on which the eponymous movie has been based. What was your inspiration for Everything, Everything? I started writing the book when my daughter was just four months old. Like any new mom, I worried about...
Interview: Leo Sayer – Still Living In A Fantasy, Or Hair Today, Hair In 20 Minutes
By BRUCE DENNILL Leo Sayer is a people person. He arrives in the foyer of the Johannesburg hotel where we meet five minutes early and is greeted by name by the concierge. He returns the compliment, giving the man a long, two-handed handshake and swapping...
Interview: Mark Nevin – Dedicated Challenger Of Fashion, Or Fair Sound Attraction
By BRUCE DENNILL Mark Nevin: My Unfashionable Opinion Analogue tape recording: still a popular choice for “real” musicians and music fans, but not easy to do in terms of availability of hardware and engineers willing and able to go through the hassle of...
Wine: Sipping In The Suburbs, Or Some You Vin, Some You Booze
By BRUCE DENNILL Tuning The Vine / 4th Avenue Parkhurst / 1 March 2017 Publicised using the hashtag #JoziWineRoute, Tuning The Vine was an interesting stab at bringing some of the poetry of a winelands-style wine tasting to Johannesurg. Parkhurst is...
Interview: Being Prettier Than Matt, Or Playing (Any) More Americana
By BRUCE DENNILL Prettier Than Matt is a two-vocal, ukelele and guitar, folk and Americana-playing duo based in Columbia, South Carolina. Jessica Skinner, fan of Dolly Parton and other iconic country singers, and Jeff Pitts, Metallica and Bon Jovi enthusiast, share...
Interview: Jeff Stetson – X Marks The Spot, Or For King And Country
By BRUCE DENNILL American playwright Jeff Stetson wrote his play The Meeting, about an imagined 1965 meeting between American civil rights leaders Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X, in 1984. It was first performed in 1987 and has remained popular ever since,...
Books: Extract – The Last Horseman by David Gilman
CHAPTER ONE It was a foul night to hang a man. The rain swept across the Irish Sea, throwing itself against the grey stone walls of Dublin’s Mountjoy Prison. Behind its unyielding façade two prison guards stood outside the condemned man’s cell. The number was...
Amused Bouche: Windmill On Main, Kyalami, Johannesburg
BY BRUCE DENNILL Carte: A large menu with a generous choice of dishes with an Italian bent, but often tweaked to include whatever fresh produce is on offer in the farm stall element of the property. Smart: The venue is all about rustic charm and enjoying the...
Interview: CIUT 89.5FM’s Nicole Hamilton Interviews Me: 11 January 2017
Thanks to Nicole Hamilton, host of the Career Buzz show on CIUT 89.5FM in Toronto, for this interview about my music and other work. For more information about the radio station, go to www.ciut.fm. To listen to the interview, press play below the picture. For more...
Books: Extract From Bone Meal For Roses By Miranda Sherry
PART ONE: MOUSE-BABY AND THE METAL-HAIRED MAN CHAPTER ONE According to what she’s gathered from watching television, Poppy is a person. She’s got two arms, two legs and the right number of things on her face, all arranged correctly. But Poppy’s not...
Books: Extract From The God Who Made Mistakes By Ekow Duker
Madala It began raining the day the dogs found Sipho Sibanda. A soft, gentle patter that fell like a benediction from the hands of a loving and indulgent god. Two dogs, both of indeterminate colour and breed, approached the man lying in the bushes. With...
Interview: Blue Man Group – How To Be Human, Or What To Do When Feeling Blue
By BRUCE DENNILL Blue Man Group was founded by three close friends Chris Wink, Matt Goldman and Phil Stanton in New York in 1991. Since the group’s inception it has grown to include permanent shows in Las Vegas, New York, Orlando, Boston, Chicago and Berlin, as...
Art: Returning Reptiles, Or Jy Wouw Mos
A previously unseen sculpture of two lizards by Dutch sculptor Anton van Wouw (below) surfaced for auction at Russell Kaplan Auctioneers in Johannesburg earlier this year. The piece had become something of a legend for scholars of van Wouw’s work. The...
Interview: Kevin Max – To The Max, Or We Need To Talk About Kevin
By BRUCE DENNILL It’s been necessary, for reasons of integrity, for you and other musicians to withdraw from CCM as an industry (specifically as a business/corporate entity more than a worship and missions platform). That action is often seen as controversial...
Interview: Terra Naomi – Terra Firmer, Or Fan-Funded Flight
By BRUCE DENNILL Singer-songwriter Terra Naomi is working on an as-yet unnamed new album, available for pre-order - along with a range of brilliantly creative perks - here. You're at once genuinely famous and also relatively under the radar in the old-fashioned...
Interview: Sam McTrusty – GLAd To Be Of Service, Or Big Beyond The Divide
By BRUCE DENNILL Sam McTrusty. What a fantastic surname that is. And the Twin Atlantic singer lives up to the gist of it when he comes on the line for a phone interview, apologising earnestly for a glitch on the conference call line in an earlier slot (which...
Books: Extract From Poison City By Paul Crilley
Durban, wedged up against the east coast of South Africa, is the dirtiest, strangest, most violent place I’ve ever lived. It’s the soul of South Africa. A sweaty one-night stand of a city where anything goes and the warm Indian Ocean washes all your sins out to sea...
Amused Bouche: De Camdeboo Restaurant, Drostdy Hotel, Graaff-Reinet
By BRUCE DENNILL Carte: Loads of beautifully prepared meat – farmers in the area have been supplying the stuff since the governor at the Cape Colony was ordering it, so no surprises, there Smart: The décor and surroundings are wonderfully elegant, but if you’re...
Books: Extract From Fury By Joan De La Haye
He heard David's shoes on the tiles walking towards him. All he could see were David's black, highly polished, leather shoes. He wondered how David got them that shiny. ‘Are you listening?’ David asked. ‘I'm listening,’ Andre mumbled, but his eyes were on the syringe....
Interview: We Are Messnegers – Mulligan Starts Over, Or Don’t Shoot The Messenger
By BRUCE DENNILL We Are Messengers frontman (and proud Irishman; his brogue is so rich it takes up extra bandwidth on the intercontinental interview call) Darren Mulligan, now resident in Nashville getting on with the business of running a successful CCM band...
Interview: Josh Groban – Show (And Tell) Tunes, Or Getting Better In Stages
By BRUCE DENNILL Other than a cup of what is presumably coffee, Josh Groban makes no concessions to fatigue after a full day’s travel from Los Angeles, via Heathrow, to Johannesburg. His chatty, friendly stage persona is shown to be an extension of his...
Interview: Ian Fletcher Thornley – Finding Fletcher, Or Artistry Unaccompanied
By BRUCE DENNILL Ian Thornley’s debut solo album, Secrets, releases as Ian Fletcher Thornley, allows the Canadian rocker to stretch himself thematically and sonically, though the musical flair he contributes to Big Wreck, his “day job” band is always evident....
Books: Extract from Death By Carbs by Paige Nick
The Co-Authors Wednesday 8:17am ‘Hey man, Marco, did you hear?’ ‘Shaun? What?’ ‘Are you sitting down?’ ‘No, I’m at the restaurant prepping bok choy. What is it?’ ‘It’s Noakes. You should probably sit down.’ ‘You’re freaking me out. What’s going on, Shaun?’ ‘You...
Interview: Frans Rautenbach – No Reserve-Ations, Or More Bang For Your Kruger Rand
By BRUCE DENNILL Your Kruger National Park Guide is essentially the opposite of the situation where you discover a place you love and purposefully avoid telling people about it in order to have it to yourself, not "ruined" by those who don't understand your...
Art: Of Pages And Promise, Or From Ripping To Reading
By BRUCE DENNILL Broken Monsters Charity Art Show / Nando’s Central Kitchen, Lorentzville, Johannesburg It’s a simple, heartfelt formula, mixing fame, literature, talent and fine art to not only promote reading but to provide young kid with physical...
Books: Extract From Ka-Boom! by Gareth Crocker
‘Gareth has such lovely hair.’ ‘I suppose the only way to tell you this, Mrs Crocker, is just to come out and say it,’ the educational psychologist announced, demonstrating her superpower for stating the obvious. Even at my tender age – and with all the emotional...
Interview: JT Lawrence – Future Fuschia, Or Corporate Control Corrected
By BRUCE DENNILL JT Lawrence's book Why You Were Taken paints the South Africa of 2021 as a difficult place for a person who knows his or her own mind. It's an invigorating, bracing vision by a very talented storyteller. The creation of a new world for a book...
Books: Extract From Innovation – Shaping South Africa Through Science By Gibs With Sarah Wild
Finding fault It all started with a phone call that was forwarded through to Roel Stolper by chance. It was 1992, and that conversation – between Stopler, a researcher at the CSIR, and Eskom’s Wallace Vosloo – and their subsequent research collaboration have saved the...
Interview: Mark Olson – Mark His Words, Or Taking The Root One Approach
By BRUCE DENNILL Mark Olson’s Good-bye Lizelle finds an Americana legend collaborating with a Norwegian (his partner, Ingunn Ringvold) on a release distributed by a German record label (Glitterhouse) and featuring tracks recorded in, among other places,...
Interview: Chad Thomas – Can-Rock, Will Rock, Or Wisers Than You Know
By BRUCE DENNILL Calagary, Canada-based band The Wisers make honest, ballsy blues-rock. Singer Chad Thomas shares some thoughts. Operating as musicians creating original music in Canada, what are your thoughts on the way the industry is set up there? The...
Interview: Mike Weaver – Tunes With Texture, Or Without So Much As A By Your Weave
By BRUCE DENNILL Mike Weaver, frontman for Christian pop and worship band Big Daddy Weave is, like so many songwriters in the Christian contemporary music scene, a serial collaborator within that market. Yet many of his declared influences – Sting, Bruce...
Interview: Bubble And Sleek, Or If It’s Good Enough For Queenie…
By BRUCE DENNILL As I sit down with Great Domaines CEO Derek Kilpin outside the company office in Melrose in Johannesburg, there’s a flyover – three Harvards in close formation. Seconds later, a branch from a nearby tree crashes to the ground alongside my car,...
Interview: Inside Out – The Beginning Of Joy, Or Being Inside Inside Out
"What is she thinking?" It’s a question that has gone through the minds of parents worldwide who are attempting to raise teenagers—and it’s one that occurred to Oscar-winning director Pete Docter as he witnessed his own daughter Elie growing up. “My daughter did the...
Interview: Dr Eve – Lie Fidelity, Or On The (Dr) Eve Of Something New
By BRUCE DENNILL Marlene Wasserman, akaDr Eve, has, it appears, been seduced (intellectually, anyway) by the data in her latest book, Cyber Infidelity. She was able to put the book – which is really more of an academic work including saucy case studies –...
Interview: Justin Fox – Five Creatures Featured, Or Fox In The Whole
By BRUCE DENNILL The Impossible Five, the story of a journey around South Africa in pursuit of some of the most reclusive animals in the country – the Cape leopard, the pangolin, the aardvark, the Riverine rabbit and naturally occurring white lion – gave its author,...
Fine Art: Gilt-Ridden, Or For Bertel Or Worse
HM Queen Margrethe II of Denmark’s birthday on 16 April marked the opening of the new permanent exhibition at Amalienborg Palace (Denmark) of gilt bronze figures by the neoclassical artist Bertel Thorvaldsen from the 1820s. The figures are miniatures of the...
Interview: Poltergeist – Paranormal Activity, Or Spirits In The Material World
By TONY HORKINS Writer, producer and director Sam Raimi may be best-known for his work on the Tobey Maguire-starring Spider-Man trilogy, but he got his break in 1981 as the director and writer of the cult horror classic, The Evil Dead. So for Raimi, working as...