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Music Interview: Sibusiso Mashiloane – Downbeat Dances, Or Uniqueness, Again

January 15, 2021Bruce Dennill
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 projects, featuring rearranged and reworked songs both...
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TV Interview: Carlo Arrechea – Roling With The Punches, Or SWAT Goes Around…

January 12, 2021Bruce Dennill
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, aka "The Caribbean...
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Music Interview: Luka 120 – Hip Hop Gospel, Or Going Mega In Monaco

January 9, 2021Bruce Dennill
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 Strong Black Man...
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Music Interview: Cantrel – Attracted By Energy, Or A Downhill Success

January 6, 2021Bruce Dennill
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 another but have...
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Film Interview: Michael Phelps – The Weight Of Gold, Or When All Is Going Swimmingly

January 5, 2021Bruce Dennill
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 who have reach...
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Film Interview: Julian Lennon – Kiss The Ground, Or Now Is The Time To Soil Yourself

January 2, 2021Bruce Dennill
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 our planet's most powerful unsung...
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Film Interview: Chris Pine – Wondering Wherefore, Or Steve Is Stunned

December 30, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 you back to...
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Author Interview: Tim Richman – Highlighting Halfwits, Or Sketching Around Scaffolding

December 26, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 developing...
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Film Interview: Will Forte – Scoob!, Or Dedicated Dogsbody

December 21, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 like it’s always...
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Music Interview: Sya Zwide – Isiqubulo, Or Arrival Announced

December 19, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 released singles Akusiy’owakho and Thembalami, as well as Amapolo, which is...
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Music Interview: Jann Klose – Pilot Light, Or Prince Of Storytelling

December 16, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 Covid-19 related illness. Jann asked...
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Book Extract: Maggie – War Stories, Or Seeking To Survive

December 14, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 and younger siblings are...
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Author Interview: David Bristow – Big Pharma, Dirty Lies, Busy Bees And Eco Activists, Or Of Profits, Power And Poop

December 9, 2020Bruce Dennill
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, population, pollination, pollution, pods, politics, pharmaceuticals, people, prophets, power and...
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TV Interview: Emma Thompson – Years And Years, Or Just When Everything Was Going So Orwell

December 6, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 HBO, Years And Years’ stellar cast includes two-time Oscar winner...
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Music Interview: Out Cry – Where We Began, Or Songs United

December 3, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 track as a conversation between two...
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Comedy Interview: Alan Committie – The Lying King, Or Peer To Peer Cheer

November 24, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 news cycles and the...
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Music Interview: AC/DC – Power Up, Or Malcolm In The Middle

November 24, 2020Bruce Dennill
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:...
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Music Interview: Gerry Mancuso – Prophesy Progressively, Or Riding The 3rd Entry Wave

November 20, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 Propesy garnered international attention, receiving high praise all the...
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Film Interview: Tracey-Lee Oliver – Kaalgat Karel, Or Enjoying A Winning Streak

November 15, 2020Bruce Dennill
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, Rita, who saves him after a...
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Music Interview: December Streets – Last Forever, Or Of Layers And Love Lost

November 13, 2020Bruce Dennill
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, and influences that shaped them...
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Book Extract: Mykonos – Emotions Revealed, Or Trouble In Paradise

November 11, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 colleagues; and difficulties in his relationship with...
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Author Interview: Kelechi ‘Kay Kay’ Uchendu – Bully Friends, Or Avoiding Unfashionable Behaviour

November 10, 2020Bruce Dennill
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. Uchendu's book...
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Music Interview: BLVD HVNNY – Nocturne, Or The Movement Of The Muse

November 7, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 by Gavin Pincus, a performance from Bianca Blanc and an...
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Book Extract: How Much Of These Hills Is Gold, Or Partners In Pilfering

November 2, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 paw prints, searching...
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Music Interview: Amersham – Cute As A Button, Or Connected By Magic Thread

November 2, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 collective, reconnected and reignited a musical flame...
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Music Interview: Mi Casa – We Made It, Or On The Eve Of J’Something Better

October 28, 2020Bruce Dennill
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, We Made...
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Music Interview: Riaan Pretorius – Obsessie, Or Removing The Facade

October 27, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 classmates. Riaan and his friends reminded...
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Writing: Colleen Higgs – My Mother, My Madness, Or Processed Via Publishing

October 25, 2020Bruce Dennill
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...
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Music Interview: Victor Bravo – Suiderkruis, Or Ode To What You Know

October 20, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 drummer Bruce Wallace and bassist Janes...
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Author Interview: Rick Pontz – 103 Pilgrims, Or A Plymouth To Feed

October 14, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 takes place in the Plymouth...
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Music Interview: One Voice – Wake Up, Or A Message Four Ways

October 13, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 you forget about...
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Movie Interview: Ken Jeong – The Dog Days Of Scoob!, Or Mutt-See Viewing

October 10, 2020Bruce Dennill
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, Scooby and the gang...
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Music Interview: Nathan Smith – Closer To Decisions, Or Reflecting On Relationships

October 10, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 relationships not always working out the way...
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Music Interview: James Deacon – Reason To Create, Or A Bad Future Made Good

October 8, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 details...
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Author Interview: David Mitchell – Utopia Avenue, Or Psychedelic Psojourn

October 5, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 Griff Griffin - brought together in the...
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Author Interview: Jacob Dlamini – The Terrorist Album, Or Investigating Apartheid’s Afterlife

October 4, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 African insurgents, collaborators, and the security police through the tale of...
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Author Interview: Bryan Andrews – Mykonos Musings, Or Invocation For Inspiration

September 30, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 relationship with his work colleagues; difficulties in his...
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Music Interview: Hot Water – Bringing It Home, Or Ballad For A Benefit

September 25, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 appearances from personalities such...
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Author Interview: Philippa Garson – Undeniable, Or Behind The Bloodshed

September 22, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 Inkatha and ANC-aligned communities....
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Music Interview: Mark Olson – Magdalen Accepts The Invitation, Or Of Impressions, Isolation And Ingunn

September 19, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 influences and a number of experiences...
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Film Interview: Frances Sholto-Douglas – Kissing Connections, Or The Thrill Of The Space

September 17, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 Performance from the...
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Author Interview: Bret Michaels – Auto-Scrap-Ography, Or Stadium-Sized Sensitivity

September 16, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 2021. In the interim, Michaels...
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Author Interview: Norma Young – We Need More Tables, Or Lining Up Layered Learning

September 14, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 formats, you...
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Music Interview: Jacques Moolman – Into The Rain, Or Honesty Is The Best Melody

September 14, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 abilities - focusing on a heartbroken protagonist who’s looking...
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Music Interview: Tatum – Unholy, Or Problems With Perspectives

September 9, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 who is wholly destructive on...
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Music Interview: Julie Elody – All Or Nothing, Or Brave Enough To Be Still

September 7, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 concept. An artist may sound similar to...
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Book Extracts – Time Mavericks Series, Or Yes, It’s A Time Of Trial

September 6, 2020Bruce Dennill
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...
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Music Interview: Jarrad Ricketts – Midnight Missive, Or A Creative Comfort

August 31, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 Jarrad’s midnight prayer,...
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Music Interview: Vinnie Vidal – Classical Style, Or Versed In Vibe

August 29, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 other imaginative sounds to hip hop. Vidal started his...
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Book Extract: The Rise And Fall Of South Africa, Or A Psyche For Success

August 28, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 – of complete failure’,...
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Film Interview: Kenneth Branagh – Tenet Is Central, Or Time Out Of Line

August 26, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 insisted, from the moment...
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Film Interview: Richard Gau – All About Aya, Or Towards The Truth

August 25, 2020Bruce Dennill
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...
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Film Interview: Chantelle Barry – Me And My Left Brain, Or The Craft In The Character

August 25, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 gorgeous 'Helen'...
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TV Interview: Rico Torres – Penny Dreadful, Or Operating Outside The Norm

August 24, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 a shy teen diagnosed with anorexia to becoming...
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Music Interview: Liane Keck – Completely In Luxe, Or All Bases Covered

August 22, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 collaborating on house, trap, classical, contemporary, Afro-pop...
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Book Extract: Will by Barbara Adair – Airport Observations, Or Flight Of Fancy

August 16, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 concourse, his speed, and the way he...
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Music Interview: Phil Gregory – On English Country’s Side, Or A Man Of Nephew’s Words

August 15, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 (country,...
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Music Interview: Scatterchild – Parallel Lines, Or Aiming For Obliquity

August 13, 2020Bruce Dennill
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. Jay Plent's soaring vocals and agitated guitar lines jut against...
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Author Interview: Mo And Phindi Grootboom – Married To The Job, Or The Family That Writes Together…

August 12, 2020Bruce Dennill
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...
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Dance: Gaby Saranouffi – You Looking At #MOI?, Or Mentored To Move

August 11, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 conversations; her eyes sparkle with life and energy....
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Art Interview: Lindani Nyandeni – Maternal Motivation, Or A Pedestal For Portraiture

August 9, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 experiences, having lost his mother...
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Music Interview: Yahto Kraft – Love Beyond Lockdown, Or Ugly As Sing

August 9, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 of his lyric video....
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Music Interview: Sincerely Anne – She’s On Fire, Or Wondering At Women

August 7, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 mindsets against us in this...
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Book Extract: Dingiswayo – To The Heart Of Heritage, Or Chief Among Narratives

August 7, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 23 titles with another eight titles to be...
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Music Interview: Quincy Megas – Did It Again, Or Living The G-Eazy Life

August 5, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 musical style that...
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Book Extract: Three Hours – A Good Day Marred, Or Snow And Strain

August 4, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 smoking. It must...
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TV Interview: Vicky Jones – Run, Or Why Training Is Important

August 4, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 Grand...
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Author Interview: Tom Eaton – It *Is* Him, Or In Examination Of Attitudes

August 3, 2020Bruce Dennill
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?...
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Music Interview: Jimmy Nevis – Hey Jimmy, Or Looking Forward To The Weeknd

August 1, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 working with a...
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Music Interview: Alexa Ray – Begin Again, Or A Soundtrack To Starting Over

July 28, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 a reset...
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Book Extract: Is It Me Or Is It Getting Hot In Here?

July 27, 2020Bruce Dennill
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...
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Theatre Interview: Antony Coleman – Endangered, Or Recollecting The Future

July 21, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 for live streaming. The season has so far...
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Music Interview: Francis Onah – Iripia, Or A Song Of Survival

July 20, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 at the age of...
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Music Interview: Parable Fifteen – Telling Your Heart, Or Parallel Storytelling

July 18, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 concept. An artist may sound similar to another but have...
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Author Interview: Rosamund Lupton – Three Hours, Or Of Stories And Sieges

July 14, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 teenage Hannah in love...
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Music Interview: Dave Starke – Shifting Boundaries, Or Taylor-Made

July 11, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 guitar...
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Music Interview: Rise In Red – Personal Progression, Or Living In Between The Lines

July 8, 2020Bruce Dennill
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, often misunderstood concept. An artist...
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TV Interview: Jack Stein – Wine, Dine And Stein, Or Walking A Wine Line

July 7, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 &...
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Music Interview: Stefani – Undone, Or Acting Like What You Aren’t

July 2, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 be a super-fan of someone whose output...
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Music Interview: Parts X Fiction – The Tide, Or Trying To Take The Time

June 29, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 group's songwriting prowess...
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Artist Interview: Pitika Ntuli – Return To The Source, Or Inspired To The Marrow

June 24, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 June. Ntuli’s chosen material, animal bones,  and approach...
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Theatre Interview: Dolly Louw – Nine Times A Lady, Or Panto Persistence

June 23, 2020Bruce Dennill
By BRUCE DENNILL Actress Dolly Louw has mastered the delivery and style of the pantomime and will be starring in her ninth Joburg pantomime this year, performing in Cinderella at Joburg Theatre from 31 October.   Live performance is both...
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Music Interview: Craig Urbani – I Might Like It, Or Working On The Cheyne Gang

June 21, 2020Bruce Dennill
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...
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Music Interview: Alexandra May – Typical Girl, Or Take Stories And Add Sparkle

June 18, 2020Bruce Dennill
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, or be a super-fan of someone whose...
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Book Extract: We Need More Tables – Proving Poverty, Or Deciding To Dignify

June 18, 2020Bruce Dennill
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...
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Theatre Interview: Michelle Douglas – BreaThing Space, Or A Schreiner To Storytelling

June 17, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 of Olive Schreiner and how she placed enormous importance...
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TV Interview: Chantal Herman – Down On The Riviera, Or Liz And Let Live

June 14, 2020Bruce Dennill
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, Riana...
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Art Interview: Christie Smith – Inspiration That Resinates, Or Wedged Into A New Niche

June 12, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 Gallery offers a chance for...
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Author Interview: Asha Tarry – Adulting As A Millennial, Or Live To Tell The Story

June 12, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 Guide To Everything Your Parents Didn’t...
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Music Interview: Faraway George – Burnt And Found, Or Engage All Senses

June 10, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 misunderstood concept. An artist may...
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Music Interview: Nic Olsen – Atom Man, Or Into The Abstract, Old Son

June 4, 2020Bruce Dennill
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...
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Theatre Interview: Kiruna-Lind Devar – Cinderella, Or Living The Fairy Tale

June 1, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 performer and one of the most stressful...
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Book Extract: Stuff We Wish We Knew Before Getting Married, Or Finance And Your Future

May 31, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 your  marriage We...
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Music Interview: The Shabs – We’ve All Been There, Or Don’t Do It Alone

May 28, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 excited about the opportunity...
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Film Interview: Bryan Stevenson – Just Mercy: Inspired By Inequality, Or To Kill A Mistake

May 26, 2020Bruce Dennill
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....
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Music Interview: Werner Bekker – Withdrawal Symptoms, Or Quitting Is For Winners

May 21, 2020Bruce Dennill
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...
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Film Interview: Jason Collett- The Devil All The Time, Or Both Here Noir There

May 19, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 and Riley Keough, written and directed by Antonio Campos,...
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Music Interview: Shania Twain – On The Go Again, Or Still Believing

May 17, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 Shania Twain's mind....
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Music Interview: Josh Middleton – Caught Up, Or Juggling Conversations

May 16, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 Crighton Goodwill of...
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Author Interview: Jane Kirsten – A Lute Of Eleven Strings, Or Celebrating Sweet 16th…Century

May 14, 2020Bruce Dennill
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...
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Music interview: Jack And June – Light The Way, Or Aiming For Ease

May 13, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 music drawing...
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Author Interview: Joseph And Justine Simmons – Old School Love, Or Write This Way

May 10, 2020Bruce Dennill
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...
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Music Interview: Ashlinn Gray – Best Friend, Or Love Yourself First

May 7, 2020Bruce Dennill
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, or be a super-fan of someone whose...
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Author Interview: Eric George de Jong – Running Dogs And Rose’s Children, Or In Search Of A Stand-Out

May 3, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 dying mother. The new family...
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Music Interview: Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins – TLC Is Good For You, Or Oil Be Alright

April 25, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 spent much of her childhood in...
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Book Extract: Wanderings – Bajić Instinct, Or Hitting A Homer Run

April 23, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 go to Laodocus’ hut and fetch Silhouette and...
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Music Interview: Frances Clare – Time To Go, Or Of Words And Work

April 22, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 another but have no knowledge of them, or be a super-fan...
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TV Interview: Tom Perrotta – Mrs Fletcher, Or Sex And The Single Mom

April 13, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 a dual coming-of-age story chronicling...
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Music Interview: Josh Wantie – Throwing Out A Lifeline, Or Loving What Is Lost

April 8, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 similar to another but have no...
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Author Interview: Jesmane Boggenpoel – Two’s A Charm, Or When Twin Sets Remain In Fashion

April 6, 2020Bruce Dennill
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...
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Theatre Interview: Vanessa Williams – City Of Angels, Or Settled In The Sunshine

April 2, 2020Bruce Dennill
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...
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Book Extract: Endgame – Long Road Ahead, Or Whisky A Go-Go

March 30, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 dog scampered across the street....
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Music Interview: Them Dirty Shrikes – When November Comes, Or Diamond Is A Girl’s Best Song

March 26, 2020Bruce Dennill
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, including Oppikoppi, the Misty Waters Music...
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Music Interview: Arno Carstens – Don’t Let It Be Out Of The Blue, Or Doing Double Duty

March 24, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 forthcoming seventh solo album....
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TV: Liev Schrieber – Ray Donovan The Seventh, Or The Life Of Liev

March 19, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 clean. In a...
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Author Interview: Rick Ross – Reaping The Hurricane, Or Of Hustlin’ And Having

March 12, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 keeping your soul and bodily...
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Music Interview: Mike Scott – Careful Chemistry, Or An Eye On The Whole Of The Tune

March 10, 2020Bruce Dennill
By BRUCE DENNILL The Waterboys are playing shows at the Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden in Cape Town and at Casalinga in Johannesburg as part of their first South African tour. The band has been around in one form or another since...
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Theatre Interview: Bernard Jay – The Color Purple: Mauve On The Move, Or Perspectives On Progress

February 26, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 from July 29 to August 9....
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Music Interview: Christian Heath – Here I Am, Or Into The Stream

February 19, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 them, or be a...
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Music Interview: Toya DeLazy – Grooves And Grime, Or Having All The Funani

February 11, 2020Bruce Dennill
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, Funani is a co-production between Delazy and producer...
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Author Interview: Deepak Chopra – Learnings On Loneliness, Or The Significance Of Support

February 8, 2020Bruce Dennill
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...
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Music Interview: Jeri Silverman – Fall For This, Or Synthesizing A Stand-Out

February 8, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 City, writing late into sleepless nights. Her...
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Theatre Interview: Siya Mayola – “Master Harold” And The Boys, Or Where Process Meets Perspective

February 3, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 by Greg Karvellas. Mayola is a...
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Book Extract: The Mourning Bird – Aching And Adulting, Or Getting The Porridge Just Right

February 1, 2020Bruce Dennill
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.   June 1997 I was learning...
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TV Interview: Patricia Boyer – Lockdown, Or Play Ball Or Get Sued

January 31, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 soap opera-style series? Does...
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Music Interview: Doc Maclean – Out Of The Blues, Or All We Hear Is Radio N’Ganga

January 29, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 Kaapsehoop to...
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TV Interview: Steven Spielberg And Alex Gibney – Why We Hate, Or Hope Beyond Horror

January 27, 2020Bruce Dennill
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? Not just as individuals, but...
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Theatre Interview: Chris Djuma – Kings Of The World, Or Conversations With Character

January 24, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 stressful parts...
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Theatre Interview: Sharon Spiegel-Wagner – Loving You, Or Connecting Through Compositions

January 21, 2020Bruce Dennill
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...
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Theatre Interview: Kristian Lavercombe – Mingling With The Riff Raff, Or The Joy Of The Job

January 21, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 being a performer and one of...
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Author Interview: Steven Boykey Sidley – Leaving Word, Or Roles Re-Written

January 12, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 die and an editor get fired right...
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Film Interview: Dennis Quaid – Midway: Free Enterprise, Or Full Of Bull

January 7, 2020Bruce Dennill
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?...
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Music Interview: Janie Bay – Almost There, Or Perpetually Arriving

January 6, 2020Bruce Dennill
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 concept. An artist may sound similar to another but...
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Book Extract: I Am Costa – From Meth To Marathons, Or Building (Around The ) Blocks

December 25, 2019Bruce Dennill
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, run! I will...
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Music Interview: Matinino – Artworks That Don’t Expire, Or Alternative Anger Expressed

December 23, 2019Bruce Dennill
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.   “Influence”...
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TV Interview: Byron Mann And Tzi Ma – Wu Assassins, Or For The Times, They Are Now Asian

December 19, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 Assassins delivers on all fronts and ushers in a...
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Film Interview: Ian McKellen – The Good Liar, Or Deciding What To Display

December 17, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 I’d probably...
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Music Interview: Justin Serrao – Perfect Stranger, Or Going To The Country

December 10, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 but have no knowledge of them, or be...
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Theatre Interview: Germandt Geldenhuys – Every Dame Of The Week, Or The Deal’s In The Dialogue

December 6, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 a performer and one of the most...
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Book Extract: Magirus – The Story Of A Second-Class Citizen, Or Beyond The Band

December 2, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 PF’s,...
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Music Interview: John Tsenoli – Oh Boy, Or Caring About Us

November 29, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 be a super-fan...
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Author Interview: Tony Park – Reach Out For Research, Or Hunting The Ghost Of A Story

November 26, 2019Bruce Dennill
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...
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Film Interview: Todd Phillips – Joker, Or Joaquin The Walk

November 23, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 storyteller -why...
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Music Interview: Wandile Mbambeni – Tell Me, Or Live Is Lovely

November 19, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 sound similar to another but have...
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TV Interview: Debi Mazar – Younger While Older, Or Starring For Star

November 17, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 social provocateurs. As an actress, Mazar came...
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Extract – Verwoerd: My Journey Through Family Betrayals – Dutch Reform, Or Outside The Laager

November 14, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 from the clothes to cope with...
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Music Interview: Go The Rodeo – MK Computed, Or Bona Fide For The Fans

November 11, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 (drums). Van Niekerk gives some insights into the band.  ...
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Theatre Interview: Brian d’Arcy James – The Ferryman: Jez Because, Or Beyond The Troubles

November 10, 2019Bruce Dennill
 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 (Jez Butterworth) and...
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Book Extract: Holding The Fort by Toni Strasburg – The Parents Trapped, Or Having A Gaol Time

November 9, 2019Bruce Dennill
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, I...
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Author Interview: Louis Giglio – Never Forsaken: Fulfilled By A Father, Or Dealing With Daddy Issues

November 9, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 & Daughters...
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Author Interview: Robert Prior – The Power Of Comparison: Prior Knowledge, Or Faith In Flexibility

November 8, 2019Bruce Dennill
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...
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Music Interview: Carmen Rodrigues – Let It All Go, Or Get It All Back Through Music

November 7, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 energetic blend of rock, indie and pop styles. Carmen's band...
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Music Interview: Pierre Greeff – Cutting Through The Noise, Or Dealing With Disappointment

October 26, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 festival., offers insights...
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Film Interview: IT Chapter Two – Choosing The Children, Or A Clown Completed

October 21, 2019Bruce Dennill
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...
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Theatre Interview: Justin Swartz And James McPhail – Ensemble The Troops, Or Enjoying The First Act

October 19, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 and directed by Janice Honeyman....
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TV Interview: Raven-Symoné – To The Genre Born, Or Going Behind The Screens

October 16, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 Raven, in 2003. Back then, Symoné's alter...
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Book Extract: Life Interrupted – Relationship Noir, Or Loved To Seth

October 16, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 experiences of psychiatric experts,...
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Book Extract: The Real Interior – Prosper For Papa, Or Don’t Mess With Mama

October 14, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 would challenge us in...
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Theatre Interview: Musanete Sakupwanya – Forever Plaid: Catholic Ambitions, Or In Harmony With His Craft

October 2, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 bar in 1964....
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Theatre Interview: Ben Voss – Benny Bushwhacker: Constantly Creating, Or Enjoying Taking The Pith

September 29, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 drawcards...
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TV Interview: Robin Givens – Enduring Ambitions, Or The Art Of Givens Takes

September 24, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 aired...
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Book Extract: Life Through The Bars – Improving Incarceration, Or Understanding Contexts For Crimes

September 24, 2019Bruce Dennill
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   Understanding the importance of social context, in particular the importance...
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Music Interview: Caroline Leisegang – My Body Of Preludes: Keys To Success, Or Enjoying The Richter Scales

September 23, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 no knowledge of them, or be a...
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Theatre Interview: Joseph Gerassi – Redfest, Or The Art Of Education

September 17, 2019Bruce Dennill
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...
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Music Interview: Oystercatcher – One Plus One Is More, Or Pearls Of Rhythm

September 16, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 duo to an orchestra and everything in between....
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Music Interview: Crimson House – Bounceology: Imagine The Possibilities, Or Deep In The Red

September 10, 2019Bruce Dennill
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. “Influence” is a loaded, often misunderstood concept. An artist...
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Theatre Interview: Craig Morris – Play List, Or All Work And More Plays

September 10, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 list’, from which they select...
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Theatre Interview: Earl Gregory – Kinky Boots, Or To Truly Be In Another’s Shoes

September 2, 2019Bruce Dennill
By BRUCE DENNILL   Kinky Boots is running at Cape Town's Fugard Theatre until 2 February 2020. Earl Gregory plays drag queen Lola.   Tshepo Ncokoane, Phillip Schnetler, Earl Gregory, Emile Doubell and Chester Martinez in Kinky Boots. Photo credit: Jesse...
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Music Interview: Sean Koch – Your Mind Is A Picture, Or Aiming Outside The Frame

August 27, 2019Bruce Dennill
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.     “Influence” is a loaded,...
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Film Interview: The Kitchen – If You Can’t Stand The Heat, Get Out Of The Gang

August 26, 2019Bruce Dennill
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...
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Art: SculptX – Art Is All Around Us, Or Foundry Footage

August 25, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 and outdoor spaces...
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Music Interview: Zolani Mahola – The One Who Sings, Or A Journey Of A Thousand Miles Begins With A Solo Step

August 22, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 a break to focus on...
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Music Reviews: Who’s That Guy Ben, Or Fire 4 Ever

August 19, 2019Bruce Dennill
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, songwriting and performance nous. His...
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Music Interview: PHFat – Sex, Love And Heartbreak, Or Aspects Of Love (But Not That One)

August 15, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 their own. Who or...
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Theatre Interview: Jaco Van Rensburg – From Passion To Production, Or Bringing Theatre Into The Digital Age

August 5, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 lessening his output...  ...
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Music Interview: Werner Bekker – Songs And Storytelling, Or A Broken Man Under Construction

July 31, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 out...
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Theatre Interview: Pieter-Dirk Uys – #HeTwo: He’s With Her, Or No Fixed Agender

July 27, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 Bay in...
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Theatre Interview: Sharon Spiegel-Wagner – Tinder For A Flame, Or Igniting A Light In The Dark

July 23, 2019Bruce Dennill
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...
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Theatre Interview: Ashleigh Harvey – Best Play To Date, Or Swiping Write

July 18, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 dating."     You've made a...
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Book Extract: Recover From Burnout, Or Too Much For No Good

July 12, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 coach...
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Art Interview: Mari Dartnall – Adriaan Boshoff Museum, Or All The Treasures Of The Orient

July 8, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 – situated at the Orient Hotel and...
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Film Interview: Ry Russo-Young – The Sun Is Also A Star, Or Love Knows No Borders

June 24, 2019Bruce Dennill

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…

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Theatre Interview: Alan Swerdlow – Family Secrets, Or Soap Up, Sonny

June 14, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 fan and writer...
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Music Interview: The Shabs – Acoustic Acceleration, Or Symbiotic Storytellers

June 11, 2019Bruce Dennill
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), are currently...
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Television Interview: Pam Grier – Self-Sufficient Certainty, Or Rural Resonance

June 3, 2019Bruce Dennill
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...
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TV Interview: Kate Fleetwood – Sulking Sibling, Or Opening The Feodora

May 26, 2019Bruce Dennill
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, Victoria's "resentful" half-sister "creates tension in the...
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Music Interview: Zacas – Turning The Corner, Or Of Folk And Fraternity

May 8, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 arrangements. They released their debut album, Corner House, in...
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Theatre Interview: Carmen Pretorius – Hart And Soul, Or Making Fickleness Forgivable

May 8, 2019Bruce Dennill
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...
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Author Interview: Deon Maas – Witboy In Berlin: Adventures In The First World, Or Of Immigration And Immersion

May 1, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 location as...
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Film Interview: David F Sandberg – Shazam!, Or Hello Hero With Humour

April 21, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 horror genre.  What drew you to making a superhero movie,...
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TV Interview: Rita Moreno – One Day At A Time, Or Viva Hispania!

April 16, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 classic West Side Story. The...
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Extract: The Senior Adviser – Pirates And Plunder, Or Of Treasure And Terrorism

April 15, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 knew of my plans to...
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Theatre Interview: Victor Trevino – Men In Tutus: To The Victor Go The Questions, Or Eloelling At Ballet

April 4, 2019Bruce Dennill
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...
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Theatre Interview: Natasha Sutherland – Brutal Legacy: Going, Going, Go On

March 31, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 violent, alcoholic father and later – in the...
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Theatre Interview: Ashleigh Butcher – Hen Party, Or Uke Can Do Anything

March 27, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 approach in...
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Book Extract: Dead Of Night, Or Things Aren’t Looking Good, Sausage

March 21, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 unsteady. He’d been following the white pickup...
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Music Interview: Michael Buble – Learning From Life, Or Living To Love

March 19, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 more than 60 million albums worldwide...
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Music Interview: Richard Shelton – Sinatra And Me, Or To Be Frank

March 18, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 March); Johannesburg (21-24 March); East London (27 March); Port Elizabeth (29 March)...
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Artist Interview: Willie Bester – Burning Issues, Or Running With The Wolf

March 11, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 Willie Bester and Wolf Werdigier have a deep...
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Film Interview: Mario Van Peebles – Armed And Intelligent, Or Think Before You Shoot

March 9, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 answer questions we hadn’t...
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Music Interview: Schalk Joubert – Jazz In The Quad, Or In Woordfees And Deed

March 7, 2019Bruce Dennill
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), Mauritz Lotz (guitar), Kevin Gibson...
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Music Interview: Katie Anne Mitchell – The Many Lives Of Mockingbird, Or Of Folk And Feathers

March 3, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 Many Lives Of...
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Music Interview: Imogen Heap – Instant Rewards, Or The Gloves Are On

March 2, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 the old music industry model, most...
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Music Interview: Ard Matthews – Together Alone, Or The Power Of Positive Playing

March 2, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 The Other, Southern Wild, Hellcats, Dimond...
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Music Interview: Guitar Wizards – Anything Acoustic, Or Kings Of Six Strings

February 19, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 of fingerstyle guitar. Book here.         Fingerstyle guitar,...
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Theatre Interview: Kate Normington – Into The Woods: Speaking Smooth Sondheim, Or Witch Way Forward?

February 14, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 Torien's Montecasino...
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Art Interview: Skin Deep, Or Fleshing Out A Philosophy

February 13, 2019Bruce Dennill
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, Cape Town. Using an AI-assisted painterly approach in combination...
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Music Interview: James Stewart & Stephen “Sugar” Segerman – Getting Sweet On Songcraft, Or An Un-Usual Combination

February 4, 2019Bruce Dennill
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...
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Theatre Interview: Michele Maxwell – Hard-Boyled, Or Cooped Up And Conservative

February 4, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 history, at Pieter Toerien's Montecasino...
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Book Interview: Mel B – Escape From Abuse, Or Honesty Is The Spice Of Life

January 30, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 wild hair,...
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Music Interview: David Guetta – Lucky Number Seven, Or The Man To Beat

January 27, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 At featuring Flo Rida and...
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Theatre Interview: Bianca Flanders – History Highlighted, Or A Story Remembered For Eva

January 19, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 acclaim in The Netherlands in October 2018. February marks Black History Month in...
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Film Interview: Olivia Colman – The Favourite, Or Finding Out If Anne Can

January 12, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 Tyrannosaur, the miniseries The Night...
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Book Extract: There Goes English Teacher, Or Interesting Korea Change

January 6, 2019Bruce Dennill
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 in my son’s bathroom,...
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Music Interview: Paula Abdul – Straight Up Revived, Or Dancing To A New Beat

January 4, 2019Bruce Dennill
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...
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Book Extract: The Horns – Evolution Of A Theory, Or Parted By Perspective

December 23, 2018Bruce Dennill
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?...
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Film Interview: Michelle Yeoh – Crazy Rich Asians: Traditionally Funny, Or Feeling So Young

December 18, 2018Bruce Dennill
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...
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Film Interview: Graham King – Bohemian Rhapsody, Or Focus On The Frontman

November 28, 2018Bruce Dennill
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 King. King is a Queen fan. “Oh...
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Television Interview: Regina King – Seven Seconds: Familiar Perspective, Or (Living In Your) Brutal Truth

November 26, 2018Bruce Dennill
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 memorable characters across the big and small screens....
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Book Extract: These Things Really Do Happen To Me by Khaya Dlanga – Hoisted By Crane

November 21, 2018Bruce Dennill
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 random Saturday, my cousin Xolisa...
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Film Interview: Rainn Wilson – The Meg: Size Does Matter, Or Prodigious Pisces

November 18, 2018Bruce Dennill
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 on some of the billionaires...
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Film Interview: Charl-Johan Lingenfelder – Kanarie: How The Caged Bird Sings, Or Every Niemand Is A Somebody

November 15, 2018Bruce Dennill
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 protagonist Johan Niemand – a young man from...
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Theatre Interview: Michelle Douglas – The Revlon Girl: Good Grief, Or A Rare Welsh Bit

November 6, 2018Bruce Dennill
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 Aberfan mining disaster in a...
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Book Interview: John Boyne – A Ladder To The Sky: Stolen Stories, Or Acting On Ambition

October 27, 2018Bruce Dennill
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 enough to find himself in...
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Theatre Interview: Elizma Badenhorst – The Little Prince: Propelled By Puppets, Or Noteworthy Additions

October 25, 2018Bruce Dennill
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 70-minute mini-musical...
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Theatre Interview: Jayne Batzofin – Measure Up: Celebration Of Self, Or In Equal Measure

October 20, 2018Bruce Dennill
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 differences. Differences that can be experienced...
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Theatre Interview: Mncedisi Shabangu – Tshepang: The Third Testament – Breaking The Cycle, Or Taking The Conversation To The Next Stage

October 18, 2018Bruce Dennill
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 subject matter here – child...
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Art Interview: Stefan Hundt – A Century Of South African Art, Or Curating Culture

October 16, 2018Bruce Dennill
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 Kentridge’s eerily abandoned Stadium to the perpetually discharging pistol of Van...
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Theatre Interview: Sharon Spiegel-Wagner – Oakfields College Showcase, Or In The Direction Of Success

October 9, 2018Bruce Dennill
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...
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Film Interview: Rob Reiner – Shock And Awe, Or Critical Mass Destruction

October 8, 2018Bruce Dennill
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 path with an artistic...
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Music Interview: Sannie Fox – My Soul Got Stranger, Or Making Some Keys Changes

September 25, 2018Bruce Dennill
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 slightly different sound, and a fresh...
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Theatre Interview: Carly Graeme – What You Don’t Know About Women, Or Aiming Cy-High

September 20, 2018Bruce Dennill
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...
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Theatre Interview: Shelley Adriaanzen – Polkadots: The Cool Kids Musical, Or Spot The Solution

September 18, 2018Bruce Dennill
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 Freckleface Strawberry, which had a similar theme to this show...
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Book Extract – Walking To Australia, Or Going Greek In Ethiopia

September 17, 2018Bruce Dennill
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 Cross of Jesus Christ’ is an ancient ceremony...
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Book Interview: DL Hughley – How Not To Get Shot And Other Advice From White People, Or Of Print And Prejudice

September 13, 2018Bruce Dennill
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. Nothing’s off limits. His words are...
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Music Interview: Lenny Kravitz – Raise Vibration, Or It’s Enough To Express Yourself

August 26, 2018Bruce Dennill
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 body of work with Raise Vibration, his...
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Books: Extract – The Trials And Travails Of Stella Bellamy by Barbara Schreiner

August 19, 2018Bruce Dennill
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 the sink full of yesterday’s...
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Theatre Interview: A Chorus Line – School Of Hard Auditions, Or A Leg Up In Musical Theatre

August 14, 2018Bruce Dennill
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 tickets at joburgtheatre.com.   When...
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Music Interview: Gwen Stefani – Not Just A Girl, Or What Happens In Vegas

August 7, 2018Bruce Dennill

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…

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Film Interview: Ian Morgan – Good Mourning, Or Better Fortune

July 26, 2018Bruce Dennill
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 Ted, played by Paul Snodgrass, a...
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Film Interview: Craig T Nelson – An Incredibles Year, Or Not Doing Things By The Book Club

July 22, 2018Bruce Dennill
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 screen roles, actor Craig T Nelson...
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Burlesque Interview: Dita Von Teese – Fair Play, Copper, Or Von Teese Me, Please Me

July 16, 2018Bruce Dennill
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 early 2000s, first...
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TV Interview: Allen Maldonado – The Last OG, Or Peele-ing Away The Layers

June 24, 2018Bruce Dennill
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 Allen Maldonado is a modern-day renaissance man, the ideal...
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Music Interview: Otis Williams – Irresistible Temptation, Or Doing Things The Way They Do The Things They Do

June 16, 2018Bruce Dennill
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 the early wave of Motown’s signature...
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Film Interview: Bronwyn Berry – Love Gilda: It’s A Funny Business, Or Intimate Individual Insight

June 11, 2018Bruce Dennill
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 huge success on the festival...
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TV Interview: Dr Drew Pinsky – Broadcast Benefits, Or Drewing Positive Conclusions

June 5, 2018Bruce Dennill
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 an assortment of celebrity guest...
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Books Interview: Kate Turkington – Yes, Really! – Taught By Travel, Or How To Never Say No

June 4, 2018Bruce Dennill
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...
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Books: Extract From Arabella, The Secret King And The Amulet From Timbuktu By Hamilton Wende

May 30, 2018Bruce Dennill
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 in the dormitory window carrying...
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Theatre Interview: Lucy Tops – Significant Other, Or Espousing Progression

May 29, 2018Bruce Dennill
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...
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Book Interview: Vivica A Fox – How To Hustle, Or Owning Your Identity With Elegance

May 22, 2018Bruce Dennill
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 entrepreneur-author is embracing life and not looking back, except to...
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Music Interview: Megan Victor-Carelse – Headed For Home, Or To The Victor-Carelse Go The Spoils

May 9, 2018Bruce Dennill
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: a singer, songwriter,...
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Pic by Kieron Exley

Music Interview: Jeremy Loops – Reaching Critical Mass, Or Getting His Freak On

May 7, 2018Bruce Dennill
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.     The response to Critical As Water...
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TV Interview: Logan Browning – Dear White People, Or Of Performance And Privilege

May 1, 2018Bruce Dennill
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 struck a chord with younger...
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Music Interview: Caroline Leisegang – Remaining Composed, Or Of People, Pianos And Potency

April 28, 2018Bruce Dennill
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 launch of Caroline...
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TV Interview: Antonio Banderas – Genius: Picasso, Or Painting A Picture Of An Icon

April 22, 2018Bruce Dennill
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 an estimated 50,000...
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Film Interview: Naomie Harris – Rampage: Going Ape With The Rock, Or Hanging Out With Gorgeous George

April 16, 2018Bruce Dennill
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 character I played...
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Interview: Andie McDowell – Love After Love, Or Gaining On Gentleness

April 7, 2018Bruce Dennill
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 captivated movie-going audiences with hits like Sex, Lies...
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Interview: Mark Strong – Maturity To The Max, Or Deep In The Dirt And The Dust

March 29, 2018Bruce Dennill
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...
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Interview: Brooklyn Decker – Modelling Messiness, Or App-lied Acting

March 27, 2018Bruce Dennill
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 Oscars of swimsuit modelling) onto the big...
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Interview: Stone Jets – Growing On The Fly, Or Of Melodies And Motivation

March 21, 2018Bruce Dennill
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 guitar...
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Interview: Walton Goggins – Acting The Antagonist, Or Something A Little Vogel Told Me

March 13, 2018Bruce Dennill
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 you have...
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Interview: Keith Hutchinson – Restless Resourcefulness, Or Six Degrees Of Syncopation

March 6, 2018Bruce Dennill
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, once...
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Interview: Jeremy Thompson – All The Newsman That’s Fit To Print, Or Don’t Fix What’s Not Breaking

February 26, 2018Bruce Dennill
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 contemporary journalism....
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Interview: Chris Jericho – Putting More Bricks In The Wall, Or The Ego’s Not Landing

February 21, 2018Bruce Dennill
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 List Of Jericho,...
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Interview: David Arquette – Jail And Justice, Or Acting On Behalf Of The Incarcerated

February 20, 2018Bruce Dennill
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 documentary titled Survivor’s Guide To...
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Guest Blog: Edith Piaf – The Little Sparrow, Or Survival Via Intensity

February 17, 2018Bruce Dennill
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 covered, in French or...
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SAIBC

Interview: Dirk Badenhorst – South African International Ballet Competition, Or Cosmopolitan Collaborations Completed

February 14, 2018Bruce Dennill
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 funding such an event and organising its cosmopolitan line-up...
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Interview: Damon Dash – All For Honour, Or There’s Nothing Like A Dame

February 10, 2018Bruce Dennill
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...
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Tara Louise Notcutt

Interview: Tara Louise Notcutt – Shrew(d) Operator, Or Girls Who Are Boys Who Like Boys To Be Girls*

February 7, 2018Bruce Dennill
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 Computicket.   The...
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Interview: Chris Cox – Charm Inoffensive, Or Your Mind, His Matter

January 28, 2018Bruce Dennill
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”. That’s a very British approach, appreciated by...
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Interview: Sebe Leotlela – Purple Pro, Or Getting To The Nub Of Nettie

January 23, 2018Bruce Dennill
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 exciting new production of The Color...
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Interview: Cito – Wonderboom Grows Again, Or Do It Yourself, China

January 15, 2018Bruce Dennill
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 bro! Got here...
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Interview: Andy Serkis: Learning To Breathe, Or Of Partners And Paralysis

January 2, 2018Bruce Dennill
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; Breathe is the...
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Books: Extract – Heartbreaker by James Styan

December 21, 2017Bruce Dennill
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. Barnard’s success was preceded by...
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Wine: Prosecco Preferred, Or Bubbling Up

December 19, 2017Bruce Dennill
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 traditional bubbly or a...
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Interview: Alan Glass – Underwater Zoo: Nothing Fishy About Conservation, Or Of Risks And Reading

December 8, 2017Bruce Dennill
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 have animal names – catfish, lionfish, that kind...
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Interview: Zapiro – Art And Activism, Or All The News That’s Fit To Interpret

December 3, 2017Bruce Dennill
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 of regime is required...
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Interview: U2 – Songs Of Experience, Or Letters To Loved Ones

December 1, 2017Bruce Dennill
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 the finish line? The Edge: “Yeah, oh, so happy. I’ve sort...
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Interview: Ron Sexsmith – Last Rider One Liners, Or In It For The Long Ron

November 18, 2017Bruce Dennill

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…

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Interview: Gavin Elder – Of Nude Girls, Girls On Film And Gilmour

November 9, 2017Bruce Dennill
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 2016, Gavin Elder was given the mammoth...
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Interview: Alan Committie – It’s Not The Length, It’s The Mirth, Or Gags That Matter

October 28, 2017Bruce Dennill

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…

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Music: John Ellis Releases Growing Silent, Or Have Mercy And Be Still

October 20, 2017Bruce Dennill
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 Award-winning songwriter, Ellis has garnered massive radio success,...
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Interview: Shana Dewey – Dewey-Eyed Splendour, Or S’No Reason To Doubt

October 8, 2017Bruce Dennill

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…

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Interview: Alice Gillham – Build It And They Will Come, Or Expectations Displaced

September 10, 2017Bruce Dennill

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…

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Art: Better Lutyens Than Never, Or Of Art And Age

September 6, 2017obdadmin
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 Collection at JAG. JAG’s dedicated staff, led by...
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Film: King Of Imagination, Or Towering Creativity

September 4, 2017Bruce Dennill

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…

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Interview – Glen Phillips: Appetite For Empathy, Or A Fillip For Integrity

July 23, 2017Bruce Dennill

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 talked…

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Author Interview: Helena Dolny – Before Forever After

July 2, 2017Bruce Dennill

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…

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Interview: Nicola Yoon – Everything, Everything

June 7, 2017Bruce Dennill

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…

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Interview: Leo Sayer – Still Living In A Fantasy, Or Hair Today, Hair In 20 Minutes

April 19, 2017Bruce Dennill

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…

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Interview: Mark Nevin – Dedicated Challenger Of Fashion, Or Fair Sound Attraction

March 27, 2017Bruce Dennill

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…

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Wine: Sipping In The Suburbs, Or Some You Vin, Some You Booze

March 8, 2017Bruce Dennill

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…

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Interview: Being Prettier Than Matt, Or Playing (Any) More Americana

February 16, 2017Bruce Dennill

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,…

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Interview: Jeff Stetson – X Marks The Spot, Or For King And Country

February 12, 2017Bruce Dennill

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…

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Books: Extract – The Last Horseman by David Gilman

January 28, 2017Bruce Dennill

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…

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Amused Bouche: Windmill On Main, Kyalami, Johannesburg

January 17, 2017Bruce Dennill

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…

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Interview: CIUT 89.5FM’s Nicole Hamilton Interviews Me: 11 January 2017

January 13, 2017Bruce Dennill

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…

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Books: Extract From Bone Meal For Roses By Miranda Sherry

January 7, 2017Bruce Dennill

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…

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Books: Extract From The God Who Made Mistakes By Ekow Duker

December 5, 2016Bruce Dennill

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…

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Interview: Blue Man Group – How To Be Human, Or What To Do When Feeling Blue

November 14, 2016Bruce Dennill

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,…

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Art: Returning Reptiles, Or Jy Wouw Mos

November 4, 2016Bruce Dennill

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….

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Interview: Kevin Max – To The Max, Or We Need To Talk About Kevin

October 29, 2016Bruce Dennill

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…

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Interview: Terra Naomi – Terra Firmer, Or Fan-Funded Flight

October 17, 2016Bruce Dennill

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…

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Interview: Sam McTrusty – GLAd To Be Of Service, Or Big Beyond The Divide

October 9, 2016Bruce Dennill

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…

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Books: Extract From Poison City By Paul Crilley

October 4, 2016Bruce Dennill

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…

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Amused Bouche: De Camdeboo Restaurant, Drostdy Hotel, Graaff-Reinet

September 11, 2016Bruce Dennill

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…

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Books: Extract From Fury By Joan De La Haye

September 1, 2016Bruce Dennill

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…

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Interview: We Are Messnegers – Mulligan Starts Over, Or Don’t Shoot The Messenger

June 7, 2016Bruce Dennill

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…

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Interview: Josh Groban – Show (And Tell) Tunes, Or Getting Better In Stages

April 8, 2016Bruce Dennill

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…

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Interview: Ian Fletcher Thornley – Finding Fletcher, Or Artistry Unaccompanied

March 30, 2016Bruce Dennill

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…

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Books: Extract from Death By Carbs by Paige Nick

February 28, 2016Bruce Dennill

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…

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Interview: Frans Rautenbach – No Reserve-Ations, Or More Bang For Your Kruger Rand

December 17, 2015Bruce Dennill

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…

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Art: Of Pages And Promise, Or From Ripping To Reading

November 26, 2015Bruce Dennill

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…

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Books: Extract From Ka-Boom! by Gareth Crocker

November 18, 2015Bruce Dennill

‘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…

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Interview: JT Lawrence – Future Fuschia, Or Corporate Control Corrected

October 28, 2015Bruce Dennill

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….

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Books: Extract From Innovation – Shaping South Africa Through Science By Gibs With Sarah Wild

October 18, 2015Bruce Dennill

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…

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Interview: Mark Olson – Mark His Words, Or Taking The Root One Approach

October 14, 2015Bruce Dennill

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, Armenia, South…

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Interview: Chad Thomas – Can-Rock, Will Rock, Or Wisers Than You Know

October 3, 2015Bruce Dennill

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…

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Interview: Mike Weaver – Tunes With Texture, Or Without So Much As A By Your Weave

September 26, 2015Bruce Dennill

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 –…

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Interview: Bubble And Sleek, Or If It’s Good Enough For Queenie…

September 24, 2015Bruce Dennill

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…

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Interview: Inside Out – The Beginning Of Joy, Or Being Inside Inside Out

September 3, 2015Bruce Dennill

“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….

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Interview: Dr Eve – Lie Fidelity, Or On The (Dr) Eve Of Something New

September 1, 2015Bruce Dennill

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…

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Interview: Justin Fox – Five Creatures Featured, Or Fox In The Whole

August 8, 2015Bruce Dennill

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…

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Fine Art: Gilt-Ridden, Or For Bertel Or Worse

August 4, 2015Bruce Dennill

  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…

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Interview: Poltergeist – Paranormal Activity, Or Spirits In The Material World

July 19, 2015Bruce Dennill

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…

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Books: Extract From Pens Behaving Badly By Paige Nick

July 19, 2015Bruce Dennill

Seeing Double At The Movies   So, how do you feel about pornography? Are you for it, against it or indifferent? Sorry, but I  have been writing this column for almost a year already; you had to know we were going to…

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Music: Cherry Pill’s Sweet Medicine, Or Cannes Do Attitude

June 10, 2015Bruce Dennill

South African duo Cherry Pill are back in South Africa after their début international performance at the prestigious Midem festival in Cannes, France. A cosmopolitan group of music industry professionals and music aficionados from around Europe, the Americas and the…

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Music Interview: Adriaan Brand – Harvesting Heritage, Or Brand-Building Efforts

May 22, 2015Bruce Dennill

By BRUCE DENNILL   Oesfees is a music festival that was inaugurated at Solms-Delta in Franschhoek in April 2008, and is now an annual event. The Franschhoek Oesfees, a harvest festival, takes the form of a heartfelt “thank-you” to the valley’s farm-workers,…

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Writing: The Responsibility Of Writing For Kids, Or Why Literature Can Promote Equality

May 6, 2015Bruce Dennill

By EMMA LEVERTON   When Bobby Thandi and I began our journey of writing the Fly Guys series, our mission was clear: to share a message of equality and diversity to younger generations through a fun, relatable story. There is…

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Author Interview: Crime And Punishment, Or Recuperation And Restitution

May 2, 2015Bruce Dennill

By BRUCE DENNILL In South Africa, apartheid stories are still woven through much of the literature, using fiction as a way to investigate the way contemporary society is impacted by the evils of the past. In John Connolly’s latest novel,…

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Books: Extract From Love In The Time Of Contempt By Joanne Fedler

April 20, 2015Bruce Dennill

FOREWORD So here’s my problem…. So here’s my problem: when it comes to generating writing material, teenagers are gold. Their world is a narcissist, anarchic, paranoid hell of anxieties and stresses about how they look, how popular they are or…

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Interview: Inspiring The Intellect, Or Encouraging Exhibitionism

April 13, 2015Bruce Dennill

By BRUCE DENNILL   Charlotte Damgaard is the marketing director at Great World Exhibitions, the company behind the Body Worlds & The Cycle Of Life, Da Vinci The Genius and Tutankhamun – His Tomb and His Treasures, all of which have…

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Music Interview: New Mission, Same Mind, Or Wayne Hussey Gets It Together, Alone

April 3, 2015Bruce Dennill
By BRUCE DENNILL   Changing your personal brand from the relative edginess of being in an alternative rock or punk band to joining the ranks of the (again – relatively speaking) “elder statesmen” of rock – Madam G even sounds...
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Author Interview: The Beautement Of Minutia, Or One Day Is One Day

March 24, 2015Bruce Dennill

Tiah Beautement’s This Day has been described as “exquisitely written” and has met with critical acclaim for its honest, nuanced portrayal of depression. A subtle, lyrical, and deeply emotional chronicle of an ordinary couple trying to survive in the wake…

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Food: Cuisine And Community, Or A Taste Of The Gout Stuff

March 23, 2015Bruce Dennill

By BRUCE DENNILL   In 1912, when the world as most people experienced it was a much smaller place, Auguste Escoffier, French cuisine’s roi des cuisiniers et cuisinier des rois (“king of chefs and chef of kings”), initiated the Dın̂ers d’Êpicure…

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Music: Living On The Edge, Or Austin City (No) Limits

March 20, 2015Bruce Dennill

By BEN WRIGHT   Easter in Texas is always a little strange for me. It starts with Mardi Gras and ends with a posh brunch. Easter Sunday is one of the few when normally informal church folks don suits and…

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Books: Extract From Interview With Destiny By Jon Broeke

March 9, 2015Bruce Dennill

In Jon Broeke’s Interview With Destiny, an interview with an actress leads an entertainment reporter to what he’s always wanted, but can he look past his integrity to find love? Sparks fly the moment entertainment journalist Kevin Brandt meets actress…

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Books: Extract From This Day By Tiah Beautement

March 3, 2015Bruce Dennill

Turning to go into the house, I spot the remaining chard, still waiting to be planted. I rush over, kneeling down beside their wee leaves with red and yellow stems. Footsteps come up behind me. ‘Ma’am, I would be happy…

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Theatre Interview: Have A Break, Have A Kit Kat Girl, Or Berlin Meets Buitenkant

March 3, 2015Bruce Dennill

By BRUCE DENNILL   The creators and producers of the Fugard Theatre’s smash hit musical The Rocky Horror Show comes one of Broadway’s greatest musical productions: Cabaret. Lara Adine Lipschitz stars as on of the Kit Kat Girls; dancers in the Kit Kat Klub…

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Film Interview: On A Wing And Some Flair, Or Keaton Keeping On

March 1, 2015Bruce Dennill

Filming the black comedy Birdman for director Alejandro González Iñárritu was one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences of Michael Keaton’s career. Keaton is Riggan Thomson an actor who once starred as Birdman, a comic book superhero, which brought…

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Film Interview: Gold Standard, Or Ed’s Note Expanded

February 16, 2015Bruce Dennill

By GABBI BRONDANI   London-based director Ed Perkins is screening his debut feature documentary, Garnet’s Gold, to a South African audience at the Jozi Film Festival 2015. I chatted to Perkins about the film, which is produced by Simon Chinn, two-time Academy…

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Culture: A Lock On Love, Or Secure In Your Relationship

February 13, 2015Bruce Dennill

By NICOLAS STRANGEDAY   Love locks have arrived in South Africa.  We’re not talking chastity belts here – those went out of fashion about 600 years ago – but the brassy symbols of inseparable devotion that are sprouting on bridges…

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Dance: My Body My Space – Street Strut, Or Put Your Art Where The People Are

February 9, 2015Bruce Dennill

By TAMMY BALLANTYNE   Site-specific cross-genre and cross-cultural performance works have long been a feature at many of our arts festivals and other platforms across the country: we’ve watched Jay Pather’s Siwela  Sonke Dance Theatre on the Durban beachfront, in…

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Music Interview: Belinda Davids – Of Davids’ Line, Or Houston, We Have No Problem

February 7, 2015Bruce Dennill

By BRUCE DENNILL   Singer and actress Belinda Davids has the sort of problem most performers only hope to deal with. As the title character and focal point of the tribute production The Greatest Love Of All – The Whitney…

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Writing: When History Should Have Been Her Story, Or Getting It Right From The Gorgo

January 31, 2015Bruce Dennill

By TS CHAUDHRY   “History is a lie!” This is the catchphrase of the ongoing television series Da Vinci’s Demons, loosely based on the life of Leonardo da Vinci. Even though we might not agree with this, much of history is based…

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Interview: Don’t Mess With The Zahi, Or Hold Me, Mummy

January 31, 2015Bruce Dennill

By BRUCE DENNILL   Dr Zahi Hawass was in South Africa recently to elaborate on and form a living, breathing part of the Tutankhamun – His Tomb & His Treasures exhibition, running at the Silverstar Casino near Krugersdorp until March…

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Books: Extract From The Handsome Man’s Deluxe Café by Alexander McCall Smith

January 18, 2015Bruce Dennill

In Mma Ramotswe’s fifteenth adventure, Grace Makutsi launches a new enterprise of her own: The Handsome Man’s De Luxe Café. She is an ambitious lady with a business plan, but who could predict temperamental chefs, drunken waiters and more? Luckily,…

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Interview: Tabisa Or Not Tabisa?, Or Of Xhosa It’s Ok To Take On Taboo Subjects

January 18, 2015Bruce Dennill

Described as a “racy, pacy crime thriller,” Priscilla Holmes’ Now I See You has met with popularity and warm reception. Filled with the sights, sounds, and local flavor of the Eastern Cape especially, the book travels from the glittering restaurants…

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Interview: Mandy Collins – Sensible Subsistence, Or Cuisine A La Clan

January 15, 2015Bruce Dennill

By BRUCE DENNIILL Mandy Collins spends a lot of her Twitter time telling people what she will be cooking, is cooking or is regretting cooking. She’s now published a book about cooking – specifically fast, fuss-free, family-friendly food (that alliterative…

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Writing: Beyond The Bad, Or Why Crime Is Horrorble

January 10, 2015Bruce Dennill

By JEAN SHORNEY   I have two favourite genres, to read and to write. These are crime and horror. Is there really a dividing line? A crime is committed; a  spirit seeks revenge from beyond the grave… But let’s separate the…

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Book: Extract From Third World Child by GG Alcock

January 5, 2015Bruce Dennill

When we arrived at Msinga we were the first white people in history to have settled among the people of the valley and no one believed this was possible. Men arrived in delegations. Sent by distant indunas, headmen, they squatted…

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Music: New Song – Centre Stage, Or My Year In A 4:05 Demo

December 26, 2014Bruce Dennill

By BRUCE DENNILL A song is worth a thousand words. Or something. Below is a song I wrote about 2014 – not an easy period – with a link for a free download at the bottom of the page. Enjoy. Comments…

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Writing: Cutting To Create, Or Nominate A Patsy

December 17, 2014Bruce Dennill

By LIZZIE JONES   There’s a saying that goes “There’s a book inside us all, just waiting to get out” and that might well be true, but it’s the getting it out that’s the difficult thing. When it came to…

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Music Interview: Ian Thornley – Bracing For Big Wreck, Or Thorn(le)y Issues Discussed

December 16, 2014Bruce Dennill
By BRUCE DENNILL   Canadian singer, songwriter and guitarist Ian Thornley's journey with his band Big Wreck has been multi-monikered: Big Wreck, then Ian Thornley (solo), then Ian Thornley & Big Wreck and now back under the single banner again....
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Interview: Darrel Bristow-Bovey – Reveal And Retreat, Or Crises Are A Funny Business

December 11, 2014Bruce Dennill

By BRUCE DENNILL   Part of the appeal of popular columnists is that they only offer snapshots of their apparently endlessly fascinating selves and their psyches once every week or month. So writing a memoir-ish book-length work – as Darrel…

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Writing: A Voyage Of Discovery, Or A Write Of Passage

December 1, 2014Bruce Dennill

By ROBERTA AARONS   Recently, I bumped into two old friends. They are sisters I have known for many years.   One said, “I have just finished your book and thoroughly enjoyed it.” The other then added,  “We were arguing about…

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Interview: Robin Auld – Auld-Sang Lines, Or Cape Robin Chat

November 15, 2014Bruce Dennill

By BRUCE DENNILL   The first track on Robin Auld’s new album Back Of The Line, Caleb’s Calling, deals with a man who’s lost his mojo. Is it too much to read into the lyrics something about the trials of…

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Interview: Watch Your Grammer, Or Be Transformed By The Renewing Of Your Franchise

November 13, 2014Bruce Dennill

Kelsey Grammer stars in Transformers: Age Of Extinction   We’ve seen you in TV sitcoms and dramas, on Broadway and different movie genres. What’s it like to be on a film like this? I loved it. I’m a real geek…

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Writing: Second Novel Angst, Or Et Tu, Two?

November 11, 2014Bruce Dennill

By HEMMIE MARTIN   When I’ve completed writing a novel, with all the rewriting and edits entailed within the process, I say goodbye to the characters, and look forward to creating a new community. I relish not only creating a…

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Books: Extract From Weeping Waters By Karin Brynard

November 8, 2014Bruce Dennill

Karin Brynard is a huge seller in the Afrikaans crime fiction market. New book Weeping Waters sees her work available for English-speaking readers for the first time. Below is an extract from the book. ———– The call came through just after two….

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Interview: Shaped By The Internet, Or Answers From A Christian Who Knows What You’re Doing When No One Is Watching

November 3, 2014Bruce Dennill

Christian Rudder’s book Dataclysm, published by Jonathan Ball, is an irreverent, provocative, and visually fascinating look at what our online lives reveal about who we really are – and how this deluge of data will transform the science of human behaviour. Big…

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Interview: Andrew Marr – British Politics Marred, Or From History To Hacks

October 13, 2014Bruce Dennill

Andrew Marr is the author of Head Of State, published by Jonathan Ball. His previous books include The Battle for Scotland (1992), A History of Modern Britain (2007) and A History Of The World (2012). You’re well known to book lovers already…

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Writers: Fascinated By Forensics, Or From Fact To Fiction

October 4, 2014Bruce Dennill

By KEVIN MURRAY   Writers are often advised to write what they know. This in itself could be a rather troubling piece of advice when you’re embarking on a novel about a remorseless, barbaric serial killer. But much of the…

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Poetry: Wandering Through The Waste Land, Or Immersed In Eliot, Chapter And Verse

October 4, 2014Bruce Dennill

By RICHARD MAYER   Exactly 100 years ago, TS Eliot arrived in London to embark upon a momentous career in which he would rise to become possibly the leading literary figure of the 20th century.  It was inevitable that I…

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Art: Street (he)Art, Or Wall And All And All

September 27, 2014Bruce Dennill

By SIBUSISO MKWANAZI   Perspective is an integral part of any discussion, and to demonstrate this, take a look at the episode of Carte Blanche on which the team presented a segment about street art and in particular the works…

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Books: Telling Talmud Stories, Or So Long And Thanks For All The Mishnah

September 27, 2014Bruce Dennill

By HARRY FREEDMAN   One of the remarkable things about the Talmud is that it came from nowhere, entering a national-religious culture that was already strong and thriving and nevertheless became that culture’s dominant text. The Bible and the subsequent,…

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Books: Hanky Versus Panky, Or Tolstoy Or Lawrence?

September 12, 2014Bruce Dennill

By KIMON NEOPHYTE   Were they still alive today, two titans of literature would have celebrated their birthdays within days of each other: Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910), 28 August (new style 10 September), and DH Lawrence (1885-1930), 11 September. Both wrote passionately…

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Books: A Memoir Revisited, Or Jeremiah Goldswain Brought Back To Life

September 9, 2014Bruce Dennill

  Jeremiah Goldswain   Most people have little knowledge about an ancestor four generations removed but Ralph Goldswain has come to know his great, great grandfather very well. His edition of Jeremiah’s memoirs – The Chronicle of Jeremiah Goldswain, 1820 Settler – has…

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Writing: Art And Inspiration, Or Look, Listen And Learn

September 8, 2014Bruce Dennill

By JEAN SHORNEY   Writing. Painting. Acting. Music. Our love of all things artistic successfully manages to inspire us. For me, as a writer, all the above are ultimately conducive. Music sets my scenes, but the music has to be…

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Books: Eco-Revolutionising The Publishing Industry, Or Pining For Forests

September 8, 2014Bruce Dennill

“Buy a book, plant a tree” Scandinavian based non-fiction publisher Pine Tribe, who focuses on wellness and personal growth books, have launched an initiative which aims to ‘Eco-Revolutionise’ the publishing industry. Through their PlantATree campaign, they have so far planted 5…

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Writing: Searching For Clues In The World Of Crime Writing, Or Whodunit; No Really, Who?

September 1, 2014Bruce Dennill

By HEMMIE MARTIN   When I became a published author of contemporary fiction, I always proclaimed I’d never write crime fiction, and I’d never write a series. And yet, here I am, three years later, an author of crime fiction,…

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Writing: My Experience As A ‘Spirit Writer’, Or Outsourcing The Muse

August 26, 2014Bruce Dennill

By MORWENNA HOLMAN   Morwenna Holman is a ‘spirit writer’, which means her novels are dictated to her by spirits, “communing with the departed to write stories of their lives which are lost in the mists of time.” Her first novel,…

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Books: Excerpt From Burning By Joan De La Haye, Or Witch Way To Pretoria?

August 23, 2014Bruce Dennill

Marcie Grove is a lonely witch. After a full moon ritual she decides to do something about the abysmal state of her love life. Making use of a powerful spell to cure her sad state of affairs, she puts her…

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Books: John Connors Is Doing It For The Kids, Possibly, Or Not

August 19, 2014Bruce Dennill

By JOHN CONNORS   It’s often said that no two people are the same, yet all we seem to do is categorise ourselves in various aspects of life. So when it comes to books – and particularly self publishing –…

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Culture: In The (Locrate) Market For A Fresh Experience

August 16, 2014Bruce Dennill

By SIBUSISO MKWANAZI   Craft beer: check. Easy to carry food: check. Undergound music: check. On your first visit, the Locrate Market looks, smells and sounds like your average market. But as you start to look carefully, you realise that…

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Writing: Andy Coffey’s Alternate Universe Is Expanding

August 14, 2014Bruce Dennill

By ANDY COFFEY   Creating your own world is a blast, let’s not beat around the bush here; it’s like eating a big pie of imagination topped with the chilli sauce of creativity. It’s fun, and the great thing is…

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Books: Twenty Years In The Writing, Or God Speaks Makonde!

August 14, 2014Bruce Dennill

By LEIGH ROBINSON   Around 1 500 people groups in the world still do not have any portion of the Bible in their native tongue. That number was reduced by one recently for the Makonde people in the far north of Mozambique….

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Theatre: The ABC of Show Boating in Dublin – Antibiotics, Cortisone And Depression

August 10, 2014Bruce Dennill

By CAITLIN CLERK   Write and rewrite is the theme for this fourth and final Show Boat Tour update. On Monday night I started my piece like this: “I don’t think I deserve to love Dublin. I haven’t seen much…

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Theatre: Show Boating In Cardiff, Or Tunes And Tiaras

August 1, 2014Bruce Dennill

By CAITLIN CLERK   I can’t help but feel a little sad as we leave Cardiff behind us. I feel like each city we stop at gets better and better. Cardiff is the home of Show Boat’s sponsor, the Wales…

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Theatre: Show Boating In Manchester, Or Of Broadway Ability, Busses And Bad Behaviour

July 15, 2014Bruce Dennill

By CAITLIN CLERK   We have just left Manchester. I am sitting in the front of the bus (because I can put my feet up here) next to Straight-steering Steve. Steve’s seat doesn’t bob up and down like David-the-Driver’s did….

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Theatre: Show Boating In Birmingham, Or Laughing In The Face Of A Charging Hippodrome

July 8, 2014Bruce Dennill

By CAITLIN CLERK   The last time I left the country I was crowd-funded by a couple of hundred people who were all anxious to see how I would spend their hard-earned money in New York. There was quite a…

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Book Excerpt: Stand Strong By Nick Vujicic

June 19, 2014Bruce Dennill

The most common bullying experience is being taunted or ridiculed for being “different” in some way. I’m the poster child for this. For most of my life, I’ve been a bully magnet. I’ve heard every imaginable nasty comment about my…

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Music: Pushed Back To Passion, Or Guitarist With A Capital “G”

June 12, 2014Bruce Dennill

By PAUL ELLIOTT   So Bruce says “hey, I’m going to see Dan Patlansky launch his new album, you wanna come?” and I’m thinking, not sure about that, I’m pretty tired of music right now, taking a bit of a…

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Book Excerpt: Poles Apart By Vaughan De La Harpe And Sean Disney, As Told To David Bristow

June 9, 2014Bruce Dennill

It’s always further than it looks. It’s always taller than it looks. It’s always harder than it looks. – THE THREE RULES OF MOUNTAINEERING (ANON)   No sleep No sleep Another night from hell Stop delaying the inevitable Okay –…

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Book Excerpt: Incognito – The Memoirs Of Ben Trovato by Mark Verbaan

May 23, 2014Bruce Dennill

Ben Trovato’s the hilarious misguided misogynist whose Sunday Times column thrilled and amused readers for years. Mark Verbaan is the man behind the persona, and his new book, The Memoirs Of Ben Trovato, suggests there was more to the man…

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Art: Park And Recreation, Or Why Leaving Art Outside Is A Good Idea

May 16, 2014Bruce Dennill

By BRUCE DENNILL   Getting punters into galleries can be a bit of a challenge. Sometimes the catalogue is narrated in intellectualese; sometimes the artists involved are wilfully obscure; and sometimes the location of the gallery or its accessibility (it’s…

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Art: Swimming Against A Rising Red Tide

May 5, 2014Bruce Dennill

By BRUCE DENNILL   Artist Georgia Papageorge  has a long history of using art to speak for subjects that cannot – often natural phenomena. Her recent exhibition, Serengeti Crossroads: The Shepherd Principle Project (which closed at the UJ Art Gallery…

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Food: If You Knew Sushi Like I Know Sushi

April 30, 2014Bruce Dennill

By ALAN SWERDLOW   I was blindsided the other day while walking through my local shopping mall.  Not physically, I hasten to add, but verbally.  You see, in the middle of one of the walkways there’s a fairly pleasant café…

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Dance: Vuyani Dance Company – To Infinity … And Beyond!

April 29, 2014Bruce Dennill

By TAMMY BALLANTYNE   It’s rare to find a dance company these days reaching a milestone as momentous as 15 years of existence. Especially one espousing an Afro-infused contemporary dance technique. It is virtually impossible to find funding for companies…

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Theatre: Inspiring A Generation Or Oh, Happy Dane: Part The Third

April 22, 2014Bruce Dennill

By BRUCE DENNILL Background Info: ASSITEJ South Africa is the national network of ASSITEJ (Association International du Theatre pour l’Enfance et la Jeunesse/ The International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People). It is a global alliance linking thousands…

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Music: Re-Reading The Audiobook, Or Tree63 Still Blooming Good

April 22, 2014Bruce Dennill

By PAUL ELLIOTT   It came from the deep, or the dark… I don’t know – but it eventually came once Jason Zeeman had warmed up the chilly Joburg crowd ahead of Tree63’s reunion gig at Bryanston’s New Life Church…

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Theatre: Inspiring A Generation Or Oh, Happy Dane: Part The Second

April 15, 2014Bruce Dennill

By BRIONY HORWITZ Background Info: ASSITEJ South Africa is the national network of ASSITEJ (Association International du Theatre pour l’Enfance et la Jeunesse/ The International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People). It is a global alliance linking thousands…

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Theatre: Inspiring A Generation Or Oh, Happy Dane

April 14, 2014Bruce Dennill

By BRIONY HORWITZ   Background Info: ASSITEJ South Africa is the national network of ASSITEJ (Association International du Theatre pour l’Enfance et la Jeunesse/ The International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People). It is a global alliance linking…

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Picture Essay: Warm-Up Routine

March 30, 2014Bruce Dennill

By BRUCE DENNILL   RAMfest Johannesburg (ish – it was on an unsignposted farm in Bronkhorstspruit) on March 6 and 7 was about more than just music, mud, ironic T-shirts and illegible tattoos. There was fire, too. Swirly, whirly, cheaper-than-hallucinogenics…

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