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Music Review: Taylor – A Tribute To The Eras Of Taylor Swift – Good Karma, Or In Fine Style
By BRUCE DENNILL Taylor: A Tribute To The Eras Of Taylor Swift / Mandela, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg Taylor Swift is undeniably a pop culture phenomenon, as well as an economic one. Both aspects are well illustrated in a quick...
Theatre Review: Pieces Of Me – Colour Outside The Lines, Or Tarrying With Trauma
By BRUCE DENNILL Pieces Of Me / Directed by Royston Stoffels / Barney Simon Theatre, Market Theatre, Newtown, Johannesburg In South Africa, given its appalling history, it’s unusual for a white person to struggle with their identity on the basis...
Music Review: Andrea Bocelli – Capacious Charisma, Or Joining In Joy
By BRUCE DENNILL Andrea Bocelli: 30th Anniversary / SunBet Arena, Time Square, Menlyn, Pretoria Andrea Bocelli is one of that rare breed of artists who has enjoyed stratospheric success in more than one major part of the music industry, coming to...
Music Review: Tree63 – New Growth, Or King-Sized Comeback
By BRUCE DENNILL Tree63 / Barnyard Theatre Emperors Palace, Kempton Park, Johannesburg A reliable large audience draw and radio staple during the late Nineties and early 2000s, Tree63 also enjoyed considerable success in the US before splitting in...
Dance Review: Letters Of Reflection – Spirited Steps, Or Faith In Flight
By BRUCE DENNILL WGRUV Dance Company: Letters Of Reflection / Artistic director: Holly Gruver / Lesedi, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg New-ish dance company WGRUV (this is their third year in operation) continues to develop its...
Theatre Review: Diary Of A Wimpy Kid – The Musical – Meet The Middleman, Or Enter The Diary
By BRUCE DENNILL Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: The Musical / Directed by Vicky Friedman / Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg Based on stories written by Jeff Kinney in a series of novels that has sold over 250 million copies, this children’s...
Ballet Review: Dreamscapes – Visions And Variations, Or Tulle, We Meet Again
By BRUCE DENNILL Joburg Ballet: Dreamscapes / Artistic Director: Dane Hurst / Roodepoort Theatre, Roodepoort Presenting two new original, contemporary ballets in a theatre that’s somewhat off the beaten path for mainstream Johannesburg audiences...
Theatre Review: Life And Times Of Michael K – Intimate Epic, Or Moved By Mannequins
By BRUCE DENNILL Life And Times Of Michael K / Directed by Lara Foot / John Kani Theatre, Market Theatre, Newtown, Johannesburg Having travelled widely internationally and delighted audiences wherever it’s touched down, this fascinating adaptation...
Theatre Review: Thrill Me – In Tune With Narcissism, Or Death And Fatal Attraction
By BRUCE DENNILL Thrill Me: The Leopold And Loeb Story / Directed by Christopher Weare / Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg Making a musical about murderers feels like an odd fit, but this is an age where people choose to...
Music Review: Sting 3.0 – Repartee And Repertoire, Or Triple Threat
By BRUCE DENNILL Sting 3.0 Tour / SunBet Arena, Time Square, Pretoria There are very few genuine A-listers in popular music and fewer still who are all-time greats in more than one area. Sting started ticking all those boxes as a songwriter,...
Theatre Review: A Doll’s Life – Vagina Monologue, Or Mirth In Mania
By BRUCE DENNILL A Doll’s Life / Directed by Lara Toselli / Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg The subtitle for this one-woman show is Confessions Of A Quarter-Life Crisis, which immediately inspires – in the mind of anyone over 35,...
Theatre Review: Dear Evan Hansen – Fanciful Fondness, Or The Lie Is Cast
By BRUCE DENNILL Dear Evan Hansen / Directed by Greg Karvellas / Teatro, Montecasino, Fourways, Johannesburg Dear Evan Hansen is a compact, intimate story – a teenage boy struggles with loneliness and depression and gets caught up in events that...
Theatre Review: The Cry Of Winnie Mandela – Waiting Winningly, Or In Harmony With History
By BRUCE DENNILL The Cry Of Winnie Mandela / Directed by MoMo Matsunyane / Barney Simon Theatre, Market Theatre, Newtown, Johannesburg With the performance under review happening on the night of some of the heaviest rainfall Johannesburg had...
Comedy Review: Alan Committie – Comedy Gold, Or Don’t Medal With Success
By BRUCE DENNILL Alan Committie: Comedy Gold / Directed by Christopher Weare / Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg Alan Committie creates a new full-length comedy show annually, with the first run always taking place...
Theatre Review: Bitter Winter – Roles Reviewed, Or Learning And Lore
By BRUCE DENNILL Bitter Winter / Directed by Lesedi Job / Studio, Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways Given the theme of this play – the cruelty a competitive industry (in this case, theatre specifically and entertainment in general)...
Theatre Review: The Pillowman – Twisted And Tortured, Or Darkness Beyond The Telling
By BRUCE DENNILL The Pillowman / Directed by Ildi Kungl / Theatre On The Square, Sandton Martin McDonagh is a singular playwright and screenwriter (The Beauty Queen Of Leenane, In Bruges, The Banshees of Inisherin), known for both the profound...
Music Review: Let’s Rock – Ure All Great, Or Nourishing Nostalgia
By BRUCE DENNILL Let’s Rock: A Concert In The Park / Marks Park, Emmarentia, Johannesburg Holding a music festival outside means being at the mercy of the elements to some degree, and during a prolonged rainy spell in Johannesburg, the eight hours...
Theatre Review: The Suit – Hung Up On Hurt, Or A Ritual Of Regret
By BRUCE DENNILL The Suit / Directed by J Bobs Tshabalala / Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg Can Themba’s original short story is six decades old and the original version of this play was created by Barney Simon and Mothobi Mutloatse...
Theatre Review: The Jungle Book – Animal Instincts, Or If You Go Down To The Woods Today…
By BRUCE DENNILL The Jungle Book / Directed By Daniel Butcher-Geddes / Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg Bringing an immensely well-known and much-loved story to the stage can have both benefits and challenges. In the...
Theatre Review: My Fair Lady – Strong(er) Language, Or Abso-bloomin’-lutely Loverly
By BRUCE DENNILL My Fair Lady / Directed by Steven Stead / Teatro, Montecasino, Fourways One of the challenging aspects of reviving a hugely well-known piece is that the comparison of the new version to all the ones that have come before is...
Music Review: Robbie Williams – Doing His Share, Or Just Getting Better, Man
By BRUCE DENNILL Robbie Williams / SunBet Arena, Time Square, Pretoria Robbie Williams took a two-decade break between South African tours, but there is no dynamic curve as, without even a support act to warm up the room, he explodes onto the...
Music Review: Calabash South Africa 2025 – Green Day, Great Night, Or Power Through Punk
By BRUCE DENNILL Calabash South Africa 2025 – Green Day, The Offspring, Fokofpolisiekar / FNB Stadium, Soweto Happily falling on one of three summer’s days so far when it wasn’t raining, Calabash South Africa 2025 brought together a trio of...
Book Reviews: Wild Life In A Nutshell, Or Shadow Spy
By BRUCE DENNILL & ROB HOFMEYR Nutshell by Ian McEwan A Wild Life by Martin Hughes-Games The Spy by Paulo Coelho Shadow by James Swallow Nutshell is a kitchen-sink murder thriller with a couple of major twists. Firstly, it’s a retelling of...
Film Reviews: A Simple Family, Or The Last Dog
By BRUCE DENNILL A Simple Favour / Directed by Paul Feig / 16DLNSV Vuil Wasgoed / Directed by Morne du Toit / 16LPV A Family Man / Directed by Mark Williams / 13L The Last Word / Directed by Mark Pellington / 13DL Isle Of Dogs / Directed by Wes Anderson...
Book Reviews: Chastised Tadpoles, Or Catching And Looking
By BRUCE DENNILL, HUGH HUGGETT & ROB HOFMEYR Outside Looking In by TC Boyle Chastise by Max Hastings and William Collins Catching Tadpoles by Ronnie Kasrils Timothy Leary is well-known to anyone with even a passing interest in Sixties culture....
Book Reviews: Strangers’ Pact, Or Fantastic Cursed Tsunamis
BY BRUCE DENNILL, MARION HOFMEYR Talking To Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell The Pact by Amy Heydenrych Amazing Fantastic Incredible – A Marvelous Memoir by Stan Lee, Peter David and Colleen Doran Harry Potter And The Cursed Child: Parts One And Two by JK...
Dance Review: Carmen – A Pulse Of Passion, Or Choreographic Collaborations
By BRUCE DENNILL Mzansi Ballet: Carmen / Choreography by José Manuel Buzón Ruiz and Angela Revie / Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg There is nothing shy about Carmen. The title character, her community, the opera that...
Music Review: Sipho Hotstix Mabuso – The Journey, Or History Meets Heart
By BRUCE DENNILL Sipho Hotstix Mabuse: The Journey / Theatre On The Square, Sandton Sipho Hotstix Mabuse is part of the fabric of South African music, and his most famous song, Burn Out, is perhaps the equivalent in this country of Dave Brubeck’s...
Theatre Review: The Magic Box – Cultural Cornucopia, Or Memories Meet Music
By BRUCE DENNILL Disney The Magic Box / Directed by Thaddeus McWhinnie Phillips / Teatro, Montecasino, Fourways, Johannesburg There is arguably no entertainment company on Earth with the clout of Disney, with a century’s worth of films, from Snow White...
Film Review: Wicked – Green Is A Go, Or Songs Sung True
By BRUCE DENNILL Wicked / Directed by Jon M Chu / PG The original Wizard Of Oz film is 85 years old and remains as magical to watch now as it did then, even after multiple viewings. That is a special kind of magic, an extraordinary alchemy, that...
Dance Review: Trilogy Of Notes – Collaborative Creativity, Or Ideas Made Mobile
By BRUCE DENNILL WGRUV Dance Company: Trilogy Of Notes / Artistic Director: Holly Gruver / Roodepoort Theatre, Roodepoort Johannesburg-based outfit WGRUV Dance Company continues its tour of South Africa with its latest season of dance works. This...
Theatre Review: Aladdin Jr – A Lad In Trouble, Or An Arch Rogue
By BRUCE DENNILL Disney's Aladdin Jr / Directed by Jill Girard / Peoples Theatre, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg One of the many challenges of children’s theatre is fitting epic stories and locations into a relatively smaller space,...
Theatre Review: Round Of Applause – Hard News Made Easy, Or Thamm To Reflect
By BRUCE DENNILL Marianne Thamm’s Round Of Applause (Reloaded) / Directed by Marianne Thamm / Studio, Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg Marianne Thamm’s name is familiar to most reasonably well-informed South Africans....
Theatre Review: How To Date Like A F#@$%^ Grownup – Mixed-Up Matches, Or Right For Relationships?
By BRUCE DENNILL How To Date Like A F#@$%^ Grownup / Directed by Jaco Van Rensburg / Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg A new original musical is always a reason to get excited, and with two bright South African talents...
Review: Freestyle Kings Live – Ramping Up Expectations, Or Accelerated Aerial Action
By BRUCE DENNILL Freestyle Kings Live / DP World Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg Freestyle motocross is not a common event theme in mainstream South African entertainment circles, with many in a live showcase of the sport having previously mostly...
Theatre Review: Beauty And The Beast – Slightly Less Is Much More, Or As Sound As A Belle
By BRUCE DENNILL Janice Honeyman’s Beauty And The Beast / Directed by Janice Honeyman / Mandela, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein With any beloved tradition – and Joburg Theatre’s annual pantomime is very much that; always one of the best-selling...
Dance Review: Cion – Requiem Of Ravel’s Bolero, Or Finding Beauty In Bereavement
By BRUCE DENNILL Cion: Requiem Of Ravel’s Bolero / Choreographed by Gregory Vuyani Maqoma / John Kani Theatre, Market Theatre, Newtown, Johannesburg Even for the committed theatregoer, there are very few productions in which everything clicks,...
Theatre Review: My Brilliant Divorce – Couched In Ruefulness, Or To Laugh And Lament
By BRUCE DENNILL My Brilliant Divorce / Directed by Alan Committie / Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg It’s fitting that a script that explores the developing effects of loneliness after the breakdown of a relationship...
Product Review: Cricut Joy – Cutting Comments, Or Precision In Creativity
By KATE DENNILL The Cricut Joy is an extraordinary little machine – very compact. If you’re used to using a bigger version, there’ll obviously be a bit of adjustment needed, but the benefit of this size is that it’s highly portable, so if you’re wanting...
Theatre Review: My Name Is Lucy Barton – Operation Identity, Or Warding Off Loss
By BRUCE DENNILL My Name Is Lucy Barton / Directed by Charmaine Weir-Smith / Theatre On The Square, Sandton A one-woman show that takes place in a hospital room (bar some sequences that are imagined elsewhere) My Name Is Lucy Barton is, as the...
Theatre Review: The Magic Of Rob Lake – Depths Of Mystery, Or Casually Causing Confusion
By BRUCE DENNILL The Magic Of Rob Lake / Teatro, Montecasino, Fourways Though not yet a household name in South Africa, Rob Lake is a celebrated illusionist in his native US where, as well as being a consistent and popular stage performer himself,...
Ballet Review: Charlie And The Chocolate Factory – Rich Sweetness Or Candy Can-Do
By BRUCE DENNILL Charlie And The Chocolate Factory / Choreography by Mario Gaglione / Mandela, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg The arrival of a new, original full-length ballet is a huge deal in any context. The sheer amount of work...
Comedy Review: Conrad Koch – Despicable Dexterity, Or Unspoken Insights
By BRUCE DENNILL Conrad Koch & Chester Missing: Despicable Hehe / Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg Comedian and ventriloquist Conrad Koch became so remarkably effective as a caustic and insightful political...
Theatre Interview: A Star Is Born – A Radiant Garland, Or Music And Melancholy
By BRUCE DENNILL A Star Is Born / Directed by Amanda Bothma / Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg There is no way to spin Judy Garland’s life and the trauma she endured. She was a generational talent responsible for some of the American...
Music Review: James Blunt – Who We Used To Be, Or Humour Without Hubris
By BRUCE DENNILL James Blunt: The Who We Used To Be Tour / SunBet Arena, Time Square, Pretoria James Blunt has carved out a very specific pop-rock niche, knowingly built on a career blast-off – the 12 million-selling Back To Bedlam album – that...
Theatre Review: Urban Circus – Making The Cirk Bigger, Or Absorbing Athletic Ability
By BRUCE DENNILL Urban Circus / Directed by Daniel Buckland / The Teatro, Montecasino, Fourways, Johannesburg With the definition of the word and concept of “circus” having changed dramatically in recent decades – there are no captive animals...
Music Review: Ndlovu Youth Choir – Harmony In Discipline, Or Exultation And Intensity
By BRUCE DENNILL Ndlovu Youth Choir / Produced by Ralf Schmitt / Teatro, Montecasino, Fourways, Johannesburg The last few years have included a lot for the youngsters in the Ndlovu Youth Choir, including multiple international tours, performing in front...
Theatre Review: Prince – The Ultimate Experience 1999 – It’s Got The Look, Or Recalling A Purple Reign
By BRUCE DENNILL Prince: The Ultimate Experience 1999 / Directed by John Van Grinsven / Mandela Theatre, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg Tribute shows have the benefit of the original artist’s popularity as a marketing tool and a...
Theatre Review: Godspell – Message And Movement, Or Theatre Is Good News
By BRUCE DENNILL Godspell / Directed by Tracey Human / Lesedi Theatre, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg Storytellers from Martin Scorsese and Mel Gibson to Andrew Lloyd Webber have realised the tszpower of “the greatest story ever told”,...
Theatre Review: The Ugly Noo Noo – Bugged By The Status Quo, Or It’s Simply Not Cricket
By BRUCE DENNILL The Ugly Noo Noo / Directed by Janet Buckland / Mannie Manim Theatre, Market Theatre, Newtown, Johannesburg There has to be something in a piece – particularly a one-man show – for it to make a similar impact to its debut run when...
Theatre Review: 1789 – History Deconstructed, Or Not At All By The Numbers
By BRUCE DENNILL 1789 / Directed by Phyllis Klotz and Smal Ndaba / Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg Any theatre production that deals with the French Revolution as a topic cannot help but be compared to that musical, However, this...
Film Reviews: Early Service, Or Dark Exception
By BRUCE DENNILL Early Man / Directed by Nick Park / 10LPV Thank You For Your Service / Directed by Jason Hall / 16LSV The Exception / Directed by David Leveaux (16LNS) Papillon / Directed by Michael Noer / 16DLNSV Down A Dark Hall / Directed by Rodrigo...
Ballet Review: Mzansi Ballet – The Neil Diamond Show, Or Multi-Faceted Movement
By BRUCE DENNILL Mzansi Ballet: The Neil Diamond Show / Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg Neil Diamond remains a somewhat polarising musical figure – undeniably influential and important, and with sales to support his...
Festival Review: Redhill Arts Festival – Sunday Sessions, Or Stages Of Enjoyment
By BRUCE DENNILL Redhill Arts Festival / Redhill School, Morningside The Village On Oval SundayFest: Jesse Clegg The music festival aspect of RedFest, which included a festival-style market (that is to say, one with stalls where you could buy bath...
Comedy Review: Nik Rabinowitz – Pension Killer, Or Claiming An Aged Stake
By BRUCE DENNILL Nik Rabinowitz’ Pension Killer / Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg It’s always for a comedian to have a theme around which to build a marketing campaign for a new solo show. If nothing else, it comes across as less...
Music Review: Swingin’ Las Vegas – Brassy Brilliance, Or Anything But Standard(s)
By BRUCE DENNILL Swingin’ Las Vegas / Conducted by Adam Howard / Teatro, Montecasino, Fourways, Johannesburg The title of this musical extravaganza (an accurate term, for once) is slightly misleading. While a good chunk of the running order...
Ballet Review: The Sleeping Beauty – Believing In Fairies, Or Swung By A Spindle
By BRUCE DENNILL Joburg Ballet: The Sleeping Beauty / Staged by Sophie Sarrote / The Mandela, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg The Sleeping Beauty story is nearly 700 years old and has been the source material and basis for scores of...
Theatre Review: A Vegan Killed My Marriage – Humour And Hummus, Or Into The Guts Of The Gags
By BRUCE DENNILL A Vegan Killed My Marriage / Directed by Craig Freimond / Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg In terms of both its title and its poster art, A Vegan Killed My Marriage looks like a themed stand-up comedy set by Aaron...
Theatre Review: The King Of Broken Things – The Art Of Artlessness, Or A Kingdom Of Kindness
By BRUCE DENNILL The King Of Broken Things / Directed by Michael Taylor-Broderick / Mannie Manim Theatre, Market Theatre, Newtown, Johannesburg Kids, as all parents know, can be ridiculous, annoying, frustrating and unfathomable. Happily – for the...
Theatre Review: Witness For The Prosecution – Courting New Interest, Or Evidence Of Talent
By BRUCE DENNILL Agatha Christie’s Witness For The Prosecution / Directed by Alan Swerdlow / Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg This production was originally set to be staged in 2020, with the Covid pandemic shutting...
Book Reviews: Forsaken Witboy, Or Death Hunt In The Himalayas
By BRUCE DENNILL, MARION HOFMEYR & ROB HOFMEYR Not Forsaken by Louie Giglio Walking The Himalayas by Levison Wood The Last Hunt by Deon Meyer Death On The Limpopo by Sally Andrew Witboy In Berlin by Deon Maas Model fathers are, sadly, almost...
Theatre Review: 2 Lovers – Loneliness Reversal, Or Tests Of Togetherness
By BRUCE DENNILL 2 Lovers / Directed by Craig Morris / Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg Telling stories about relationships is an almost foolproof way of intersecting with the experience of at least some members of your audience. We...
Theatre Review: Deathly Murder: Killed By A Killer – Farce About Fate, Or Terminal Tittering
By BRUCE DENNILL Deathly Murder: Killed By A Killer / Directed by Martin Grendele / Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg In the tradition of Agatha Christie whodunnits, but squeezed through an archly daft farce filter, Deathly Murder:...
Theatre Review: The Return Of Elvis Du Pisanie – Pole Position, Or Beyond Exhausted
By BRUCE DENNILL The Return Of Elvis Du Pisanie / Directed by Paul Slabolepszy / Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre This one-hander, first staged in 1992 starring its writer and the director of this production Paul Slabolepszy in the title role,...
Theatre Review: Mamma Mia – Take A Chance On This, Or Who’s Your Daddy?
By BRUCE DENNILL Mamma Mia / Directed by Janice Honeyman / Teatro, Montecasino, Fourways It doesn’t matter what your personal feeling is about the ABBA-driven stage show Mamma Mia (and it does tend to be one of the more polarising major musicals):...
Theatre Review: My Left Breast – Finishing On The Right Side, Or Graded On Her Curves
By BRUCE DENNILL My Left Breast / Directed by Janet Baylis / Theatre On The Square, Sandton When something like cancer turns up in someone’s life, it can – must – become all-consuming. Nothing else is needed in terms of a focal point, though the...
Book Reviews: Expedition Records, Or Agents On The Side
By BRUCE DENNILL Guinness World Records 2024 Which Side Is Up? by Zapiro Agents Of The State by Mike Nicol Spire by Fiona Snyckers My Great Expedition by Justin Fox It was inevitable that what began as a collection of notable achievements in...
Theatre Review: The Brothers, Number One And A Weekend Special, Or A Crisis Re-Captured
By BRUCE DENNILL The Brothers, Number One And A Weekend Special / Directed by Greg Homann / Mannie Manim Theatre, Market Theatre A title that’s tricky enough to make you fumble it a couple of times on the drive to the theatre does, it transpires,...
Theatre Review: Spring Awakening – Seduced By Curiosity, Or An Urge To Be Heard
By BRUCE DENNILL Spring Awakening / Directed by Sylvaine Strike / Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg Ah, to see a story about teenagers where they’re not permanently staring at their phones and talking to each other in...
Theatre Review: Your Perfect Life – Charted Through Chat, Or Reunited In Reflection
By BRUCE DENNILL Your Perfect Life / Directed by Sue Diepeveen / Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg That – in very general terms – the burdens borne by women in almost all societies worldwide are not understood or appreciated paints a...
Theatre Review: Île – Family Takes Atoll, Or Physically Funny
By BRUCE DENNILL Île / Directed by Rob Van Vuuren / Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg In an energetic autobiographical mish-mash of storytelling, physical comedy and gags about bodily functions, Cape Town performer Sophie Joans...
Theatre Review: Mad About The Boys – Delighting In The Debonair, Or Triple The Tunesmiths
By BRUCE DENNILL Mad About The Boys / Directed by Amanda Bothma / Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg East London-based singer and actor Daniel Anderson was introduced to Johannesburg audiences in last year’s critically lauded Vincent – a...
Theatre Review: Amadeus – Decent Versus Delirious, Or Minor Actions With Major Results
By BRUCE DENNILL Amadeus / Directed by Geoffrey Hyland / Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg Peter Shaffer’s 1979 play, like its 18th Century subject matter, has aged well, not least because its central themes are, if...
Film Reviews: Mortal Siege, Or Clocking A Gifted Raider
By BRUCE DENNILL Mortal Engines / Directed by Christian Rivers / PG13 Gifted / Directed by Marc Webb / PG13 Tomb Raider / Directed by Roar Uthaug / 13V Finders Keepers / Directed by Maynard Kraak / 16DLV SWAT Under Siege / Directed by Tony Giglio / 16LV...
Book Reviews: The Universe Bassline, Or Women, Water And The Body
By BRUCE DENNILL, LISA WITEPSKI Last Night At The Bassline by David B Coplan & Oscar Guiterrez Jemima Small Versus The Universe by By Tamsin Winter Year Of The Turnip by John Dobson Wine, Women & Good Hope: A History Of Scandalous Behaviour In...
Theatre Review: Expelled – Anti-Social Media, Or The Void Behind The Video
By BRUCE DENNILL Expelled / Directed by Craig Freimond / Golden Arrow Studio, Baxter Theatre, Cape Town The fallout from poorly judged social media posts is an almost daily topic in most modern households, and the poison fomented on platforms from...
Theatre Review: The Sound Of Music – Nun The Wiser, Or Ave, Maria!
By BRUCE DENNILL The Sound Of Music / Directed by Steven Stead / Teatro, Montecasino, Fourways, Johannesburg It’s a 65-year-old musical with a story set in 1938, and one that’s been staged repeatedly in South Africa, largely because audiences keep...
Theatre Review: Spanish Steps – Beyond Basement Banter, Or A Bit Of How’s Your Father?
By BRUCE DENNILL Spanish Steps / Directed by Caroline Midgley / Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg There is a common trope, seen regularly both in theatre and in television and film, where two people who don’t know each other or who do...
Comedy Review: Fast And (Reasonably) Furious – Charting The Way, Or The Processing Of Puns
By BRUCE DENNILL Alan Committie: Fast & (Reasonably) Furious / Directed by Christopher Weare / Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg One of the first jokes the sharp-eyed ticket buyer will enjoy in this show is that very...
Film Reviews: Halftime In 7 Days Of 24 Hours, Or Churchill’s Acrimony
By BRUCE DENNILL 7 Days In Entebbe / Directed by Jose Padilha / 13LPV 24 Hours To Live / Directed by Brian Smrz / 18DLV Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk / Directed by Ang Lee / 16LV Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle / Directed by Jake Kasdan / 13V Tyler...
Comedy Review: The Savanna Newcomer Showcase – Better Bits, Or Packing A Punchline
By BRUCE DENNILL The Savanna Newcomer Showcase / Hosted by Robby Collins / Sandton Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg A newcomer showcase, in any field of the arts, can be a hit-and-miss affair, with the best case seeing audience members...
Theatre Review: Alice In Wonderland – Compact Carroll, Or Laughing Next Door To Alice
By BRUCE DENNILL Alice In Wonderland / Directed by Neka Da Costa / Studio, Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre. Fourways Lewis Carroll’s timeless tale is a multi-layered narrative where magic and imagination and surrealism combine to create a story that has...
Theatre Review: The Michael Jackson History Show – Remembering The Time, Or Hits And Hip Thrusts
By BRUCE DENNILL The Michael Jackson History Show / Directed by Johnny van Grinsven / The Mandela, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg One of a catalogue of Showtime Australia tribute shows – the company also has touring productions...
Music Review: Swingle Bells – Brass With Bells On, Or Santas Of Swing
By BRUCE DENNILL Swingle Bells / Directed by Daniel Geddes / Teatro, Montecasino, Fourways, Johannesburg Swing music speaks to the way the songs performed in that style feel – it makes you want to dance. It also refers to the way the music is...
Theatre Review: Next!!! – Casting The Net, Or Singing Through The Screening
By BRUCE DENNILL Next!!! / Directed by Amanda Bothma / Kippies, Market Theatre, Newtown, Johannesburg Auditioning is a scary, exhausting, confusing, thrilling and occasionally triumphant experience, during which performers spend a lot of time...
Theatre Review: A Marry Little Christmas – Humour Espoused, Or Inherited Intricacies
By BRUCE DENNILL A Marry Little Christmas / Directed by Charmaine Weir-Smith / John Kani Theatre, Market Theatre, Newtown, Johannesburg Seeing how a television sitcom is made – a three-sided set inhabited by an ever-evolving cast of characters,...
Ballet Review: The Nutcracker – Sweet Dream, Or Soldier Of Good Fortune
By BRUCE DENNILL Joburg Ballet: The Nutcracker / Choreographed and produced by Angela Malan / Teatro, Montecasino, Fourways, Johannesburg The Nutcracker can be a mildly polarising ballet in that it’s likely the classical piece that audiences have...
Book Reviews: Goat Documents, Or Tomorrow Bound
By BRUCE DENNILL & LISA WITEPSKI 100 Documents That Changed The World: From Magna Carta To WikiLeaks by Scott Christianson The Trouble With Goats And Sheep by Joanna Cannon Homo Deus: A Brief History Of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari Perfect Crime by...
Film Reviews: Kidnap The Gringo, Or All We Had Was Tulip Fever
By BRUCE DENNILL Gringo / Directed by Nash Edgerton / 16LVS Tulip Fever / Directed by Justin Chadwick / 16SN Kidnap / Directed by Luis Prieto / 13LV Proud Mary / Directed by Babak Najafi / 16LVD All We Had / Directed by Katie Holmes / 13DL The Strangers:...
Theatre Review: A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Wit In The Woods, Or An Absolute Dream Of A Show
By BRUCE DENNILL A Midsummer Night’s Dream / Directed by Geoffrey Hyland / Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg In a theatre calendar populated with classic hits (The Sound Of Music and Mamma Mia are both returning soon for...
Theatre Review: Peter Pan – Pirated Patterns, Or A Successful Smee Campaign
By BRUCE DENNILL Janice Honeyman’s Peter Pan / Directed by Janice Honeyman / The Mandela, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein A return to well-known source material – Janice Honeyman directed different versions of a Peter Pan pantomime in 2007 and 2014 –...
Book Reviews: Verwoerd Empires, Or Messiah’s Light
By ROB HOFMEYR, LISA WITEPSKI, NIGEL WILLIS Secret Empires by Peter Schweitzer Verwoerd: My Journey Through Family Betrayals by Wilhelm Verwoerd The Four Horsemen: Tthe Discussion That Sparked An Atheist Revolution by Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam...
Theatre Review: The Promise – Paying The Bond, Or An Uncertain Assurance
By BRUCE DENNILL The Promise / Directed by Sylvaine Strike / John Kani Theatre, Market Theatre, Newtown, Johannesburg “Promise” means both “a declaration or assurance that one will do something or a particular thing will happen” and “the quality...
Ballet Review: Joburg Ballet’s Don Quixote – Powerful Partnership, Or Orchestrated Enjoyment
By BRUCE DENNILL Joburg Ballet: Don Quixote / Staged by Angela Malan / The Mandela, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg All classical ballets involve stories within stories, and Don Quixote features, among others, the interwoven tales of...
Theatre Reviews: Actress – Roles Realised, Or A Journey Towards Joy
Actress runs in the Studio Theatre at Pieter Toerien's Montecasino Theatre in Fourways until 8 October, It is written by Talia Kodesh and Bruce Dennill with music and lyrics by Bruce Dennill, directed by Daniel Geddes and produced by Collett Dawson. It stars Talia...
Theatre Review: Same Time, Next Year – Clandestine Catalyst, Or Low Fidelity Love
By BRUCE DENNILL Same Time, Next Year / Directed by Christopher Weare / Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg Bernard Slade’s comedic two-hander Same Time, Next Year was written in 1975, and the story begins around that...
Music Reviews: The Single File
By BRUCE DENNILL Artist: Aloe Blacc Track: Don't Go Alone Thoughts: Stylistically less slick than his past releases might predict, Don't Go Alone sees Aloe Blacc adding digitised tribal beats and a caring lyrical tone to his output. Unexpectedly edifying....
Theatre: Finding Rosetta – A Breakdown For The Best, Or Part Art, Part Heart
By BRUCE DENNILL Finding Rosetta / Directed by William le Cordeur / Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg With playwright Paul Slabolepszy have a prolific period of late, even by his own high standards, Finding Rosetta follows fairly...
Film Review: Oppenheimer – Stirring Sonics, Or A Shattering Silence
By JESS ROBUS Catastrophic noise. Heavy, all-consuming silence broken only by ragged breathing. Chilling, Psycho-esque strings. The insistent stamping of feet as certain as a steam-train and ominous as drums heralding the demise of both a man and an era....
Dance Review: September Suite – A Season Of Celebration, Or Aptitude Announced
By BRUCE DENNILL National School Of The Arts: Dance Spectrum – September Suite / Directed by Mark Hawkins / Lesedi Theatre, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg A professionally staged showcase for the Dance Department learners from the...
Theatre Review: Zip Zap Circus – Moya: Strength In Numbers, Or Movement For Good
By BRUCE DENNILL Zip Zap Circus: Moya / Artistic Director: Brent Van Rensburg / Teatro, Montecasino, Fourways, Johannesburg The value of joy as an outcome of theatre is underappreciated. Moya, happily, is a production that reminds audiences of how...
Theatre Review: My Fellow South Africans – Electioneering Eviscerated, Or Skit First, Ask Questions Later
By BRUCE DENNILL My Fellow South Africans / Directed by Mike Van Graan, Rob Van Vuuren and Daniel Mpilo Richards / Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg A satirical review comprising back-to-back skits performed with barely a break to...
Theatre Review: Do I Win Or Do I Lose? – Gambling With Staging, Or A Patriarch Performed
By BRUCE DENNILL Do I Win Or Do I Lose? / Directed by Lia Koenig / Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg Roy Horovitz is an Israeli actor and director who has visited South Africa (and the Theatre On The Square) with a couple of different...
Theatre Review: Femme Is Fatale – Activism For The Abused, Or Tuned Into Tenacity
By BRUCE DENNILL Femme Is Fatale / Directed by Eloise Clasen / Mannie Manim Theatre, Market Theatre, Newtown, Johannesburg ‘Cabaret’ usually refers to a song-and-dance show, often at a restaurant, with perhaps a short skirt here or some risqué...
Theatre Review: Saturday Night At The Palace – Motorcycle Diaries, Or Wake Me Up When September Ends
By BRUCE DENNILL Saturday Night At The Palace / Directed by Albert Maritz / Lesedi, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg There’s a psychologist’s aphorism that says “hurt people hurt people”. The truth behind that saying is evident...
Arts Review: Redhill Arts Festival 2023 – Laughs And Laments, Or Fathers Versus Patriarchy
By BRUCE DENNILL Redhill Arts Festival / Redhill School, Johannesburg Desperately Seeking Souvlaki / Starring Costa Carastavrakis / Directed by Renos Spanoudes An author and motivational speaker who found the rules of writing stand-up comedy...
Theatre Review: Khongolose Khommanding Khommissars – Comrades On Cahoots, Or Satire Stretched
By BRUCE DENNILL Khongolose Khommanding Khommissars / Directed by Billy Langa & Mahlatsi Mokgonyana / John Kani Theatre, Market Theatre, Newtown, Johannesburg The Market Theatre has been the de facto home of struggle theatre in South Africa...
Theatre Review: Isidlamlilo – Boxed In, Or Burning Out?
By BRUCE DENNILL Isidlamlilo: The Fire Eater / Directed by Neil Coppen / Mannie Manim Theatre, Market Theatre, Newtown, Johannesburg Coming out of the theatre after a performance of Isidlamlilo, the atmosphere is not what most theatregoers would...
Opera Review: Tosca – When In Rome, Or Drama To Scale
By BRUCE DENNILL Cape Town Opera: Tosca / Directed by Magdalene Minnaar / The Mandela, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg There are not too many full-scale operas – including, as this production does, a full orchestra – staged in...
Film Reviews: Bohemian Artist, Or Disaster Underpants
By BRUCE DENNILL Bohemian Rhapsody / Directed by Bryan Singer / 13DL The Disaster Artist / Directed by James Franco / 16LNS The Lost City Of Z / Directed by James Gray / 13V Fun Mom Dinner / Directed by Alethea Jones / 16DL Captain Underpants / Directed...
Book Reviews: Tasty Lessons, Or Hope Of The Free State
By NIGEL WILLIS, LISA WITEPSKI & ROB HOFMEYR 21 Lessons For The 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari Tasty WasteNots by Jason Whitehead and Sally-Ann Creed Cape, Curry and Koesisters by Fatima Sydow and Gadija Sydow Noordien Jump On The Bant Wagon by...
Dance Review: Romeo And Juliet – High Score, Or Sword Enemies
By BRUCE DENNILL Joburg Ballet: Romeo And Juliet / Choreography by Nicolas Beriosoff / The Mandela, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg For a company going through a great deal of transition, an ageless story feels like it brings a measure...
Book Reviews: The House Of Rommel, Or The Joy Of Turkish Cuisine
By LISA WITEPSKI, NIGEL WILLIS, ROB HOFMEYR The Blackridge House by Julia Martin South Africans Versus Rommel by David Brock Katz The Book of Joy by 14th Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Douglas Abrams Anatoli: Authentic Turkish Cuisine by Tayfun...
Theatre Review: The Undone – Roles And Reflections, Or An Homage To Heritage
By BRUCE DENNILL The Undone / Directed by Alan Swerdlow / Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg This story was initially developed as part of an application to attend acting institutions in the United States, and that sense of writer and...
Theatre Review: Mzansi Tenors – Giving Voice To Joy, Or Amplified Aptitude
By BRUCE DENNILL The Mzansi Tenors / Hosted by Richard Cock / Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg However many tenors are involved, or where they come from – three or ten or Italians or Greeks – much of the appeal of any...
Dance Review: Exit/Exist – A Tribute In Transit, Or Where Heritage Meets Heart
By BRUCE DENNILL Exit/Exist / Directed by James Ngcobo / John Kani Theatre, Market Theatre, Newtown Eleven years after its debut, Gregory Maqoma’s Exit/Exist returns to the stage where it was first revealed as part of the final act of a storied...
Theatre Review: Vincent – A Poignant Portrait, Or Worth Lending An Ear To
By BRUCE DENNILL Vincent / Directed by Amanda Bothma / Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg Subtitled His Quest To Love And Be Loved, Vincent takes on an established theme – an examination of the life of influential but troubled painter...
Theatre Review: The Hobbit – Everybody’s Tolkien, Or Small But Perfectly Formed
By BRUCE DENNILL The Hobbit / Directed by Alan Swerdlow / National Children’s Theatre, Parktown, Johannesburg The Hobbit is the slimmest volume in JRR Tolkien’s elaborately detailed telling of the story of Bilbo Baggins and his interactions with...
Theatre Review: The Dress Code – A Fabric Of Feeling, Or Dress Up And Deliver
By BRUCE DENNILL The Dress Code / Directed by Alan Swerdlow / Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg In a show put together as commentary on the impact – on our confidence, behaviour and social interactions – of the clothes we wear, it is...
Theatre Review: Cat And Monkey – Creature Discomforts, Or A Tale Of Two Testimonies
By BRUCE DENNILL Cat & Monkey / Directed by Karin Retief / Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg A compact two-hander, Cat & Monkey packs a load of snarky verbal fencing into a dialogue-driven narrative. The concept of the piece, if...
Theatre Review: The Echo Of A Noise – A Father Figures, Or A Memoirable Monologue
By BRUCE DENNILL The Echo Of A Noise / Starring Pieter-Dirk Uys / Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg Before Pieter-Dirk Uys comes on stage, there is nothing more than a black chair – not even a microphone on a stand,...
Theatre Review: Buddy – Won’t Fade Away, Or The Holly And The Lively
By BRUCE DENNILL Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story / Directed by Nick Winston / Teatro, Montecasino, Fourways Buddy is not the biggest musical in the world – after all, its hero died aged only 22 (if that’s a spoiler, this may not be the show for you),...
Book Reviews: Afrikaner Thunder, Or Mystic Prayer
By VINCENT PIENAAR, ROB HOFMEYR, KATE DENNILL & NIGEL WILLIS Catching The Thunder by Eskil Engdal and Kjetil Sæter. Translation Diane Oatley Bank Robber by Allan Heyl Sea Prayer by Khaled Hosseini For Friends and Family by Nicky Stubbs The Rise and...
Theatre Review: Defending The Caveman – Newanderthal, Or Watching The Jackson Thrive
By BRUCE DENNILL Defending The Caveman / Directed by Aurelie Stratton / Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg Rob Becker’s popular comedy is the sort of show that can become an albatross or pay off your bond, such is its capacity to run for...
Theatre Review: Madagascar Jr – The Wild Bunch Abroad, Or Animal Magnetism
By BRUCE DENNILL Madagascar Jr - A Musical Adventure / Directed by Jill Gerard and Keith Smith / Peoples Theatre, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg There are a number of aspects that make the DreamWorks film Madagascar - and any other...
Theatre Review: Master Class – Callas Crescendo, Or Passion And Pathos
By BRUCE DENNILL Master Class / Directed by Magdalene Minaar / Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg If any number of reports and reviews, supported here by the way this play’s protagonist is written by playwright Terrence...
Theatre Review: A Musical – Teenage Triumph, Or Of Rookies And Revelry
By BRUCE DENNILL A Musical / Directed by Owen Lonzar / King David Linksfield, Linksfield, Johannesburg In the only example of misdirection in a hugely impressive amateur school production, a title that couldn’t be more generic suggests a...
Theatre Review: We Will Rock You – Drama Queen, Or Bohemian Bombast
By BRUCE DENNILL We Will Rock You / Directed by Nick Winston / Teatro, Montecasino, Fourways, Johannesburg We Will Rock You is – for those who’ve skipped the memo for the last couple of decades – a musical built around the music of Queen, and relying on those timeless...
Theatre Review: Suenos – Graceful Guitar, Or Beyond Bailar
By BRUCE DENNILL Suenos / James Grace, Carli Olivier & Compania Sophia Spanish Dance / Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg To the untrained ear, much flamenco and Spanish classical music is of a type – all emotive,...
Theatre Reviews: Home Affairs – Mutual Misgivings, Or Crises And Context
By BRUCE DENNILL Home Affairs / Directed by Michelle Douglas / Theatre On The Square, Sandton Given a chance to wade through either a crocodile-infested swamp or the morass of red tape that surrounds every single step of sorting out identity or...
Theatre Review: Dreamland – Destination Disney, Or The Keys To Hope
By BRUCE DENNILL Dreamland / Created by DuPreez Strauss / Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg With nothing more than a baby grand on stage, first impressions are that Dreamland is going to be a revue of Disney soundtrack tunes, given...
Music Review: Sting – My Songs, Or A Jukebox Of Genius
By BRUCE DENNILL Sting: My Songs / Sun Bet Arena, Time Square, Pretoria The average legacy act concert is, perhaps understandably, not expected to be the most exciting scenario, with artists – again understandably – quite possibly tired of...
Theatre Review: Key Change – Vulnerable Virtuosity, Or Staving Off Melancholy
By BRUCE DENNILL Key Change – My Favourite Pianists / Created by Jonathan Roxmouth / Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg Pianist, singer, actor and all-round consummate entertainer Jonathan Roxmouth returns to his...
TV Reviews: Andy Samberg – Popstar Palms, Or Frivolous Felicity
By BRUCE DENNILL Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping / Palm Springs (16LS) Brooklyn 99 is up there with The Office – and there is scarcely higher praise in TV terms – for its ability to mix concerted, glorious silliness with threads that underline...
Music Review: An Intimate Evening With Gregory Porter, Or Jazzed By Warmth
By BRUCE DENNILL An Intimate Evening With Gregory Porter / Teatro, Montecasino, Fourways Sub-genre titles often feel like some in publicity trying to fill space without being terribly sure of what they’re talking about. But in Gregory Porter’s...
Theatre Review: Tien Duisend Ton, Or Seeing The Forest For The Pleas
By BRUCE DENNILL Tien Duisend Ton / Directed by Nico Scheepers / Mannie Manim Theatre, Market Theatre, Newtown, Johannesburg Sometimes when we experience feelings we have not yet developed a language to express, we compensate by talking a lot....
Film Reviews: Impossible Pitch, Or A Wounded Showman Beguiled
By BRUCE DENNILL Mission: Impossible – Fallout / Directed by Christopher McQuarrie / 13LV Pitch Perfect 3 / Directed by Trish Sie / PGV The Greatest Showman / Directed by Michael Gracey / PGDPV We Don’t Belong Here / Directed by Peer Pedersen / 13D...
Book Reviews: The Wright Rift Then And Now, Or A Walking Cookie Mood
By NIGEL WILLIS & BRUCE DENNILL Walking To Australia by David Robbins The Cookie Jar by Lisa Clark The Wright Brothers by David McCullough Johannesurg Then And Now by Marc Latilla Moods Of Nature by Heinrich van den Berg The Rift: A New Africa Breaks...
Theatre Review: Sinbad The Sailor – Entertainment On Sail, Or Whirl Around A Pearl
By BRUCE DENNILL Sinbad The Sailor / Directed by Steven Stead / Teatro, Montecasino, Fourways With traditional versions of any kind of art often being challenged by new or updated options as part of bids to attract or evolve new audiences (Bored...
Theatre Review: Cruise – Soho Hot Right Now, Or 40-Year-Old Version
By BRUCE DENNILL Cruise / Directed by Josh Lindberg / The Theatre Linden, Randburg In Cruise, actor Daniel Geddes has a lot to do. The piece’s main thread tells the story of Michael Spencer, and his coming to terms with the arrival of Aids in...
Music Review: David Gray – White Ladder 20th Anniversary Tour, Or Back To Babylon
By BRUCE DENNILL David Gray: White Ladder – The 20th Anniversary Tour / SunBet Arena, Time Square, Pretoria The mental image of David Gray that most music fans have is of the Englishman sitting at a piano as he sings, and being a relatively...
Music Review: The Lumineers – Always Look On The Brightside, Or All Enjoying Where We Are
By BRUCE DENNILL The Lumineers: Brightside World Tour / SunBet Arena, Time Square, Pretoria The Lumineers’ live performance is characterised by a high level of musicality – everyone’s a multi-instrumentalist, and they present the possibly unique...
Music Review: The Waterboys – Mooning Over Mike, Or The Keyboards To The Kingdom
By BRUCE DENNILL The Waterboys / Marks Park, Emmarentia, Johannesburg Originally scheduled for April 2020 and then postponed twice because of Covid, this first South African tour – how can that be possible? – for The Waterboys took a while to get...
Theatre Review: Janice Honeyman’s Adventures In Pantoland – Fused Fairytales, Or Joie De Vivid
By BRUCE DENNILL Janice Honeyman’s Adventures In Pantoland / Directed by Janice Honeyman / The Mandela, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg For the occasion of Joburg Theatre’s 60th anniversary (and, remarkably, executive producer Bernard...
Dance Review: Come Together – Fab Feet And A First-Rate Feat
By BRUCE DENNILL Come Together / Presented by LAMTA / Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg If you want to make an immediate connection with an audience, there are worse ideas than soundtracking a project with the music of...
Comedy Review: Nik Rabinowitz – Unmuted, Or Amusement Amalgamated
By BRUCE DENNILL Nik Rabinowitz: Unmuted / Directed by Brent Palmer / Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg Nik Rabinowitz comedy shows involve a lot. A lot of intelligence. A lot of lateral thinking, much of it marinaded in sarcasm. A lot...
Book Reviews: Patagonian Prey Picnic, Or Love And Death In Gondolin
By DRIES BRUNT, ROB HOFMEYR, MARION HOFMEYR, BRUCE DENNILL & KATE DENNILL Golden Prey by John Sandford Patagonia by Maya Fowler No Picnic On Mount Kenya by Felice Benuzzi Love Story by Karen Kingsbury The Fall of Gondolin by JRR Tolkien Death Cup by...
Book Reviews: A Sister’s Christmas Secret, Or The Assault On The Blind Side
By BRUCE DENNILL, LISA WITEPSKI & KATE DENNILL Christmas Treats by Guillaume Marinette Over The Top And Back by Tom Jones Blind Side by Wilna Adriaanse The Woman Of The Stone Sea by Meg Vandermerwe As Good As Eating Out by Your Family A Sister's...
Comedy Review: Mark Banks – Alive! Or Facetious Facility
By BRUCE DENNILL Mark Banks: Alive! / Studio Theatre, Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg The stage for Mark Banks’ one-man comedy show at the Studio Theatre is littered with coloured plastic balls, discarded wigs,...
Film Reviews: American Drone, Or Krotoa Homecoming
By BRUCE DENNILL Krotoa / Directed by Roberta Durrant / 16DL The Whale Caller / Directed by Zola Maseko / 16DL Drone / Directed by Jason Bourque / 13DLV American Made / Directed by Doug Liman / 16DLSV Porneia: A Global Tragedy / Brad Huddleston / 16S...
Theatre Review: Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? – Va Va Vitriol, Or Four Crying Out Loud
Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? / Directed by Sylvaine Strike / Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg Wolf Britz’ set design for Edward Albee’s examination of success, failure, dysfunction and dominance is pink, flowing and...
Theatre Review: The Lesson – School’s Out(landish), Or Of Results And Reckoning
The Lesson / Directed by Greg Homann / Mannie Manim Theatre, Market Theatre, Newtown, Johannesburg Influential playwright Eugene Ionesco's perspectives often explore themes of alienation while also satirising ingrained social and psychological...
Music Review: Foreigner – Honoured Outlanders, Or Keeping Up With The Jones
Foreigner / SunBet Arena at Time Square Casino / Menlyn, Pretoria For what is unreservedly a heritage act tour, watching a band featuring none of the original members take the stage is a weird place to start. Founding member Mick Jones is still...
Theatre Review: The Beauty Queen Of Leenane – Irish Eyes Are Storming, Or Mag, But No Light
The Beauty Queen Of Leenane / Directed by Charmaine Weir-Smith / Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg Living a long way from anywhere, having your moods informed mostly by monotony, being constantly lonely and generally having no real prospects...
Book Reviews: Walking And Winging It, Or The Curse Of Growing Pains
By DRIES BRUNT, BRUCE DENNILL, & ROB HOFMEYR The Curse of Teko Modise by Nikolaos Kirkinis Walking In Grace by Dalene Reyburn The Black Consciousness Reader - A Compilation Tell Me Your Story by Ruda Landman Growing Pains by Dr Mike Shooter Winging It by Joanne...
Theatre Review: Fordsburg’s Finest – A Lot Of Promise, Or Good Grief
By BRUCE DENNILL Fordsburg’s Finest / Directed by Bobby Heaney / Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg Written in 1996 and recently updated by its playwright and star Paul Slabolepszy, Fordsburg’s Finest does not – unfortunately – feel...
Book Reviews: The Reel Djokovic, Or Keeping Electricity In Marriage
By ROB HOFMEYR, BRUCE DENNILL & MARION HOFMEYR The Third Reel by SJ Naude Novak Djokovic by Chris Bowers Waiting For The Electricity by Christina Nichol The 4 Seasons Of Marriage by Gary Chapman 1,234 QI Facts To Leave You Speechless by John Lloyd, John...
Theatre Review: The Trolley Dollies – The Triplets Of Belville, Or (Very) Tall Tales Told Tartly
By BRUCE DENNILL The Trolley Dollies: The Triplets Of Belville / Produced by Deviant Theatricals / Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg There is much that is unexpected about this three-hander. For one thing, it’s a drag show...
Film Reviews: Sick Tag, Or Molly’s Army Finds Its Traitor
By BRUCE DENNILL Tag / Directed by Jeff Tomsic / 16DLSV The Big Sick / Directed by Michael Showalter / 16DLPS Our Kind Of Traitor / Directed by Susanna White / 16VLDNS Finding Your Feet / Directed by Richard Loncraine / 13DL Army Of One / Directed by Larry...
Theatre Review: Hansard – MP Promises, Or Caustic In The Cotswolds
By BRUCE DENNILL Hansard / Directed by Robert Whitehead / Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg This play’s title refers to the official record of debates in the British parliament, and it’s a piece in which much of the dialogue – and that’s all...
Book Reviews: Depression And Clarkson, Or The Season Of Kim Yong Un
By BRUCE DENNILL, ROB HOFMEYR & NIGEL WILLIS The Dark Hole Of Depression by Johan Smith Tsk-Tsk by Suzan Hackney The World According To Clarkson: As I Was Saying… by Jeremy Clarkson The Season Of Glass by Rahla Xenopoulos The Great Successor: The Secret Rise and...
Theatre Review: Elton – The Experience, Or Of Harmonies And Hallucinations
By BRUCE DENNILL Elton: The Experience / Directed by Brett de Groot / The Theatre Linden, Johannesburg With Elton John on his worldwide farewell tour, there has perhaps never been as apposite a time to celebrate his legacy – as a pianist and singer, as a...
Dance Review: La Traviata – Paepered With Excellence, Or Post-Pestilence Precision
By BRUCE DENNILL Joburg Ballet: La Traviata – The Ballet / Choreographed by Veronica Paeper / The Mandela, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg La Traviata – the ballet version of the original Verdi opera – features, as one of the less well-known major...
Music Reviews: A Cold Night In The Garden, Or Below The Afterlove
By BRUCE DENNILL Honne: Warm On A Cold Night Elevation Worship: Hallelujah Here Below James Blunt: The Afterlove Kari Jobe: The Garden Honne comprises singer-songwriter Andy Clutterbuck and instrumentalist and producer James Hatcher, and on this first full...
Music Review: The Soil – Joy Shared, Or A Resonant Return
By BRUCE DENNILL The Soil / Theatre Of Marcellus, Emperors Palace, Kempton Park, Johannesburg Returning to the stage after a pandemic-enforced break that also allowed space for two of its members to explore solo avenues, popular a capella trio The Soil were...
Theatre Review: Locked Upside Down…And Inside Out!, Or Pandemic Playfulness Progression
By BRUCE DENNILL Locked Upside Down…And Inside Out! / Directed by Alan Swerdlow / Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg Following a revue-style show conceptualised and performed during Covid comes a revue-style show performed as the pandemic – please God...
Theatre Review: If A Tree Falls – Absence Of Accountability, Or The Root Of Grief
By BRUCE DENNILL If A Tree Falls / Directed by Janice Honeyman / The Theatre Linden, Johannesburg Grief affects everyone in different ways and requires processing in different ways. Playwright Penny Kreitzer, a South African who moved to the US, lost her daughter in...
Theatre Review: Kunene And The King – Sister Act, Or Of Care, Cancer And Culture
By BRUCE DENNILL Kunene And The King / Directed by Janice Honeyman / The Mandela, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg The Mandela theatre is well known for hosting big extravaganzas – the annual pantomime and regular Joburg Ballet productions, for...
Theatre Review: Borderline, Or Dysfunction And A Father Feared
By BRUCE DENNILL Borderline / Directed by Maralin Vanrenen / John Kani Theatre, Market Theatre, Newtown, Johannesburg Playwright Paul Slabolepszy has been telling funny, often uncomfortable relatable stage stories since the end of the 1970s, and each new piece...
Dance Review: Mzansi Ballet – The Abba Show, Or Plenty In Specific
By BRUCE DENNILL Mzansi Ballet: The Abba Show / Directed by Dirk Badenhorst / Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg In London at the moment, there is a show called Abba Voyage which, until you read the fine print, sounds like it might be...
Theatre Review: The New Abnormal And Country Duty, Or Commentary And Conniptions
By BRUCE DENNILL The New Abnormal and Country Duty / Directed by Khutjo Green and Fiona Ramsay / Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg With one eye on the state of theatre in South Africa at the moment – 50% capacity in auditoria, and budgets still tiny...
Theatre Review: Hlakanyana – The Musical: Laying Down The Lore, Or How’s Tricks(ter)?
By BRUCE DENNILL Hlakanyana: The Musical / Directed by Janice Honeyman / Keorapetse William Kgositsile Theatre, Auckland Park, Johannesburg The launching of a new original stage musical is always reason for celebration, and for the team behind...
Film Reviews: Crazy Covenant, Or Mother’s Post
By BRUCE DENNILL Crazy Rich Asians / Directed by Jon M Chu / 13DLP Live By Night / Directed by Ben Affleck / 16LPSV Alien Covenant / Directed by Ridley Scott / 16HLV Mother! / Directed by Darren Aronofsky / 18HLSV The Post / Directed by Steven Spielberg / 13LV Allied...
Book Reviews: Life And Consequences, Or A Deep Diary Of Voltaire
By ROB HOFMEYR, KATE DENNILL & BRUCE DENNILL A Praying Life by Paul E Miller A Banquet of Consequences by Elizabeth George Diary Of A Body by Daniel Pennac Skin Deep by Gavin Evans Love Voltaire Us Apart by Julia Edelman and Hallie Bateman 9 Ways To Hold On When...
Theatre Review: From Koe’siestes To Kneidlach With Kids! – Goy Joy, Or All The Coloureds Of The Rainbow
By BRUCE DENNILL From Koe’siestes To Kneidlach – With Kids! / Directed by Megan Choritz / Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg It’s not often that biographical one-woman shows have sequels, but it makes a lot of sense that they should, as life goes on...
Theatre Review: Storm In A B-Cup – Tunes And A Timeline, Or Composing A Career
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Storm In A B-Cup / Directed by Russel Savadier / Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg Many South African theatre audiences are likely most aware of Kate Normington as an element of dozens...
Book Reviews: The Blessed Kgalagadi, Or Lies, Spies And Charlotte In Pretoria
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By DRIES BRUNT, MARION HOFMEYR, NIGEL WILLIS & BRUCE DENNILL The Blessed Girl by Angela Makholwa Kgalagadi Self-Drive Routes, Roads and Ratings by Ingrid van den Berg & Jaco Powell Lies Men Believe, And The...
Theatre Review: More Than A Handful – Bitten By The Big Apple, Or The Keys To Success
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Bryan Schimmel: More Than A Handful / Directed by Alan Swerdlow / Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg The staged memoir of pianist, musical director, arranger and orchestrator Bryan...
Comedy Review: Alan Committie – Live And Let Laugh, Or Bond Offers Good Returns
By BRUCE DENNILL Alan Committie: Live And Let Laugh – No Time To Cry / Directed by Christopher Weare / Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Montecasino, Fourways With his usual show cycle somewhat accelerated as the easing of lockdown allows for theatres to at...
Theatre Review: Firefly – Mooning Over Magic, Or A River Runs Through It
By BRUCE DENNILL Firefly / Directed by Toni Morkel / Flipside, Baxter Theatre, Cape Town Some stories, and the way they are told, are difficult to explain. Not because they are vague or told in an obtuse manner, but because they are about tone and movement and...
Ballet Review: Maina Gielgud’s Giselle – Raising The Shades, Or High Corps Values
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Cape Town City Ballet: Maina Gielgud’s Giselle / Artistic Director: Debbie Turner / Opera House, Artscape, Cape Town Overlapping with the Oscars palaver in which one person did something that...
Theatre Review: The Last Five Years – Melodic Discord, Or When Harmony Is In The Past
By BRUCE DENNILL The Last Five Years / Directed by Paul Griffiths / Theatre On The Bay, Camps Bay, Cape Town It’s difficult to tell a clear, detailed story through music alone. It’s difficult to sing said music while energetically acting, moving back and forth,...
Theatre Review: At All Costs – Tragedy And Trenches, Or Wood That It Could Have Been Different
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL At All Costs / Directed by Janice Honeyman / The Theatre Linden, 44 5th Street, Linden, Johannesburg Premiered in a new theatre venue – bravo Andre Stoltz for getting it off the ground – Peter...
Music Review: Buskaid Soweto String Ensemble – Anniversary Acoustics, Or A String Theory Proved
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Buskaid Soweto String Ensemble: 25th Anniversary / Director: Rosemary Nalden / Linder Auditorium, Parktown, Johannesburg Buskaid, borne of the charitable instincts of English musician Rosemary...
Theatre Review: Diaparo Tsa Mama – Sisters Saddened, Or Too Late For Mama
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Diaparo Tsa Mama / Directed by Rorisang Motuba / John Kani Theatre, Market Theatre, Newtown, Johannesburg For an intimate story about three sisters struggling with their individual and collective...
Dance Review: Joburg Ballet – Evolve, Or Then, Now And The Future
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Joburg Ballet: Evolve / Artistic Director: Iain MacDonald / Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg Celebrating both the company’s 21st anniversary (taking in all the different conformations...
Comedy Review: Nik Rabinowitz Is Over It, Or A Storyteller Succeeds
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Nik Rabinowitz Is Over It! / Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg The title of comedian Nik Rabinowitz’s latest stand-up (or sit-down, as is mostly the case here) show refers loosely to...
Theatre Review: Puss In Boots – A Cat With Connections, Or Creature Comforter
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Puss In Boots / Directed by Ivor Jones / National Children’s Theatre, Parktown, Johannesburg Where children’s stories often have an element of escapism, Puss In Boots takes its audience back into the...
Theatre Review: Music At The Movies – Film And Family, Or The Keys To Memories
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Music At The Movies / Rocco De Villiers with Lizelle le Roux / Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways Surrounded by a semicircle of giant Academy Award-alike props. Rocco De Villiers takes...
Dance Review: Dance Celebration – Black Swan – Exploring The Darkness, Or Meaning Through Movement
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Dance Celebration: Black Swan / The National School Of The Arts Dance Department / The Dome On Melle, Braamfontein As a showcase for the choreography of the National School Of The Arts Dance...
Comedy Review: Mark Banks – Mask About Face, Or Magnanimous Mania
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Mark Banks: Mask About Face // Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg It’s pointless trying to predict what will happen in a Mark Banks show – his poster shoutlines are punny punchlines,...
Theatre Review: Music Of The Night – Spinning That Webber, Or A Set From The Stage
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Music Of The Night / Musical director: Clifford Cooper / Centurion Theatre, Pretoria As a composer, Andrew Lloyd Webber is not to everyone’s taste, but he is an excellent choice for a...
Film Reviews: Jurassic Billboards, Or An Ocean Of Brothers
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Ocean’s 8 / Directed by Gary Ross / 13L Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri / Directed by Martin M Donagh / 16DLPV Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom / Directed by JA Bayona / 13LV Suburbicon /...
Comedy Review: Conrad Koch – Ramapuppet, Or Hands Up For Laughter
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Ramapuppet / Starring Conrad Koch / Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Montecasino, Fourways Conrad Koch is a smart, considered performer, whose hyperactive intellect gets a constant workout...
Book Reviews: Looking For Traitors, Or Historical Spy Concerts
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL, ROB HOFMEYR & NIGEL WILLIS The Looking Glass House by Vanessa Tait A Huddle Of Hippos by Julia Richman and Celeste Beckerling Our Kind Of Traitor by John Le Carré The Historical Overberg by Chris...
Theatre Review: The Brothers Size – A Spanner In The Works, Or A Plan Goes South
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL The Brothers Size / Directed by James Ngcobo / Mannie Manim Theatre, Market Theatre, Newtown, Johannesburg A revival – as part of a celebration of Black History Month – of a play that debuted at...
Theatre Review: Shirley Valentine – A Holiday’s As Good As A Change, Or Greece Is The Word
By BRUCE DENNILL Shirley Valentine / Directed by Gina Shmukler / Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways Willy Russell’s 1986 play has not aged a day, and for once, audiences might wish that it had, as its theme is a sad one in which redemption...
TV Reviews: Hollywood Fell, Or Kate Takes Flight
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Title: Attack Of The Hollywood Cliches Format: Special Streams on: Netflix Stars: Rob Lowe Thoughts: With his tongue so firmly in his cheek it’s a wonder you can hear him speak, Rob Lowe cheerfully...
Book Reviews: A Kudu In Deep Water, Or Okavango Tobacco
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By DRIES BRUNT, LISA WITEPSKI, BRUCE DENNILL, ROB HOFMEYR & NIGEL WILLIS In Deep Water by Sam Blake Life Is Like A Kudu Horn by Margaret Jacobsohn The Daily Show With Trevor Noah Presents: The Donald J Trump...
Theatre Review: Jonathan Roxmouth – Back In Lights, Or Facing The Music … Again
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Jonathan Roxmouth: Back In Lights / Directed by Weslee Swain Lauder / Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways The roller-coaster of the pandemic and the on-again, off-again nature of the...
Book Reviews: A Risen Ocean, Or Loved, Amplified And Nervous
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By KATE DENNILL, ROB HOFMEYR, BRUCE DENNILL & NIGEL WILLIS Risen by Angela Hunt, based on the story by Paul Aiello The Outlaw Ocean by Ian Urbina The Third Book Of General Ignorance by John Lloyd, John Murchison,...
Dance Review: Mzansi Ballet’s Christmas Show – Here’s One Yule Know, Or In The Timing Of St Nick
By BRUCE DENNILL Mzansi Ballet's Christmas Show // Choreographed by Michael and Angela Revie and Xola Willie // Pieter Toerien's Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg Running a dance company (or theatre, or any other arts-related enterprise) during a...
Theatre Review: Love! Valour! Compassion! – Naked Emotion Revealed, Or Lake Additions
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Love! Valour! Compassion! / Directed by Gregg Pettigrew / John Kani Theatre, Market Theatre, Newtown, Johannesburg First planned as a 25th anniversary revival and then as a tribute after...
Theatre Review: ShakesMod – Bard And Beyond, Or Scene And Heard
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL ShakesMod / Directed by Steven Feinstein / The Lesedi, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg Both an end-of-year showcase for the Indigo View Advanced Actors Academy and a full, if...
Theatre Review: Cinderella – Screening With Laughter, Or Returning To Farce The Music
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Cinderella / Directed by Janice Honeyman / The Mandela, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg Delayed for a year because of the pandemic, the return of producer Bernard Jay and director...
Book Reviews: Broken Odyssey, Or A Restless Spy In Corinth
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ROB HOFMEYR, KATE DENNILL, DRIES BRUNT Broke And Broken by Lucas Ledwaba and Leon Sadiki The Undoing Of Saint Silvanus by Beth Moore Odyssey Of An African Opera Singer by Musa Ngqungwana A Spy In Time by Imraan...
Dance Review: Inferno, Or To Hell With Ballet
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Inferno // Choreographed by Mario Gaglione // John Kani Theatre, Market Theatre, Newtown, Johannesburg To pack a 14,233-line epic poem into a mixture of ballet and contemporary dance that doesn’t...
Comedy Review: Alan Committie – Apocalaughs Now, Or Terminal Tomfoolery
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Apocalaughs Now // Directed by Christopher Weare // Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg After months and months (and months and months and months…) of being dark, the...
Theatre Review: Blood Knot – Colour Coded, Or Brothers’ Keepers
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Blood Knot / Directed by James Ngcobo / Mannie Manim Theatre, Market Theatre, Newtown, Johannesburg Blood Knot is such an intimate play – two people having often overlapping conversations in the...
Book Reviews: Radical Crime, Or Crochet Over The Top
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ROB HOFMEYR, DRIES BRUNT, KATE DENNILL, BRUCE DENNILL & LISA WITEPSKI American Radical by Tamer Elnoury with Kevin Maurer Michael K by Nthikeng Mohlele Ministry Of Crime by Mandy Wiener Hello, Crochet by...
Dance Review: The Nutcracker – Toy Story, Or A Gift Before Christmas
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Joburg Ballet: The Nutcracker // Artistic Director: Iain Macdonald // The Mandela, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg It’s a familiar story, but after a year and a half without a...
Dance Review: The Queen Show – Rhapsody In Retail, Or So Much Dance Will Thrill You
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Mzansi Ballet: The Queen Show / Choreography by Michael and Angela Revie / Fourways Mall, Fourways It’s a brave move to take a ballet production into a shopping mall – a setting where professional...
Film Reviews: European Film Festival – Never Run In Snow Again, Uje
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL The European Film Festival runs online from 14-21 October. There are 18 films on offer, including the below titles: Run Uje Run / Directed by Henrik Schyffert / PG13 Uje Brandelius – for whom this...
Music Reviews: A Darker Red Road, Or Obsessed With Faith
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Cody Carnes: The Darker The Night / The Brighter The Morning Disturbed: Live At Red Rocks Casting Crowns: Glorious Day – Hymns Of Faith Rooks: The High Road Dan + Shay: Obsessed Atlanta-based...
Film Reviews: Bleed For Deadpool, Or A Star Is Priceless
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Deadpool 2 / Directed by David Leitch / 16DLNPSV Jackie / Directed by Pablo Larrain / 13V A Star Is Born / Directed by Bradley Cooper / 16DLS I, Tonya / Directed by Craig Gillespie / 16DLNPSV Bleed For...
Dance Review: Dance Spectrum – Reflections, Or Disciplined Dynamism
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Dance Spectrum: Reflections // The Dome @ NSA, The National School Of The Arts, Braamfontein The National School of the Arts, through The Dome @ NSA, continues to undermine the notion that theatre...
Theatre Review: Broadway On Melle – Scholars Of Song, Or Concordant Class
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Broadway On Melle / Directed by Tshepo Ncokoane and Yamikani Mahaka-Phiri / The Dome@NSA, National School of the Arts, Braamfontein COVID-19 has been brutal for established artists, with work...
Theatre Review: Simply Broadway, Or Making A Song And Dance About Song And Dance
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Simply Broadway / Directed by Brett de Groot / The Dome@NSA, National School of the Arts, Braamfontein Theatre as an artform has had to get creative to make it possible to put on shows at all, so...
Book Reviews: Lightning And Burning, Or Big Burchell Brides
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By DRIES BRUNT, BRUCE DENNILL & KATE DENNILL The Lightning Stones by Jack Dubrul Burchell’s Travels: The Life, Art And Journeys Of William John Burchell | 1781-1863 by Susan Buchanan The Burning Chambers by Kate...
Music Reviews: A Camp In The Void, Or Fly Away Dua Lipa
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Kahn: A Noise In The Void Jeremy Camp: The Answer Dua Lipa: Dua Lipa Yael: Fly Away Kahn Morbee has always offered – over the course of a long career in a tough niche – something that is not...
Theatre Review: Peter Rabbit And Me – Hop To It, Or Pottering With Expectations
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Peter Rabbit And Me / Directed by Ivor Jones / National Children’s Theatre, Parktown, Johannesburg Beatrix Potter would have been an incredible success story in any era, but as an English woman...
Film Reviews: The Sloane Line, Or Quiet In Dunkirk
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Miss Sloane / Directed by John Madden / 13L Life On The Line / Directed by David Hackl / 13LV Dunkirk / Directed by Christopher Nolan / 16V First Kill / Directed by Steven C Miller / 16LV A Quiet Place /...
Theatre Review: Dusk – Isolated Incidents, Or Feeling Down On The Farm
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Dusk / Directed by Palesa Mazamisa / Mannie Manim, Market Theatre, Newtown, Johannesburg Dusk is sort of half light and half dark. Which, superficially, echoes the fortunes of Tessa (Michelle...
Music Reviews: Brave New Birds, Or Prey Comes Alive
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Various Artists: Grammy 2020 Nominees Various Artists: Birds Of Prey – The Album Various Artists: Rocktober Bethel Music Kids: Come Alive Amanda Cook: Brave New World Reviewing a compilation of...
Film Reviews: Silence In The Streets, Or Free Game For Nut Jobs
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Silence / Directed by Martin Scorsese / 13V 100 Streets / Directed by Jim O’Hanlon / 16DLV Game Night / Directed by Mark Perez / 16VL The Nut Job 2: Nutty By Nature / Directed by Cal Brunker / PGV Free...
Book Reviews: Troubled Oceans, Or Don’t Let Go Of Wild Dogs
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By DRIES BRUNT, LISA WITEPSKI, BRUCE DENNILL Don’t Let Go by Michel Bussi The Troubled Times Of Magrieta Prinsloo by Ingrid Winterbach The End Of The Ocean by Maja Lunde Wild As It Gets by Don Pinnock Under Dogs: Man’s...
Book Reviews: The Big America Lie, Or Family For The Duration
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL & ROB HOFMEYR Villa America by Liza Klaussmann For The Duration – Poems by Jana van Niekerk, Rosemund Handler and Natalie Railoun The Big Lie: Travels With Ben by Dries Brunt Like Family by...
Film Reviews: Samuel, Mary And The Stray Dogs, Or African Acumen
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By HELIO NGUANE, PRECIOUS 'MAMAZEUS' NWOGU & ADHAM YOUSSEF These reviews emanate from the Talent Press initiative, part of the Talents Durban filmmakers' mentorship programme, presented by the Durban FilmMart...
TV Reviews: The Duchess Of Radio City, Or The Ben Platt Song Contest
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL The Duchess / Created by Katherine Ryan / 16LS Ben Platt: Live from Radio City Music Hall / Directed by Alex Timbers and Sam Wrench / PG Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga / Directed by...
Music Reviews: Honest Hymns, Or Everyday Life In Africa
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Blake Shelton: If I’m Honest Various Artists: The World’s Favourite Hymns Coldplay: Everyday Life Ndlovu Youth Choir: Africa The Collingsworth Family Presents Brooklyn & Courtney Kristene DiMarco:...
Theatre Review: (Extra)ordinary, (Un)usual – Storytelling In Solitary, Or Actors Get Mono
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL (Extra)ordinary, (Un)usual / Directed by Faeron Wheeler / National Arts Festival 2021 / PG A series of filmed monologues, performed back to back, (Extra)ordinary, (Un)usual is an interesting...
Comedy Review: Chester Missing And Conrad Koch – White Noise, Or Figurine Out A Way Forward
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL White Noise / Starring Conrad Koch and Chester Missing / National Arts Festival 2021 / PG A comedy show that’s not only about racism, but about challenging its viewers to admit that they are...
Film Reviews: Metropolitan Zookeeper, Or Battle To Breathe
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Chronically Metropolitan / Directed by Xavier Manrique / 16DLS Breathe / Directed by Andy Serkis / PGV The Zookeeper’s Wife / Directed by Niki Caro / 13V The Promise / Directed by Terry George / 16PV...
Book Reviews: The Space Between The Fish Cocktails, Or The Andromeda Photographer’s Camp
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL, ROB HOFMEYR & MARION HOFMEYR Like Water Is For Fish by Garth Japhet The Space Between The Space Between by John Hunt Classic & Contemporary Cocktails: Prosecco and Gin, edited by Sarah Vaughan...
Music Reviews: Home To Humanz, Or The Mind Of Thieves
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Saint Etienne: Home Counties Soul Survivor: Never Gonna Stop James Blunt: Once Upon A Mind The Temper Trap: Thick As Thieves Gorillaz: Humanz Building 429: Live The Journey A concept album built...
Film Reviews: Hollar At Maggie, Or The Status Of Dinner
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL The Hollars / Directed by John Krasinksi / PGL Brad’s Status / Directed by Mike White / 16DL Beatriz At Dinner / Directed by Miguel Arteta / 16DLPV Maggie’s Plan / Directed by Rebecca Miller / 13L ...
Book Reviews: Imagine Missing Architects, Or Remembering Orphans
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By DRIES BRUNT, OWEN FRANKLIN, ROB HOFMEYR & BRUCE DENNILL If I Stay Right Here by Chwayita Ngamlana Make, Think, Imagine: Engineering The Future Of Civilisation by John Browne Where Architects Sleep: The Most...
Music Reviews: Fearless Face, Or Love Song For A Tuckshop
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Deftones: Gore Allan: Face To Face Desmond & The Tutus: Tuckshop Various Artists: Just Inspired 3 Martin Smith: Love Song For A City Group 1 Crew: Fearless Never achieving sales or fame on the...
Music Review: Lamplight – A Celebration Of Modern Musical Theatre Songs, Or Of Singing And Solace
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Lamplight - A Celebration Of Modern Musical Theatre Songs / Directed by Alyssa Harrison / Peachy, 44 Stanley, Milpark, Johannesburg A small (blame COVID-19) restaurant gig featuring five different...
Film Reviews: Women Of Manchester, Or My Father’s Lion
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL 20th Century Women / Directed by Mike Mills / 13LS Manchester By The Sea / Directed by Kenneth Lonergan / 13L My Father’s War / Directed by Craig Gardner / PGLV Lion / Directed by Garth Davis / PG...
Theatre Review: Aesop’s Fables – Allegories Al Fresco, Or Of Legends And Laughter
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Aesop's Fables / Directed by Weslee Swain Lauder / National Children's Theatre, Parktown, Johannesburg Timeless literature will almost always maintain its appeal, regardless of the context in...
TV Reviews: Trigonometry, Or Loving Life In Rome
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Trigonometry / Directed by Athina Rachel Tsangari and Stella Corradi / 16LSN There is a lot of accessible currency for writers when the subject is a romantic relationship involving more than two people....
Book Reviews: Dilettantes In Death, Or Post-Traumatic Conspiracies
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ROB HOFMEYR, BRUCE DENNILL Warriors, Dilettantes and Businessmen by WRJ Dean The Bible: New Testament published by Jonathan Ball and Media 24 Weeklies Footprints In The African Sand by Michael Cassidy The Kremlin...
Theatre Review: Rose – A Dowager Undaunted, Or Sit And Deliver
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Rose / Directed by Malcolm Purkey / Barney Simon Theatre, Market Theatre, Newtown, Johannesburg It is chance that this run of Martin Sherman’s play about an 80-year-old Jewish woman sharing the...
Music Review: African Pulse – Celebrating The Ndlovu Youth Choir, Or A Consummate Crescendo
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL African Pulse: Celebrating The Ndlovu Youth Choir / Directed by Matthew Counihan / Teatro, Montecasino, Fourways, Johannesburg During one of the earlier reductions in the strictness of lockdown...
Music Reviews: Brave And Broke Down, Or We Can Do Anything In A Casino
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Herman Bergman: Mahai – Guitar Compositions Bethel Music: You Make Me Brave Kongos: 1929 – Part One Stuart Reece: Broke Down Beat Down Violent Femmes: We Can Do Anything Arctic Monkeys: Tranquility Base...
Film Reviews: A Bigfoot On Lego, Or Trolling Ballerinas
By BRUCE DENNILL The Lego Batman Movie / Directed by Chris McKay / PGV The Son Of Bigfoot / Directed by Jeremy Degruson, Ben Stassen / PGV A Mermaid’s Tale / Directed by Dustin Rikert /PG The Star / Directed by Timothy Reckart / PGV The Emoji Movie / Directed by Tony...
Book Reviews: Fever Daydreams, Or Agent Running On A Dirt Road
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ROB HOFMEYR, BRUCE DENNILL & LISA WITEPSKI Fever by Deon Meyer Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman Agent Running In The Field by John le Carre Bibby’s Kitchen by Dianne Bibby Dirt Road by James Kelman African Daydreams...
Music Review: Blu Piano Social Club – Hitting The Right Chords, Or Quality Azured
By BRUCE DENNILL Blu Piano Social Club / Plug In Theatre / Peachy’s, 44 Stanley, Milpark, Johannesburg Along with the obvious thrill of the onstage performances, part of what makes going to the theatre or a music venue so enjoyable is the connection with a...
Dance Review: Ballet And Beyond – Spanish Silence, Or Women In Grey
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Joburg Ballet: Ballet & Beyond / Artistic Director: Iain Macdonald / The Mandela, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg Keeping a ballet company alive is a challenge at the best of times....
Music Reviews: People And Prophets, Or A Princess In A Paper Crown
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Richard Ashcroft: These People Coldplay: Live In Buenos Aires / Live In Sao Paulo / A Head Full Of Dreams Loui Lvndn: Your Princess Is In Another Castle Sidewalk Prophets: Something Different Josh...
Book Reviews: Red Gangster Cows, Or Riding To The Longest Conclave
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ROB HOFMEYR & BRUCE DENNILL Red Earth by Tony Park Holy Cows by Gareth Van Onselen The Longest March by Fred Khumalo Conclave by Robert Harris The Ride Of A Lifetime by Robert Iger Gangster State by Pieter-Louis...
Book Reviews: Lies About Eggs, Or Why High Cranes Are Rather Weird
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ROB HOFMEYR & BRUCE DENNILL Lies We Believe About God by Wm Paul Young The Sentinels: Cranes Of South Africa by Daniel Dolpire & David Allan The High Mountains Of Portugal by Yann Martel An Extraordinary Egg...
Film Reviews: Sing About Gold’s Beauty, Or The Last Days Of America
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Sing Street / Directed by John Carney / PGL Last Days In The Desert / Directed by Rodrigo Garcia / PGNV The Lego Ninjago Movie / Directed by Charlie Bean, Paul Fisher & Bob Logan / PGV Gold /...
Theatre Review: Pass Over – Searching For Self, Or Dreams Still Deferred
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Pass Over / Directed by James Ngcobo / John Kani Theatre, Market Theatre, Newtown, Johannesburg The themes in this three-hander by American playwright Antionette Nwandu are as sadly applicable to...
Film Reviews: A Lego Brickumentary, Or Spare Parts
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL A Lego Brickumentary / Directed by Kief Davidson & Daniel June / A Spare Parts / Directed by Sean McNamara / PGV There’s a truism about it often being the simple things that are the best, and...
Book Reviews: Hiding The Wolf, Or Transit To An Inland Universe
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ROB HOFMEYR, DRIES BRUNT Hiding In The Light by Rifqa Bary Die Heimat Projek by Andrè de Villiè War Of The Wolf by Bernard Cornwell Transit To Heaven by Salma Said Ali Arrows Of The Universe by Patrick McGaffin Inland...
Film Reviews: An Atomic Wick, A Free State Of Sleepless Hitmen
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL The Hitman’s Bodyguard / Directed by Patrick Hughes / 16LV Atomic Blonde / Directed by David Leitch / 16LNSV Sleepless / Directed by Baran Bo Adar / 16LV Free State Of Jones / Directed by Gary Ross /...
Music Reviews: Bittersweet Terrorlove, Or The Sun Will Not Be Shaken
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Greg Holden: Chase The Sun Rodney Atkins: Greatest Hits Matthew Van Der Want: Terrorlove Bethel Music: We Will Not Be Shaken Cazz: Bittersweet Various Artists: Top 25 Modern Worship Songs 2016 One...
Film Reviews: Split Before You Wake In The Forest, Or Get Out Or Be Shut In
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL The Forest / Directed by Jason Zada / PGH Before I Wake / Directed by Michael Flanagan / PGH Get Out /Directed by Jordan Peele / 16LPH Shut In / Directed by Farren Blackburn / 16V Split / Directed by M...
Film Review: A Christmas Chorus, Or Defined By Presence
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL A Christmas Chorus / Directed by Charl-Johan Lingenfelder / PG A fictional story that is, sadly, not terribly far from being a documentary, A Christmas Chorus sees top theatre musical director...
TV Reviews: Years And Years, And 1917 In Particular
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Years And Years / Created by Russell T Davies / 16LVPS 1917 / Directed by Sam Mendes / 16VL Imagine an almost contemporary world in which politicians are unashamedly manipulative to meet their own...
Music Reviews: Passion For Phones, Or Antique Karma
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Passion: Worthy Of Your Name Lionel Bastos: Songs From My Phone The Parlotones: Antiques And Artefacts Roxette: Good Karma Meredith Andrews: Deeper (Deluxe Edition) Kari Jobe: Majestic As has been...
TV Reviews: Champions Are Fine, But Not In 2020
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL We Are The Champions / Written by Matthew-Lee Erlbach / PG Sarah Cooper: Everything’s Fine / Directed by Natasha Lyonne / 16 Death To 2020 / Directed by Al Campbell and Alice Mathias / 16LVP ...
Book Reviews: The Thinking Adviser, Or Breaking 1983
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By NIGEL WILLIS, ROB HOFMEYR Deep Thinking by Garry Kasparov Breaking News, An Autobiography by Jeremy Thompson 1983: The World at the Brink by Taylor Downing The Senior Adviser by Edmund-George King Garry...
Music Reviews: Starstruck In A Hidden City, Or Run As Though Every Mile Mattered
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Awolnation: Run The Cult: Hidden City Simply Red: Big Love CH2: Starstruck Nichole Nordeman: Every Mile Mattered Various Artists: Rada Unearthed – Volume One Awolnation have, with their impressive...
Film Reviews: Blacks In Rooi Skoene, Or Getting The Sausage Party Started
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Meet The Blacks / Directed by Deon Taylor / 16LPV Just Getting Started / Directed by Ron Shelton / 13LS Hoener Met Die Rooi Skoene / Directed by Koos Roets / PGL Sausage Party / Directed by Conrad Vernon...
Film Reviews: Fantastic Beasts Have Fallen, Or Where To Find Peculiar Children
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them / Directed by David Yates / PG Fallen / Directed by Scott Hicks / 13V Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children / Directed by Tim Burton / PG Not fully...
Book Reviews: Astonishing Horse Endurance, Or A Magic Bull In Paris
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By DRIES BRUNT, BRUCE DENNILL, ROB HOFMEYR, KATE DENNILL The Daily Assortment of Astonishing Things: The Caine Prize for African Writing How To Fly A Horse by Kevin Ashton Endurance by Scott Kelly We'll Always Have Paris...
Dance Review: Mzansi Ballet – The Queen Show, Or Delivering Under Pressure
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Mzansi Ballet: The Queen Show / Directed by Dirk Badenhorst / Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg Given the range of contexts in which Queen’s music is used, from Wayne’s...
Book Reviews: Uncommon Intruders, Or Earth’s Last Interiors
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL, ROB HOFMEYR, DRIES BRUNT, KATE DENNILL The Uncommoners – The Crooked Sixpence by Jennifer Bell An American Family by Khizr Khan Intruders by Mohale Mashigo NIV Kid's Visual Study Bible by Zondervan...
Theatre Review: Stageworx – Here I Am, Or What Could Potentially Be
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Theatre Review: Stageworx – Here I Am / Directed by Bryan Schimmel / Teatro, Montecasino, Fourways The Stageworx Performing Arts School in Johannesburg runs its programmes on a wonderfully edifying platform,...
Comedy Review: Alan Committie – The Lying King: Circle Of Laughs, Or Masked Mirth Melee
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Alan Committie: The Lying King – Circle Of Laughs / Directed by Christopher Weare / Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways There are some things that are needed in a good stand-up comedy...
Music Review: New Day (Gotta Get Up), Or Of High Spirits And Survival
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL New Day (Gotta Get Up) by Liebah Masango and Ayanda Yumba Most matric projects have a limited impact on observers – there’s only so much entertainment value in a badly drawn horse or a volcano...
Film Reviews: Meeting Hidden Figures, Or Approaching The Unknown
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Approaching The Unknown / Directed by Mark Elijah Rosenberg / PG Hidden Figures / Directed by Theodore Melfi / PG Movies about space. Littered with scenes in which tough men walk in slow motion...
Film Reviews: European Film Festival – Hiding Weapons In The Space Between Emotions
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL The European Film Festival in South Africa runs from 12-22 November and features a number of fantastic films. Here are reviews of three selected highlights. Curveball / Directed by Johannes Naber...
Music Reviews: We Are Messengers Living The Dream, Or Run Like A Leading Lady
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Various Artists: Top 25 Praise Songs – 2016 Edition Various Artists: Leading Lady We Are Messengers: We Are Messengers Planetshakers: Legacy Matthew Mole: Run Slash featuring Myles Kennedy And The...
Music Review: Ndlovu Youth Choir – We Will Rise, Or In Praise Of The Elephant In The Room
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Ndlovu Youth Choir – We Will Rise / Musical director: Ralf Schmitt / Theatre Of Marcellus, Emperors Palace, Kempton Park, Johannesburg South African choirs are a marker for excellence in many...
Opera Review: Cantiamo – Resounding Return, Or The Stage Is Alive With Desando Music
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Cantiamo – Mzansi Opera Celebration / Artistic producer: Marcus Tebogo Desando / Mandela, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein Whatever is happening on theatre stages for the next couple of months will...
Book Reviews: Soil And Minecraft, Or Quiet Heartbreaker In The Alhambra Theatre
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ROB HOFMEYR, BRUCE DENNILL, BETHANY DENNILL & NIGEL WILLIS Dying To Live by Michael Stanley Soil by Jamie Kornegay Minecraft: Guide To Exploration by Stephanie Milton Heartbreaker: Christiaan Barnard And The First...
Film Reviews: Miracles From Heaven, Or Apples On The Woodlawn
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Miracles From Heaven / Directed by Patricia Riggen / PG Apple Of My Eye / Directed by Castille Landon / PG Woodlawn / Directed by the Erwin Brothers / PG A film with Christian themes but a...
Television Reviews: Space Cats, Or Hunting An Internet White Boy
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Space Force: Season One / Created by Steve Carell and Greg Daniels / 13 Don’t F**k With Cats: Hunting An Internet Killer / Directed by Mark Lewis / 16VSNL White Boy Rick / Directed by Yann Demange...
Music Reviews: Merciful Maria, Or Roar About War
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Maria Callas: Pure Colby: Merciful God American Young: AY Chris Tomlin: Holy Roar Martin Smith: Martin Smith Various Artists: War Room – Music From And Inspired By The Motion Picture Even...
Book Reviews: In Search Of Birds And Black Lilies, Or Feel Better And Beg To Differ
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ROB HOFMEYR, MARION HOFMEYR, NIGEL WILLIS, KATE DENNILL & BRUCE DENNILL Play The Man by Mark Batterson Featherings: True Stories In Search Of Birds edited by Vernon RL Head I Beg To Differ: Ministry Amid The...
DVD Reviews: Why In The World Would You Believe, Or Two For Teaching
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Andy Stanley: Why In The World Randy Frazee: Believe – Living The Story Of The Bible To Become Like Jesus North Point Community Church pastor Andy Stanley is a fast talker, so he fits a huge...
Film Reviews: Encounters Film Festival – Documentaries Most Wanted, Or Influenced By Gaza
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL The 2020 Encounters Film Festival runs from 20-30 August, with all titles being screened free of charge, though donations to keep the festival viable going forward would be appreciated. The programme is...
Music Reviews: Collaborations Of The Saints, Or Strange Tides
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Darlene Zschech: In Jesus’ Name Audio Adrenaline: Sound Of The Saints Paul Wilbur: Forever Good Bethel Music: Tides Garbage: Strange Little Birds Ed Sheeran: No 6 Collaborations Project It seems...
Book Reviews: Cult Bazaar, Or Of Esther And Malachi
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By DRIES BRUNT, ROB HOFMEYR, BRUCE DENNILL, MARION HOFMEYR, KATE DENNILL & LISA WITEPSKI Cult Sister by Lesley Smailes Forward by Marcia Barrett with Lloyd Bradley The Bazaar Of Bad Dreams by Stephen King On Editing...
Film Review: Cabin Fever – Dysfunction And Distance, Or Of Screens And Separation
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Cabin Fever / Directed by Tim Greene / PG13 A brave, timeous project, Cabin Fever is a feature-length film made without a crew or film cameras, shot by the cast on phones (presumably) or similar...
Book Reviews: The Girl Who Was Too Big, Or Passion For A Bad Zoo
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL, ROB HOFMEYR, NIGEL WILLIS & VINCENT PIENAAR Insectopedia by Erik Holm The Girl Who Takes an Eye For An Eye by David Lagercrantz Classic Passion: [(a+b)… by Johnathan Andrews Too Big To Walk: The New...
TV Reviews: Marriage To Miss Americana, Or Story Of The King
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Marriage Story / Directed by Noah Baumbach / 16LS The King / Directed by David Michod / 16VL Miss Americana / Directed by Lana Wilson / 16 Marriage Story is a divorce story. It’s the slow...
Film Review: Curtiz – Play It Again Michael, Or Admiration For An Archetype
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By VINCENT PIENAAR Curtiz / Directed by Tamaz Yvan Topolanszky / 16 I can understand why there is such a disparity among critics about the movie Curtiz. On Rotten Tomatoes the experts are running about 50-50 with...
Book Reviews: The Other Side Of The Places To Go, Or Meditations On The Midnight Line
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ROB HOFMEYR, BRUCE DENNILL, VINCENT PIENAAR & NIGEL WILLIS Fatima Meer by Fatima Meer On Track & Behaviour Briefs by Chris & Mathilde Stuart The Other Side: Behind the News Pt 1 by Harvey Tyson All The...
Music Reviews: Dreams Of Beauty And Rage, Or Little Songs Of Memory And Girls
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Meek Mill: Dreams Worth More Than Money Red: Of Beauty And Rage Train: Does Led Zeppelin II Michael Buble: My Kind Of Girl Jon Guerra: Little Songs Stone Jets: Memory Dreams Worth More Than Money...
Theatre Review: Jigsaw – Puzzled Pals, Or A Bond Bolstered
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Jigsaw / Directed by Sylvaine Strike / Virtual National Arts Festival Moving a whole arts festival online has meant embracing digital means of presenting theatre; attempting to balance the...
Theatre Review: Zoom Room – Linked Under Lockdown, Or Gasping For Collaboration
By BRUCE DENNILL Zoom Room / Directed by Shelley Lothian / vFringe, Virtual National Arts Festival Independent theatre production company VR Theatrical put out a call shortly after lockdown started for new scripts that could be filmed as short online plays....
Comedy Review: The Very Big Comedy Show – Mirth And Misfortune, Or When Hilarity Hurts
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL The Very Big Comedy Show / Hosted by Rob Van Vuuren / Virtual National Arts Festival / PG13 A comedy show featuring several high-profile comics generally covers the same sort of ground – an MC...
Theatre Review: Unfathomable – Immersed With The Ancestors, Or Wait And Sea
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By TAMMY BALLANTYNE Unfathomable / Directed by Athena Mazarakis / Virtual National Arts Festival I recall seeing the live version of Unfathomable (winner of a Standard Bank Silver Ovation Award on the 2019...
Film Review: Steve Smith – Tampering With TV, Or It’s Almost Cricket, Mate
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Steve Smith / Directed by Jemma Kahn / Virtual National Arts Festival This is an odd little film, which is part of its appeal. Jemma Kahn has made a fascinating, brilliant career out of finding...
Dance Review: Pest Control – En Garde And On Guard, Or No Sitting On The Fence
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By TAMMY BALLANTYNE Pest Control / Conceptualised, choreographed, performed and directed by Mamela Nyamza / Visual National Arts Festival Pest Control is Mamela Nyamza’s angry ode to injustice. Her rage is...
Theatre Review: BreaThing Space – Olive With A Twist, Or A Story Told Letter By Letter
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL BreaThing Space / Directed by Alan Farber (film) and Michelle Douglas (theatre) / Virtual National Arts Festival Written as a play, BreaThing Space cleverly combines aspects of theatrical intimacy...
Film Review: Lockdown Went Wrong – Short And Sharp, Or Phoning It In
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Lockdown Went Wrong / Directed by Lazarus Thema / Virtual National Arts Festival / PG13 Lockdown Went Wrong is a film that lasts just a minute. That sort of brevity prompts the sort of questions...
Theatre Review: Nixon In Agony – Presidential Protestations, Or Slumping In Stereo
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Nixon In Agony / Created, written and directed by Adam Donen / Virtual National Arts Festival Nixon In Agony is an audio drama. Audiences are now used to podcasts and audio books – perhaps radio...
Music Review: Deep Spacer – 433 Eros, Or Circumvention Of Convention
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Deep Spacer: 433 Eros Album Launch / Compositions by Jonathan Crossley, Cesare Cassarino and Etienne Oosthuysen / Virtual National Arts Festival Deep Spacer are an experimental musical trio –...
Book Reviews: Fall Into A Gap, Or Wanderers Under Shelter
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL & ROB HOFMEYR If I Fall, If I Die by Michael Christie The Cookbook by Your Family The Wanderers by Meg Howrey A Gap In The Hedge by Johan Vlok Louw Shelter Rock by MP Miles An extraordinary...
Film Reviews: Genius In Denial, Or The Kingdom Of Elvis’ Dog
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL The End Of The Tour / Directed by James Ponsoldt / 13L Genius / Directed by Michael Grandage / PG Denial / Directed by Mick Jackson / PG A United Kingdom / Directed by Amma Asante / PG Elvis & Nixon...
TV Reviews: Succession Euphoria, Or A Vinyl Hurrah
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Euphoria: Season One / Created by Sam Levinson / 18SNVLD Vinyl: Season One / Created by Terence Winter / 18SNVLD Succession: Seasons One to Three / Created by Jesse Armstrong / 16SNVL Euphoria is...
Book Reviews: Scorched Spaceship, Or Turning Sapiens Into An Oxygen Thief
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ROB HOFMEYR, DRIES BRUNT, MARION HOFMEYR, NIGEL WILLIS & BRUCE DENNILL How To Make A Spaceship by Julian Guthrie Maestra by LS Hilton Scorched Earth by Fransjohan Pretorius Turning And Turning: Exploring The...
Music Reviews: Nelson On The Heath, Or Here I Am Send Lawson
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Jamie Lawson: Jamie Lawson Brandon Heath: No Turning Back Hawk Nelson: Diamonds Various Artists: God’s Not Dead 2 – Motion Picture Soundtrack Various Artists: The Voice Of The Martyrs – I Am N Darlene...
Film Reviews: The Infiltrator’s Creed, Or Reacher Risen
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Creed / Directed by Ryan Coogler /13VL Risen / Directed by Kevin Reynolds / PGV Jack Reacher: Never Go Back / Directed by Edward Zwick / 13LV The Infiltrator / Directed by Brad Furman / 16LV ...
Book Reviews: Betrayal Season In Greece, Or Connections In A Cul-De-Sac
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL, DRIES BRUNT & LISA WITEPSKI Greece – The Cookbook by Vefa Alexiadou Betrayal: The Crisis In The Catholic Church by The Investigative Staff of the Boston Globe Killing Season by Faye Kellerman...
TV Reviews: Big Little Weddings, Or Diary Of A Third Person
By BRUCE DENNILL All the below content is available to stream on Showmax. Tali’s Wedding Diary / Created by Julia Anastasopoulos / 16L Big Little Lies / Created by David E Kelley / 16LNSV Third Person / Directed by Paul Haggis / 16SNL Tali’s Wedding...
Book Reviews: Orpheus And Crime, Or A Small Bourbon For The Struggle
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL, DRIES BRUNT & ROB HOFMEYR Orpheus And Eurydice by Hugh Lupton, Daniel Morden & Carole Henaff Creating A Photography Portfolio by Johnathan Andrews Life Of Crime by Kimberley Chambers The Bourbon...
Book Reviews: The Last Seedy Father, Or Hold Sugar Man’s Leg
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL & NIGEL WILLIS The Last Road Trip by Gareth Crocker My Father Died For This by Lukhanyo and Abigail Calata Hold Me Closer: The Tiny Cooper Story by David Levithan Sugar Man: The Life, Death And...
Music Review: The Music Makers – Compositions In Position, Or Instrumental In Their Own Development
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL NSA Festival of the Arts 2020: The Music Makers / Accompanist: Ruhan Nabal / Fringe, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg This showcase for the National School of the Arts’ Music Department...
Theatre Review: Scout – Canine Intervention, Or When Kindness Is King
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL NSA Festival of the Arts 2020: Scout / Directed by Mike da Silva / Space.com, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg This is an interesting work, devised by the cast in association with the...
Theatre Review: Amanda – Lus Vir Life, Or Passion Meets Prejudice
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL NSA Festival Of The Arts 2020: Amanda / Directed by Ethan Oberholzer / Space.com, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg The winner of the National School of the Arts Grade 11 Original Works...
Book Reviews: The Severity Of Murders, Or A Lone Man’s Death By Poison
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL, DRIES BRUNT, NIGEL WILLIS 52 Weeks With Jesus by James Merritt The De Zalze Murders by Julian Jansen The Fatuous State Of Severity by Phumilani Pikoli Lone Man’s Climb: A Journey Of Trauma, Tragedy And...
Theatre Review: Hip Hop Hamlet – Nothing Rotten, Or Deciding Who Should Take The Rap
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL NSA Festival Of The Arts 2020: Hip Hop Hamlet / Directed & adapted by Laine Butler & Johan Anker / Mandela, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg Any updating or re-imagining of a...
Dance Review: Hidden Language – Articulate Action, Or Moved To Connect
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL NSA Festival of the Arts 2020: Hidden Language / Choreographed by Sean Bovim, Yusuf Thomas, Heather Dreyer, Laura Cameron, Gillian Bonegio, Sunnyboy Mandla Motau, Hannah Dludla, Ashley Magutshwa /...
Film Reviews: Solace In Gift Senders, Or Ratters In The Loft
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Solace / Directed by Afonso Poyart / 16V Ratter / Directed by Branden Kramer / 13LSV Return To Sender / Directed by Douad Mikati / 16SV The Loft / Directed by Erik Van Looy /16DLVS The Gift / Directed by...
TV Reviews: Kimmy Schmidt Underground, Or Six Unbreakable Laundromats
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL All of the below content is available to stream on Netflix. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (16) Another product of Tina Fey’s remarkable comedy mind, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is a fish-out-of-water...
Book Reviews: Of Rhinos And Rage, Or An Instrumental Safari
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By DRIES BRUNT, ROB HOFMEYR & NIGEL WILLIS Instrumental by James Rhodes A Rhino In My Garden by Conita Walker Becoming Iman by Iman Rappetti The First Safari: Searching For François Levaillant by Ian Glenn Rebels And...
Music Reviews: Divide And Echo, Or An Alternative Liberation
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Ed Sheeran: Divide Jesus Culture: Let It Echo The Liberation Project: Songs That Made Us Free Various Artists: Le Club – Alternative Anthems Rend Collective: Campfire II – Simplicity Various Artists:...
Music Review: Doc MacLean – Pick And Blues, Or On Parr With Friends
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Doc MacLean – N’ganga Blues Tour / Frank’s Wild Years, Norwood, Johannesburg Delta bluesman Doc MacLean has an air of mystery about him, with his profile built on extensive touring – this...
Book Reviews: Win Twelve Roses, Or Does Trump Play God?
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL, ROB HOFMEYR & NIGEL WILLIS Where’s Trump? by Anastasia Catris Win! by Jeremy Maggs Wars Of The Roses: Bloodline by Conn Iggulden Twelve Plus One by Mike Alfred Do Dice Play God? The Mathematics Of...
Theatre Review: …Or Not To Be – How Shakespeare Could Change Your Death, Or Constantly Corpsing
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL …Or Not To Be – How Shakespeare Could Change Your Death / Directed by Christian Coulson / Auto & General Theatre On The Square Canadian actor and playwright Simon Fortin has spent a lifetime...
Theatre Review: Why Should I Hesitate – Intellectual Jazz, Or Animated In Art And Action
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL For Once: Why Should I Hesitate / Starring William Kentridge and Kyle Shepherd / The Centre For The Less Good Idea, Maboneng, Johannesburg William Kentridge is an artist – known for charcoal on...
Music Review: A-ha – Hunting High And Low, Or There’s Norway This Music Doesn’t Matter
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL A-ha: Hunting High And Low Tour / Marks Park, Emmarentia, Johannesburg With a line-up of four support acts – Werner Bekker, James Deacon, Absinthe and Ard Matthews – the return of Norwegian pop...
Theatre Review: Paradise Blue – Trepidation And Tone, Or The Poetry Of Ambiguity
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Paradise Blue / Directed by James Ngcobo / John Kani Theatre, Market Theatre, Newtown, Johannesburg A sultry jazz noir that all takes place in a fading club in a part of Detroit called Black...
Music Review: Francesca Tandoi – Swing And Soul, Or An Above-Standards Performance
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By DAVID ALSTON Francesca Tandoi / Theatre On The Hill / Roodepoort, Johanneburg Looking remarkably fresh after a flight from Rome the previous day and with little time to rehearse, Italian jazz pianist and...
Theatre Review: Loving You – Songs From The Musicals, Or Of Intricate Intimacy
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Loving You: Songs From The Musicals / Directed by Drew Bakker / Auto & General Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg Premiering last year at Redfest (and then called Love Stage)...
Book Reviews: Basket Guide, Or First Response To Kim Jong-Il
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL, DRIES BRUNT & KATE DENNILL Sky Guide: Africa South by Auke Slotegraaf & Ian Glass Dudu’s Basket by Dianne Stewart and Elizabeth Pulles Be Bright by Anita Potgieter A Kim Jong-Il Production by...
Theatre Review: Rocky Horror Show – Going Furter N Furter, Or Of Corset Entertains!
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Rocky Horror Show / Directed by Christopher Luscombe / Teatro, Montecasino, Fourways, Johannesburg Richard O’Brien’s Rocky Horror Show remains a profoundly odd piece of work, a science fiction fairytale...
Music Review: Viennese New Year – Humour Conductor, Or An Institution Encouraged
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Viennese New Year / Conducted by Richard Cock / Linder Auditorium, Parktown, Johannesburg Now well on its way to become as beloved an institution as the Austrian tradition on which it is based, the...
Theatre Review: Dop – Speaking Frankly, Or It Could Be The Drink Talking
By BRUCE DENNILL Dop / Directed by Sylvaine Strike / Barney Simon Theatre, Market Theatre, Newtown, Johannesburg Relationships. Everyone has them. Even lonely people. Everyone struggles with them. Especially lonely people. And almost everyone fails to give them...
Music Reviews: Difference Is Beautiful, Or Gold And Serenity
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Neville D: Beauty Of Difference – Season 2 MercyMe: Lifer Miles Davis & Robert Glasper: Everything’s Beautiful Korn: The Serenity Of Suffering Anderson East: Delilah David Gray: Gold In A...
Book Reviews: A Different Boy In The Water, Or The Road To More Chocolate
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ROB HOFMEYR, DRIES BRUNT & LISA WITEPSKI In A Different Key by John Donvan and Caren Zucker The Boy Who Saw by Simon Toyne Solidarity Road by Jan Theron Like Sodium In Water by Hayden Eastwood There Is More...
Theatre Review: Seussical – Cats And Creativity, Or For Who The Horton Rolls
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Seussical / Directed by Matthew Counihan / Lyric Theatre, Gold Reef City Casino, Ormonde, Johannesburg This production is a relatively stripped-down, one-act version of the original...
Theatre Review: Santa Clause Is Coming To Town – Red’s Dread, Or Could Cool Carol Kill Christmas?
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Santa Clause Is Coming To Town / Directed by Shelley Adriaanzen / Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg It’s simply smart business for a production company to have a...
Comedy Review: The Thunderbirds – The Disaster Hen Party, Or Cackles In Triplicate
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL The Thunderbirds: The Disaster Hen Party / Beefcakes, Illovo, Johannesburg The Thunderbirds are comedians Claudine Ullman, Nina Hastie and Gili Apter, combining their contrasting styles in...
Theatre Review: Peter Pan On Ice – A Story That Never Gets Old, Or Cynicism Scotched
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Imperial Ice Stars: Peter Pan On Ice / Artistic Director: Tony Mercer / Teatro, Montecasino, Fourways, Johannesburg. Staging any classic story on ice – be it a version of a fairy tale, a...
Music Review: Anna Wolf – What’s In The Woods, Or Lupining For The Hordes
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Anna Wolf: What’s In The Woods Tour / Auto & General Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg Pretoria-raised Melanie Le Roux’s career took off in South Africa under the stage name...
Book Reviews: Talk While Awake, Or Keep Digging Through Short Stories
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ARJA SALAFRANCA Talk Of The Town by Fred Khumalo Awake Asleep Awake by Jo-Ann Bekker If You Keep Digging by Keletso Mopai Sometimes regarded as the Cinderella of the literary world, short stories are...
Theatre Review: Jack And The Beanstalk – Movement And Mirth, Or A Giant Vision Realised
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Jack And The Beanstalk / Directed by Janice Honeyman / Mandela, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg In recent Joburg Theatre pantomimes, there has been a pleasing shift from fun,...
Theatre Review: History – The King Of Pop: Loving The Glove, Or Goodman Undeniably The Bestman
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL History: The King Of Pop / Produced by Showtime Australia / Theatre Of Marcellus, Emperors Palace, Johannesburg Musical tribute shows are too often pre-judged as somehow less because they...
Theatre Review: My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish And I’m In Therapy, Or Of Lineage And One-Liners
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish & I’m In Therapy / Starring Michael Richard / Auto & General Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg Based on the family and life...
Theatre Review: All You Ask Of Me – Once More While Seething, Or What A Tangled Lloyd Webber We Weave
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL All You Ask Of Me / Directed by Matthew Counihan / Auto & General Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg A two-hander – singer, narrator and sarcasm conduit Carly Graeme and...
Film Reviews: European Film Festival – Pushing Farha And Wide, Or Separated Soulmates
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL The European Film Festival will be held simultaneously at Cinema Nouveau theatres in the three cities from 29 November to 8 December. The festival is packed with Oscar-nominated and...
Film Reviews: Single, Shallow Queen, Or Room For Meddling On The Train
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL How To Be Single (16L) The Shallows (PGV) Queen Of The Desert (PG) The Keeping Room (13V) The Girl On The Train (16LV) The Meddler (PG) There’s no commercial support for an argument that...
Comedy Review: Alan Committie – Classy Clown: The Fast And The Farcical, Or Goon Just Far Enough
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By MANDY COLLINS Alan Committie - Classy Clown / Directed by Christopher Weare / Pieter Toerien's Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg I was raised on The Goon Show, and it shaped my comedic tastes...
Book Reviews: Elvis Trigger, Or My Mongrel Heart
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Trigger Warning by Neil Gaiman Landy At The Factory / Fender And The Cliff Rescue / Landy And The Apple Harvest Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink by Elvis Costello Where My Heart Used To...
Theatre Review: Worbey And Farrell – Rhapsody: Many Hands Make Music Work, Or Orchestral Manoeuvres Are A Lark
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Rhapsody / Worbey And Farrell / Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg Steven Worbey And Kevin Farrell are a pair of Englishmen possessed of the musicianship of...
Theatre Review: Gertrude Stein And A Companion – Making A Stein Way, Or Alice Through The Hourglass
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Gertrude Stein And A Companion / Directed by Chris Weare / Auto & General Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg An intimate piece that takes place in a single room and a...
Theatre Review: Forever Plaid – Pitch Perfect In Purgatory, Or Well Plaid, Sirs
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Forever Plaid / Directed by Jaco van Rensburg / Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg There is really not much of a narrative arc in this jukebox musical showcasing...
Theatre Review: Benny Bushwhacker – Cordial Creature Concerns, Or A Theatrical Amuse Bush
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Benny Bushwhacker / Directed by Janice Honeyman / Studio, Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg Written by John van de Ruit – long-time friend and collaborator of Ben...
Book Review: The Afrikaner – Filled By Emptiness, Or Looking At The Present From The Past
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ARJA SALAFRANCA The Afrikaner by Arianna Dagnino It’s always interesting to see ourselves, as South Africans, reflected through another’s gaze as author Arianna Dagnino does in The Afrikaner. A...
Music Review: Tony Bennett And Diana Krall – Love Is Here To Stay, Or In It To Gershwin It
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By DAVID ALSTON Just occasionally, an album comes round that almost defies criticism. At first glance, a musical meeting of singers Tony Bennett and Diana Krall, accompanied by the relatively ‘modern’ Bill Charlap...
Music Reviews: Mirror Anxiety, Or Detour Around The Shadows
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Petite Noir: The King Of Anxiety EP All Clear: Look In The Mirror Various Artists: Shadows Cyndi Lauper: Detour At first listen, Cape Town’s Petite Noir (real name Yannick Ilunga) sounds...
Film reviews: Jiving And Johnny, Or Van Der Merwe’s Dying
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Van Der Merwe / Directed by Bruce Lawley / PG Jiving And Dying: The Radio Rats Story / Michael Cross / PG Johnny Is Nie Dood Nie / Directed by Christiaan Olwagen / 16DL The idea is unfussy...
Festival Review: RedFest 2019 – Intellect And Imagination, Or Selling The Drama
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL RedFest 2019 / 4-5 October / Redhill School, Morningside, Johannesburg For a Johannesburg-based arts fan, getting to festivals that offer a good mix of theatrical and other endeavours along...
Ballet Review: Joburg Ballet – Giselle: Princely Persuasion, Or Misogynists Get The Wilis
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Joburg Ballet: Giselle / Artistic Director: Iain Macdonald / Mandela, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg There are plenty of dark moments in famous narratives of the ballet canon,...
Theatre Review: Rock Of Ages – Rock And Droll, Or Of Hair And High Notes
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Rock Of Ages / Director: Timothy Le Roux / Teatro, Montecasino, Fourways, Johannesburg Conceptually speaking one of the more straightforward jukebox musicals, Rock Of Ages has a rousing...
Comedy Review: Claudine Ullman – Artificial Infemination, Or Colossal Comic Commitment
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Claudine Ullman: Artificial Infemination / Dunkelder Teater, Dunkeld, Johannesburg There is little point in having any expectations when watching a performance of Claudine Ullman’s first...
Theatre Review: Jonathan Roxmouth – Lenny Andrew Steve And Me, Or Feeling Perfectly Composed
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Jonathan Roxmouth: Lenny Andrew Steve And Me / Accompanied by Rowan Bakker / Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg Between stints in the title role of the...
Book Reviews: Bad Seeds With Chris Hani, Or Roughing It In Selfies
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]BY ROB HOFMEYR, DRIES BRUNT & KATE DENNILL Roughing It by Ralph Goldswain Being Chris Hani’s Daughter by Lindiwe Hani Bad Seeds by Jassy Mackenzie Selfies, Sexts And Smartphones by Emma Sadlier and Lizzie...
Music Reviews: Dark Hands, Or My Soul’s Not Dead
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Laura Story: Open Hands Randy Newman: Dark Matter Sannie Fox: My Soul Got Stranger Various Artists: God’s Not Dead 2 – Motion Picture Soundtrack Atlanta-based worship artist Laura Story...
Theatre Review: Journey Beyond – Symphonic Circus: Orchestrated Enjoyment, Or Multi-Disciplinary Delight
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Journey Beyond: Symphonic Circus / Creative Director: Brent Van Rensburg / Mandela, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg Zip Zap is a donation-funded Cape Town-based circus school...
Restaurant Review: Cafe Del Sol Botanico – Rooted In Excellence, Or A Landmark Experience
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]By BRUCE DENNILL Café Del Sol Botanico, Bryanston Shopping Centre, Johannesburg The Café Del Sol brand has always had a good reputation – the original restaurant, Café Del Sol Classico, opened in Olivedale...
Theatre Review: TechNO – Anti-Social Media, Or Run Screening To The Hills
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL TechNO / Directed by Sharon Spiegel-Wagner / Crawford Sandton, Johannesburg One of the most consistent arguments in favour of introducing young audiences to the arts is the educational...
Book Reviews: Trump And Redeployment, Or God’s Answers to Brown V Leyds
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]By BRUCE DENNILL & NIGEL WILLIS Trump & Me by Mark Singer God’s Answers To Life’s Difficult Questions by Rick Warren Brown V Leyds: Who has the King’s Voice? A President Scorned, A Chief Justice Dismissed...
Theatre Review: Story Book Theatre – Grimm Made Gracious, Or Childs’ Play
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Story Book Theatre / Directed by Jill Girard and Keith Smith / People’s Theatre, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, South Africa The People’s Theatre’s Story Book Theatre series follows a...
Comedy Review: Savanna Comics’ Choice Awards 2019 – Minor (Musical) Mayhem, Or Respect In Restraint
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Savanna Comics’ Choice Awards / Directed by Neels Clasen / Lyric Theatre, Gold Reef City, Johannesburg Even though the published start time for this event continues to be the first...
Film Reviews: Nobody’s Died Laughing In The State Of America
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Trevor Noah: Welcome To America (PG) Loyiso Gola: State Of The Nation (16L) Nobody’s Died Laughing: A Journey With Pieter-Dirk Uys (PG) Even his established fans were surprised to some...
Theatre Review: Stomp – Fit For The Purpose, Or Quadruple Threats Hit The Mark
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Stomp / Teatro, Montecasino, Fourways, Johannesburg It’s easy to take a show like Stomp for granted. It’s also misguided. It’s been around for 28 years, has visited South Africa a couple of...
Film Review: Uncovered – What’s Mine Is Not Theirs, Or Everyone’s Getting Shafted
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Uncovered / Directed by Zuko Nodada / 13 Corporate thrillers are not all that common in South African filmmaking, which gives this project – a story taken straight out of newspaper...
Film Review: Apocalypse Now – Final Cut: Armageddon Better At This, Or Wham, Bam, Nam’s A Sham
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Apocalypse Now: Final Cut / Directed by Francis Ford Coppola / 16VL There are many phrases that come to mind when watching Apocalypse Now (however many times you’ve seen it), but one...
Music Review: Parklife Festival 2019 – Convincing Curation, Or Fine Focus Fulfilled
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Parklife Gourmet Food And Music Festival / Emmarentia Botanical Garden, Johannesburg There’s a pleasing trend in South African music festivals that is seeing stronger line-ups curated for...
Theatre Review: Violet – Facing The Future, Or Of Flaws And Faith
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Violet / Directed by Dr Harold Mortimer / Lesedi, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg Violet, the story of a young woman with a large scar on her face who travels across a large...
Theatre Review: #HeTwo – Pieter-Dirk Uys: Screen Queen, Or Girls Just Wanna Have Influence
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL #HeTwo / Starring Pieter-Dirk Uys / Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg In a career as long as Pieter-Dirk Uys’, it’s necessary to regularly find new gimmicks that...
Theatre Review: The Dead Tinder Society – Romance And Reality, Or Do Ray, She
By BRUCE DENNILL The Dead Tinder Society / Directed by Lesedi Job / Studio, Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg The end of something precious is always devastating. It has to be, otherwise whatever it is wasn’t precious....
Music Reviews: The Best Prodigal, Or Never Lose Sight Of An Animal
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Mike Oldfield: The Best Of – 1992-2003 Crowder: American Prodigal Chris Tomlin: Never Lose Sight Livingston: Animal Mike Oldfield’s career is a storied one. He was the first act signed by...
Comedy Review: Ndumiso Lindi – Big Boys Don’t Cry In July, Or Us And Them And All Of Us
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Ndumiso Lindi: Big Boys Don’t Cry In July / Auto & General Theatre On The Square / Sandton, Johannesburg Ndumiso Lindi’s explanation for his new one-man show’s awkward title (with those...
Comedy Review: Nik Rabinowitz – Work In Progress, Or Words To Laugh By
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Nik Rabinowitz: Work In Progress / Auto & General Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg Work In Progress is a fabulous name for a comedy show. It suggests a sensitive, smart...
Theatre Review: Sarafina! – Activism And Energy, Or Schooled By History
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Sarafina! / Directed by Nhlanhla Ngema / The Mandela, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg Sarafina!, an original South African musical, was a Broadway success story in the late...
Music Review: Here’s To You – The Simon And Garfunkel Songbook, Or Keeping The Customers Satisfied
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Here’s To You: The Simon & Garfunkel Songbook / Musical direction by Wessel Odendaal / Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg The timeless music of Paul Simon (in...
CD Reviews: Say It Ain’t Luminous, Or Souls In Heaven
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Iron Maiden: The Book Of Souls Raoul & Black Friday: Say It Ain’t So Elevation Worship: Here As In Heaven The Horrors: Luminous One of the few classic rock or heavy metal bands still...
Film Reviews: Dark Ghost Runner, Or Wave Wars
By BRUCE DENNILL Blade Runner 2049 / Directed by Denis Villeneuve / 16LNV Ghost In The Shell / Directed by Rupert Sanders / PGV The Dark Tower / Directed by Nikolaj Arcel / 13VH The 5th Wave / Directed by J Blakeson / PGV Cross Wars / Directed by Patrick Durham...
Book Reviews: Angels On The Touchline, Or Stand Up To Maths
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By DRIES BRUNT, ROB HOFMEYR & NIGEL WILLIS Stories From The Touchline by Theuns Stofberg Burning Angels by Bear Grylls Get Up! Stand Up! by Mark Heywood Are Numbers Real? The Uncanny Relationships Between...
Music Reviews: The Getaway Beast, Or Tomorrow, After All These Years
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Red Hot Chili Peppers: The Getaway The National: Sleep Well Beast Bombay Bicycle Club: So Long, See You Tomorrow Brian & Jenn: After All These Years The Red Hot Chili Peppers are one of...
TV Review: The Lion’s Share – Rian Malan’s Blues, Or Wimoweh, Netflix And The Story Of South Africa
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By JOHN ELLIS The famous case of Solomon Linda and The Lion Sleeps Tonight, a dust storm kicked up by resident alien and all-round chronicler-in-chief Rian Malan in 2000, is once again in the public consciousness...
Book Reviews: Magritte On A Metric Bus, Or Twisted Goddess
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL, DRIES BRUNT Magritte: Life Line edited by Xavier Canonne, Julie Waseige and Guido Comis Tales Of The Metric System by Imraan Coovadia Nyambura Waits For The Bus by Cath Alexander and Catherine...
Theatre Review: Call Us Crazy – Chaos And Comedy, Or Knocking The Tar Out Of Pessimism
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Call Us Crazy / Directed by Josias Dos Moleele / Auto & General Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg The blurb for this comedy three-hander sound dubious, outlining the story of...
Theatre Review: Family Secrets – Mater Matters, Or A Downsized Dynasty
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Family Secrets / Directed by Alan Swerdlow / Pieter Toerien's Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg Taking as part of its theme the notion of a soap opera - one of protagonists,...
Comedy Review: Mark Banks On Ice – Slippery Slope To Silliness, Or Of Ha! And Hope
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Mark Banks On Ice / Studio, Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg Now in his 60th year, comedian Mark Banks, in his umpteenth solo show, continues to do what comes...
Theatre Review: Harry Sideropoulos – Seriously?!, Or When Satire Seems Sensible
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Seriously?! / Directed by Gina Shmukler / Crystal Room, Killarney Country Club, Johannesburg “Seriously?!” – it’s an exclamation of incredulity and frustration, mumbled (or shouted) when...
Theatre Review: Madagascar – A Musical Adventure Jr: Creature Feature, Or Animals Abroad
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Madagascar: A Musical Adventure Jr / Directed by Jill Girard and Keith Smith / People’s Theatre, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein Dreamworks’ Madagascar films are explosions of colour, humour,...
Music Review: Ben Harper – Solo Sensitivity, Or The Cat In The Hat’s All That
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Ben Harper / Sun Arena Time Square, Pretoria Ben Harper is an artist who is fiercely proud of his independent, alternative status, which makes witnessing his performances intriguing, as...
Book Reviews: Historians And Horses, Or Ground Glass
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]By ROB HOFMEYR, DRIES BRUNT & BRUCE DENNILL Hermann Giliomee: Historian by Hermann Giliomee The Glass Universe by Dava Sorbel Bare Ground by Peter Harris A Little Horse Called Pancakes / A Little Horse Called...
Music Review: Matt Redman – Glory Song: West Coast Wonder, Or Sensitive Songwriting
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Matt Redman: Glory Song It’s difficult to imagine an individual who is less Hollywood than Matt Redman. The humble but massively influential English worship leader and singer-songwriter’s ...
Film Reviews: Lucky Marauders And Furious Interrogation Collide
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Marauders / Directed by Steven C Miller / 16LV Fast & Furious 8 / Directed by F Gary Gray / 13LV Logan Lucky / Directed by Steven Soderbergh / PGLV Collide / Directed by Eran Creevy / 16V...
Dance Review: Exit/Exist – Physical Poetry, Or Yearning For Yore
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Exit/Exist / Directed by James Ngcobo / John Kani Theatre, Market Theatre, Newtown, Johannesburg Gregory Maqoma’s elegantly staged musing on the life and struggles of his ancestor, Xhosa...
Book Reviews: Go Set A Chick, Or Hell Bent On Virginity
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL, ROB HOFMEYR & DRIES BRUNT Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee This is The Chick by Wendy Hartmann and Joan Rankin Finding My Virginity by Richard Branson Hell Bent by Gregg Hurwitz Harper...
Music Review: The Shabs Album Launch – Can You Hear Us At The Back?, Or Folk In Fine Fettle
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL The Shabs: Can You Hear Us At The Back Album Launch / Rumours Lounge, Strydom Park, Johannesburg Regional music scenes tend to be pretty insular, so it’s refreshing when bands from...
Film Reviews: Abraham Goes Trainspotting, Or The Night Before Patriots Day
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Abraham / Directed by Jans Rautenbach / PG The Night Before / Directed by Jonathan Levine / 16LSND T2 Trainspotting / Directed by Danny Boyle / 18DL Patriots Day / Directed by Peter Berg / 16DLV...
Book Reviews: Grace Is Alive, Or Behave, Right Hand
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL & DRIES BRUNT The Case For Grace by Lee Strobel Miss Behave by Malebo Sephodi Reasons To Stay Alive by Matt Haig Red Right Hand by Chris Holm Lee Strobel is an experienced journalist as...
Theatre Review: Equus – Saddled With Expectations, Or How Is Happiness Harnessed?
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]By BRUCE DENNILL Equus / Directed by Fred Abrahamse / Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg The tagline on the poster for this production of Peter Shaffer’s classic play – “For those...
Theatre Review: Chicago – Dazzled By Razzle, Or Come On Feel The Illinois
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Chicago / Resident director: Philip Godawa / Teatro, Montecasino, Fourways, Johannesburg This 2019 version of the 1996 revival of a 1975 Broadway musical that was based on a play written in...
Book Reviews: Tsunamis In Autumn In Minecraft, Or Strangers To Passion
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By DRIES BRUNT, BETHANY DENNILL & ROB HOFMEYR Too Many Tsunamis by Vincent Pienaar Autumn by Ali Smith Minecraft: Guide To Creative by Craig Jelley We All Begin As Strangers by Harriet Cummings The Quiet Side...
Music Reviews: King Charlie, Or Wake Up Forever
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL For King & Country: Run Wild. Live Free. Love Strong The Sick Leaves: Travels With Charlie Albert Frost: The Wake Up The Afters: Live On Forever Perhaps unfairly, there’s a perception...
Music Review: Andrea Bocelli – Of Classics And Cohorts, Or Dictating The Tenor Of Excellence
By BRUCE DENNILL Andrea Bocelli / Johannesburg Festival Orchestra / Ticketpro Dome, Randburg, Johannesburg Stage set-ups for big tours are usually extravagant regardless of the size of the band. For Andrea Bocelli, the stage is enormous – because,...
Book Reviews: A Film Of Joan Of Arc At Varsity, Or Dream Of Daylight
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL & MARION HOFMEYR Minimal Film by Matteo Civaschi Messenger: The Legend Of Joan Of Arc by Tony Lee and Sam Hart Your First Year Of Varsity by Shelagh Foster & Lehlohonolo Mofokeng The Dream...
Music Review: Sam Smith – Odes To Joy, Or Songs Of Celebration
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Sam Smith – The Thrill Of It All World Tour / Ticketpro Dome, Randburg, Johannesburg There’s a lot that someone who hadn’t seen footage of Sam Smith’s The Thrill Of It All world tour would...
Ballet Review: Men In Tutus – Boys Will Be Girls, Or Man-Made Mirth
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Men In Tutus / Ballet Eloelle Artistic Director: Victor Trevino / Teatro, Montecasino, Fourways, Johannesburg Entrenched perspectives can be hugely problematic. There is an audience that...
Book Review: So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed, Or When Media Gets Anti-Social
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson Jon Ronson has built a significant reputation as a documenter of subculture weirdness; he's a sort of avant-garde Louis Theroux. He burst into...
Theatre Review: Legally Blonde – An Elle Of A Story, Or Seeing The Woods For The Fees
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Legally Blonde / Directed by Sharon Spiegel-Wagner / Redhill School, Sandton, Johannesburg This production of Legally Blonde had some hurdles to overcome up front. Some in-house staff...
Ballet Review: The Sleeping Beauty – Awake To Detail, Or Fairy Dinkum
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Joburg Ballet’s The Sleeping Beauty / Production and staging by Maina Gielgud / Mandela, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg The ongoing presence of the Johannesburg Philharmonic...
Music Review: Andra – Elemental Interpretations, Or Of Songs, Soul And Stamina
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Andra / Lagom Café, Lynwood, Pretoria Singer-songwriter Andra is a unique composite of huge talent and varied influences, a mild-mannered folkie who can out-roar Janis Joplin and mix blues...
Book Review: The Swimming Lesson By Kobus Moolman – Disabled By Dysfunction, Or Virtuosic Vignettes
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ARJA SALAFRANCA The Swimming Lesson And Other Stories by Kobus Moolman Kobus Moolman, known for his award-winning poetry, has released his debut volume of short fiction, The Swimming Lesson And Other...
Music Review: Sinatra And Me – Turn Of Phrasing, Or My, What A Big Band You Have
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Sinatra And Me / Starring Richard Shelton / Mandela, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg A Frank Sinatra tribute show that looks beyond the man’s famous music, Sinatra And Me...
Music Review: Uptown Rhythm Dogs – Allies In Inventiveness, Or Good Folk In A Complex World
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Uptown Rhythm Dogs with special guests Zacas / Auto & General Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg It doesn’t seem possible, but the Uptown Rhythm Dogs have been making music...
Book Reviews: Pleasure In The Free State, Or The Pulse Of The Bookshop
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL & DRIES BRUNT The Pleasure Of Reading edited by Antonia Fraser Queen of the Free State by Jennifer Friedman Pulse by Felix Francis The Snooty Bookshop: Fifty Literary Postcards by Tom Gauld...
Theatre Review: Into The Woods – Can’t See The Good For The Trees, Or Of Dandies, Darkness And Destiny
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Into The Woods / Directed by Steven Stead / Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg When casting around for source material for a musical, there’s not much richer on...
Theatre Review: Tease! – The Vagina Dialogues, Or Toying With Perceptions
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Tease! / Directed by Jose Domingos / Auto & General Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg Sexuality is massively complicated, convoluted issue that is tackled in a myriad ways in...
Music Reviews: From A To B Via Different Places, Or Closer To Chapter One
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Kaleo: A/B Uptown Rhythm Collective: Different Places Tanita Tikaram: Closer To The People Ella Henderson: Chapter One Icelandic bands are supposed have names peppered with umlauts and...
Music Review: Guitar Wizards – String Theories, Or Acoustic Acumen
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Guitar Wizards / Created by Corneille Hutten / Lesedi Theatre, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg Following a simple format – essentially two different acts on either side of an...
Book Reviews: Love Unlikely, Or Ancestors Are Delicious
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] BY ROB HOFMEYR, BRUCE DENNILL & MARION HOFMEYR Love In The Face Of Isis by Lorraine Marie Varela Riley Unlikely by Riley Banks-Snyder, with Lisa Velthouse Eat, Drink & Blame The Ancestors by Ndumiso Ngcobo...
Book Reviews: Dark Africa, Or A Substitute Reformer
By BRUCE DENNILL & ROB HOFMEYR Dark Entries by Robert Ackman No Substitute by Cindy Alter A Man Of Africa, edited by Kalim Rajab The Great Reformer by Austen Ivereigh This is a new edition of a collection of stories by Robert Ackman first published...
Theatre Review: Aunty Merle The Musical – Frock And Load, Or The Merle The Merrier
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Aunty Merle The Musical / Directed by Lara Foot / The Mandela, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg For a comedian to base a full-length musical on one of the alter egos he dreamed up...
Music Review: Bryan Ferry World Tour 2019 – Sound And Substance, Or The Ferry Man Is Worth What You Paid
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Bryan Ferry / World Tour 2019 / Sun Arena Time Square, Pretoria It’s difficult to find a mention of Bryan Ferry’s name that doesn’t also allude to his style (and that’s another one). It’s...
Film Reviews: Before Demolishing The Free State, Or People Touching Tumbledown
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Before We Go / Directed by Chris Evans / PGL Demolition / Directed by Jean-Marc Vallee / 16LDV Sleeping With Other People / Directed by Leslye Headland 16SLN Free State / Directed by Sallas De...
Theatre Review: Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap – To The Manor Died, Or A Version Of Veritable Vintage
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap / Directed by Jonathan Tafler / Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg Spoiler alert. This play has been running continuously for 65...
Book Reviews: Not A Fan Of Wimps, Or Making Africa Japanese
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL, BETHANY DENNILL, NIGEL WILLIS & KATE DENNILL Not A Fan Daily Devotional by Kyle Idleman Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Double Down By Jeff Kinney Making Africa Work: A Handbook For Economic Success...
Music Review: Ms Lauryn Hill with special guest Nas – The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill 20th Anniversary Tour
[vc_row][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Ms Lauryn Hill with special guest Nas: The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill 20th Anniversary Tour / Ticketpro Dome, Johannesburg This is a show that had to overcome a few...
Theatre Review: Van Wyk – The Storyteller Of Riverlea: A Raconteur Remembered, Or From The Page To The Stage
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]By BRUCE DENNILL Van Wyk: The Storyteller Of Riverlea / Directed by Christo Davids / Mannie Manim Theatre, Market Theatre Complex, Newtown, Johannesburg The late Chris Van Wyk was a prolific and respected...
Film Review: 3 Days To Go – Rancorous Reunion, Or Pater’s Passing Produces Potential
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL 3 Days To Go / Directed by Bianca Isaacs / 13DLV There are many, many examples of screen dramas centred around the reunion of a dysfunctional family under trying circumstances, with the...
Music Review: James Morrison – Soul Satisfaction, Or A Vocal Victory
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL James Morrison / Teatro, Fourways, Johannesburg Without a big hit in current circulation, English singer-songwriter James Morrison’s appearance on South African stages this week might’ve...
Theatre Review: Aida Abridged – Pyramid Scheming, Or Desert Duets
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Aida Abridged / Directed by Greg Homann / Auto & General Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg Aida Abridged. Add some more A-related alliteration: ambition and absurdity....
Theatre Review: Naked Girls Reading – Undress And Understanding, Or Writing Exposed
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Naked Girls Reading: Out With The Old, In With The Nude / Directed by Alicia Skead / POPArt, Maboneng, Johannesburg There’s a bit of old-fashoned eyebrow-raising that occurs when the name...
Film Reviews: Evil Assassin, Or Blunt Forced Squad
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]By BRUCE DENNILL Resident Evil: The Final Chapter / Directed by Paul WS Anderson / 16V Assassin’s Creed / Directed by Justin Kurzel / 13V Blunt Force Trauma / Directed by Ken Sanzel / 16LV Suicide Squad / Directed...
Music Reviews: Dead Alive Acoustics, Or Paper Towns In Polydimensions
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL ISO: Polydimension Rodrigo Y Gabriela: 9 Dead Alive Various Artists: Paper Towns – Music From The Motion Picture Jack White: Acoustic Recordings 1998-2016 Prog-rock soundscapes, with a lead...
Book Reviews: Selling A Gentle Soul, Or Homeland Refreshed
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By DRIES BRUNT, NIGEL WILLIS & ROB HOFMEYR Conversations With A Gentle Soul: Ahmed Kathrada Chatting To Sahm Venter Selling Lipservice by Tammy Baikie Hit Refresh: The Quest To Rediscover Microsoft’s Soul And...
Ballet Review: Joburg Ballet – Cinderella: Compact Classic, Or A Fairytale Focused
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Joburg Ballet: Cinderella / Artistic Director: Iain MacDonald / The Teatro at Montecasino, Fourways, Johannesburg Joburg Ballet, to live up to its company name, needs to reach audiences all...
Theatre Review: The Nutcracker’s Winter Circus – Retail Respite, Or Shopping For Inspiration
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL The Nutcracker’s Winter Circus / Directed by Andrew Botha / Sandton City Centre Court, Sandton, Johannesburg A Big Top circus tent in the middle of one of the busiest shopping malls in the...
Music Review: Tina – Simply The Best: To Everything, Turn, Turn, Turner, Or Does What It Says On The Tin
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Tina: Simply The Best / Directed by John Van Grinsven / Roodepoort Theatre, Roodepoort, Johannesburg There’s a tendency, when noting that a theatre production is a tibute show, to make that...
Music Reviews: Zschech Out The Table, Or Journey Into A Silent Night
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Darlene Zschech & Hope UC: The Table – A Christmas Worship Gathering Various Artists: Christmas Journey Various Artists: Top 25 Classic Christmas – Silent Night Being one of the bigger...
Music Review: Guns N Roses – Not In This Lifetime, Or Cultural Currency Rekindled
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Not In This Lifetime… Tour / Guns N Roses / FNB Stadium, Soweto, Johannesburg Guns N Roses are a tough proposition when it comes to managing expectations. Mention the band’s name, and most...
Film Reviews: Zechariah The Princess, Or The Dressmaker In The Van
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Z For Zechariah / Directed by Craig Zobel / PG 7 The Lady In The Van / Directed by Nicholas Hytner / 13L ...
Music Reviews: Memory Of The Firmament, Or All I Really Want Is A Portal
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Grassy Spark: Portal 7 Chris Chameleon: Firmament 6 Andre Swiegers: All I Really Want 7 Stone Jets: Memory ...
Theatre Review: The Revlon Girl – Making Up Is Hard To Do, Or What’s Mine Shouldn’t Have Been Theirs
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL The Revlon Girl / Directed by Steven Feinstein / Auto & General Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg It’s not often that the programme for an evening’s entertainment contains a...
Theatre Review: The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time – High-Functioning Drama, Or Finding Clarity In The Clutter
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time / Directed by Paul Warwick Griffin / Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg Mark Haddon’s novel, on which this play...
Book Reviews: Holomisa’s Dreams, Or Marah In Essex
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ROB HOFMEYR, DRIES BRUNT & BRUCE DENNILL The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry It’s Me Marah by Marah Teboho Louw Bantu Holomisa, The Game Changer by Eric Naki The Dust That Falls From Dreams by Louis de...
Theatre Review: Snow White – The Fairest Pantomime In The Land, Or All That Glitters Is Bold
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Snow White: The Fairest Pantomime In The Land / Directed by Janice Honeyman / The Mandela, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg People will go to pantomimes for as long as they’re...
Dance Review: Mzanzi Ballet – Bengingazi: Fusion Of Forms, Or A Mixture Of Movement
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Mzanzi Ballet: Bengingazi / Directed by Dirk Badenhorst / Pieter Torien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg Bengingazi is a relatively compact (12 dancers) production that can be,...
Comedy Review: Stuart Taylor – Funny, You Should Say That: Unembellished Amusement, Or Still More Mr Nice Guy
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Stuart Taylor – Funny, You Should Say That / Directed by Rob Van Vuuren / Auto & General Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg Cape Town comic Stuart Taylor is one of the more...
Comedy Review: Warren Robertson – Dad Inside: Just Kidding, Or Of Family And Fury
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Warren Robertson: Dad Inside / Dunkelder Teater. Dunkeld, Johannesburg The Dunkelder Teater is a fascinating, valuable space in a suburban mansion scheduled to be flattened when the...
Theatre Review: Matilda The Musical – Honorable Minchin, Or Precocious Perfection
By BRUCE DENNILL Matilda: The Musical / Directed by Matthew Warchus (Resident Director Anton Luitingh) / Teatro, Montecasino, Fourways Tim Minchin is a flame-haired Austalian pianist, comedian, composer and actor. Who is nuts. Absolutely crackers....
Theatre Review: Odd Man Out – A Spectrum Of Emotions, Or How We Aut To Behave
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Odd Man Out / Directed by Megan Willson / Auto & General Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg In Odd Man Out, Australian playwright David Williamson tackles a potentially touchy...
Ballet Review: The Nutcracker – New Nostalgia, Or Orchestral Manoeuvres On The Mark
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL The Nutcracker / Joburg Ballet / The Mandela, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg The Nutcracker remains a nostalgic favourite for ballet audiences all over the world, being one of...
Theatre Review: Oakfields College Third Year Showcase – Future Focus, Or Poised To Perform
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Oakfields College Faculty Of Dance And Musical Theatre Third Year Showcase 2018 / Directed by Sharon Spiegel-Wagner / Oakfields College Pretoria Campus For any lover of the arts,...
Theatre Review: Peter And The Wolf – Creature Comforts, Or The Beauty Of The Beast
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Peter And The Wolf / Directed by Elizma Badenhorst / Studio, Pieter Torien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg 7 Originally conceived in 1936 by Russian composer...
Music Review: Redfest Unplugged – Ebony And Urbani, Or Rock And Role Model
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Unplugged At Redfest / Directed by Angie Mullins / Redhill School 6 “Dominant 7” is a fairly in-your-face name for a high school jazz band. Clever chord reference aside, it...
Theatre Review: What You Don’t Know About Women – Singing The Cy Notes, Or What Women Want…To Sing
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL What You Don’t Know About Women: The Music Of Cy Coleman / Starring Carly Graeme / Redhill School 8 Carly Graeme is a fixture on the South African musical theatre...
Theatre Review: Polkadots – The Cool Kids Musical: Spot The Difference, Or New Niches For Square Pegs
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Polkadots: The Cool Kids Musical / Directed by Shelley Adriaanzen / Redhill School 7.5 There’s nothing terribly complex about Polkadots: The Cool Kids Musical, other than, after...
Film Reviews: The Angry Youth, Or Testament To Carol
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL The Angry Birds Movie / Directed by Fergal Reilly & Clay Kaytis / PG 7 Testament Of Youth / Directed by James Kent / PG 8 Race / Directed by Stephen...
Music Review: TJ’s Acoustic Music Club – Swipe Right For Original Music, Or Delicate Storytelling Appeal
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL TJ’s Acoustic Music Club / Mark’s Park, Emmarentia, Johannesburg 7 A collective that’s been around for the best part of three decades, TJ’s Acoustic Music Club is one of the few sit,...
Book Reviews: Guide To Guptas, Or Mavericks And Revolutions
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]By MARION HOFMEYR, Guide To Birds Of The Kruger National Park by Warwick Tarboton & Peter Ryan 7 Revolution by Russell Brand ...
Music Reviews: Brandy And Serpents, Or Wow, Revival!
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Brandy Clark: 12 Stories 8 Sannie Fox: Serpente Masjien 7 Third Day: Revival – Deluxe Edition ...
Music Review: Alexandra May’s Writersround – This May Work, Or Writers Recognised
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]By BRUCE DENNILL Alexandra May’s Writersround /Rumours Rock City / Randburg, Johannesburg, South Africa There are a number of ways to enjoy live music, and just as wide a range of listener tastes. For some,...
Film Reviews: Brand Of Brothers, Or A Secret Pawpaw
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL The Brothers Grimsby / Directed by Louis Leterrier / 16LSV 2 Our Brand Is Crisis / Directed by David Gordon Green / 13L 7 Secret In Their Eyes / Directed by Billy Ray / 13V ...
Theatre Review: Macbeth – Plenty Of Toil, No Trouble, Or Treachery On The Table
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]By BRUCE DENNILL Macbeth / Directed by Fred Abrahamse / Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg 8 For a play to not just be yet another version of a particularly famous piece –...
Book Reviews: The Way Of The Lion, Or Dictator’s Dictionary
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]By BRUCE DENNILL, NIGEL WILLIS Green Lion by Henrietta Rose-Innes 6 The Way I See It by Jürgen Schadeberg 7.5 NIV...
TV Review: Bloodline – Kingdom In The Keys, Or Of Loss And Lies
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Bloodline: Seasons One and Two / Created by Glenn Kessler, Todd A Kessler and Daniel Zelman / Netflix 8 Already notable for being one of last platforms on which the late Sam...
Theatre Review: Fool For Love – Heartbreak Motel, Or A Fretful Familiarity
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Fool For Love / Directed by Janice Honeyman / Mannie Manim Theatre, Market Theatre, Newtown, Johannesburg 8 As a playwright, Sam Shepard was not often a happy camper....
Music Reviews: Overflow In Love, Or The Magic Showman
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Dr Victor: I Believe In Love 4 Planetshakers: Overflow ...
Comedy Review: Blame It On Bianca Del Rio – Oy, Roy, Or Disdain Dressed Up
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Blame It On Bianca Del Rio / Teatro, Fourways, Johannesburg 5 American comedian, actor and drag queen Bianca Del Rio (real name Roy Haylock) is known for – indeed, it’s her...
Theatre Review: Florence – Ebb And Flo, Or If Life Gives You Pals, Make Palisades
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Florence / Directed by Greg Homann / Barney Simon Theatre, Market Theatre, Newtown, Johannesburg 8.5 Superficially, Florence is a one-woman play examining the life and legacy of...
Comedy Review: John Vlismas – Brain Dump: Feel The Lobe, Or Stuck In The Medulla With You
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Brain Dump / Starring John Vlismas / Studio, Pieter Torien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg 8 Many otherwise enthusiastic comedy fans regularly get...
Theatre Review: Fawlty Flowers – No Set Agenda, Or Torquay Or Not Torquay
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Fawlty Flowers / Directed by Paul Spence / Auto & General Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg 5 Bringing a cult TV show to the stage is a tricky...
Theatre Review: Plum Tree – Growing Pains, Or How Do You Like Them Apples?
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Plum Tree / Directed by Godfrey Johnson / Foxwood Theatre, Houghton, Johannesburg 6 It’s not often that you can watch an experienced writer and actor perform in a one-man show...
Theatre Review: Land Acts – Political Properties, Or Satire In The Soil
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Land Acts / Directed by Rob Van Vuuren / Auto & General Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg 7 This piece arrives with a pedigree, being the third instalment...
Film Reviews: Elsa Escapes, Or War On Murder
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL No Escape / Directed by John Erick Dowdle / 16V 7 War Room / Directed by Alex Kendrick / PG 5.5 Murder Of A Cat /...
Dance Review: Joburg Ballet – Fire And Ice, Or Hungarian Meets Herculean
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Joburg Ballet: Fire And Ice / Artistic Director: Iain Macdonald / Mandela, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg 6.5 The further development of Joburg Ballet as a company...
Book Reviews: Eyes In The Park, Or Van Gogh’s Toy-Boy
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL, ROB HOFMEYR & DRIES BRUNT Eyes In The Night by Nomavenda Mathiane 7 The Park by Gail Schimmel 7.5 The Unknown...
Music Reviews: Closer To Blurryface, Or Money And Man
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Twenty One Pilots: Blurryface 6.5 Hokum: The Money Eaters 6 Ernie Smith: Closer 7.5 Eric Clapton: Forever Man 6 One of the big American chart...
Theatre Review: Porralicious 4 – Looks Familia, Or The Fourth Is Strong With This One
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Porralicious 4 / Directed by James Cuningham / Studio at Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg 8 Lightning theoretically never strikes the same place...
Film Reviews: Faith In Maggie, Or Sink Into Dark Places
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Catching Faith / Directed by John KD Graham / PG 2 Sink / Directed by Brett Michael Innes / 13L 7 Maggie / Directed by Henry Hobson / 13HV 6 Dark Places /...
Music Review: Jesus Culture – South Africa Tour: Accomplished And Approachable, Or Hits With Heart
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Jesus Culture: South Africa Tour / Rhema Bible Church, Randburg, Johannesburg 7.5 Conceived as the spearhead of a youth movement, Jesus Culture (the band) has, like Hillsong...
Book Reviews: Life In Colour, Or Bordering On Safe
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ROB HOFMEYR & DRIES BRUNT Colour Bar by Susan Williams 8 A Full Life by Jimmy Carter ...
Film Reviews: Hunting Sinister Witches, At Last
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Sinister 2 / Directed by Ciaran Foy / 16HLV 6 The Last Witch Hunter / Directed by Breck Eisner / PG13 5 There’s no way a film like this should...
Theatre Review: Avenue Q – Much More Than Marionettes, Or Q Here For Greatness
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Avenue Q / Directed by Timothy le Roux / Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg 9 Avenue Q is a difficult show to describe. This becomes evident when,...
Theatre Review: Joburg Ballet And Friends – A Dazzling Gala: Ambition And Arabesques, Or A Collaboration In The Right Direction
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Joburg Ballet And Friends – A Dazzling Gala / Creative concept: Samantha Peo / Teatro, Montecasino, Fourways, Johannesburg 7 Put together as a vehicle to facilitate the...
Theatre Review: Visiting Mr Green – Stars Of David, Or Of The Now And The Not Yetta
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Visiting Mr Green / Directed by Alan Swerdlow / Auto & General Theatre On The Square, Mandela Square, Sandton, Johannesburg 8.5 It’s been around 20 years since this play was...
TV Reviews: Ordinary Lies, Or Looking At Mom
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Ordinary Lies / Directed by John McKay & Juliet May / 16DLS 8.5 Looking / Created by Michael Lannan / 18LSD 4.5 Mom: The Complete Second Season...
Music Reviews: Vertical Arcs, Or Wow Africa
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Vertical Church Band – Church Songs 6 The Arcs: Yours, Dreamily 7 Obikay: Africa ...
Theatre Review: The Train Driver – Tracking The Changes, Or No (Happy) Country For Old Men
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL The Train Driver / Directed by Charmaine Weir-Smith / Mannie Manim Theatre, Market Theatre, Newtown, Johannesburg 7 With The Train Driver being one of Athol Fugard’s...
Music Review: Caroline Leisegang – Come Full Circle, Or Have No Sphere, Preludes Are Here
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Caroline Leisegang: Come Full Circle / Circa On Jellicoe, Rosebank, Johannesburg 7.5 Having spent much of the last year-and-half in and out of hospital, composer and pianist...
Theatre Review: Footloose – Creative Confidence, Or Moving (And Singing) In The Right Direction
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Footloose / Directed by Matthew Counihan / Redhill School, Sandton, Johannesburg 7 In a short informal speech just before the premier of Redhill School’s...
Music Review: A Celebration Of Bra Hugh Masekela – Avoiding Hugh-Bris, Or Tales, Tunes And Talent
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL A Celebration Of Bra Hugh Masekela / Directed by Makhaola Ndebele / The Mandela, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg 8 There is no reasonable argument against...
Book Reviews: The Adventures Of Toby, Or Going Where The Cockroaches Eat Marshmallows And The Grapes Are Amazing
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL In The Land Of Marshmallows And Cockroaches by Candice Argall, Leigh-Ann Nel and Les Ramabula 6 In The Land Of Amazing Grapes by Stella Steenkamp, Candice Argall, Irshaad Butler, Sifiso Motaung...
Comedy Review: Conrad Koch – Puppet Guy: More Than Lip Service, Or All Dolled Up And Everywhere To Go
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Conrad Koch: Puppet Guy / Directed by Chris Weare / The Studio at Pieter Torien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg 7.5 A comedian with a master’s degree in social...
Music Reviews: This Is All Your Food, Or Villains In Drones
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Kelis: Food 6 Alt-J: This Is All Yours 7 Muse: Drones ...
Theatre Review: Fatal Attraction – Lust And Loss, Or Stripped-Down Seduction
By BRUCE DENNILL Fatal Attraction / Directed by Paula Bangles / Pieter Torien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg 7 A stage version of the Michael Douglas and Glenn Close screen thriller of the same name that long ago...
Theatre Review: Green Man Flashing – Layered Loyalties, Or A Collision Of Conflicts
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Green Man Flashing / Directed by Malcolm Purkey / Auto & General Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg 7 Playwright Mike Van Graan’s play Green Man Flashing is 14...
Ballet Review: Carmen – Instrumental Impact, Or In Pain In Spain
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Carmen – The Ballet / Joburg Ballet with the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra / Choreographed by Veronica Paeper / The Mandela, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein ...
Film Reviews: Barely Pan, Or Lethal Education
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Barely Lethal / Directed by Kyle Newman / 13DL 6 Pan / Directed by Joe Wright / PGV 7 There are a number of films that have tried...
Music Review: Brandi Carlile – By The Way, I Forgive You, Or Of Maturity And Magic
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Brandi Carlile – By The Way, I Forgive You Brandi Carlile is in her mid-thirties, but her mien, songwriting and performance style, which often involves arrangements – built around a voice...
Book Reviews: Darwin’s Breakfast, Or Marketing The Borgias’ Red Kids
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By ROB HOFMEYR, DRIES BRUNT, BRUCE DENNILL Darwin’s Hunch by Christa Kuljian 9 Red Earth by Tony Park ...
Concert Review: Bowling For Soup – Side-Splitting Sentimentality, Or Polished Punk Precision
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Bowling For Soup / Rumours Rock City, Blackheath, Johannesburg 7.5 Having been around in one or another form since the late Eighties, it says much for Texan pop-punks Bowling For...
Comedy Review: The Award-Winning Podcast With Warren Robertson – Ebenhaezer Raises Himself, Or Regarding The Oliphant In The Room
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL The Award-Winning Podcast with Warren Robertson: Guests - Ebenhaezer Dibakwane & Dillan Oliphant / The Goliath Comedy Club, Bannister Hotel, Braamfontein, Johannesburg 7 ...
Music Reviews: Gateway To A Million Voices, Or Disturbed Divas
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Gateway Worship Voices: Kari Jobe 6 Disturbed: Immortalized 5.5 Aretha Franklin: Sings The Great Diva Classics ...
Theatre Review: Soulfire & Fireflies – Elegiac Elegance, Or All Heart In The Hide
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Soulfire & Fireflies / Samantha Peo & Clifford Cooper / The Hide, Illovo, Johannesburg 8 Soulfire & Fireflies is an ever-evolving narrated review of torch songs,...
Comedy Review: Stark Raving Mark! – Horizontal Ha Ha, Or Reigning In The Ridiculous
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Stark Raving Mark! / Studio, Pieter Torien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg 5 Stand-up comedian Mark Banks is perhaps best known for his...
Dance Review: Doll – I Just Don’t Know What To Do With My Selfie, Or Swiping Wrong On Anti-Social Media
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Dance Umbrella: Doll / Co-created by Owen Lonzar & Sylvaine Strike / Wits Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg 7 The final performance of Dance Umbrella 2018 – and of the festival...
Dance Review: Double Bill – Sick & In-Time: Reflections On Erections, Or Energy On The Clock
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Dance Umbrella: Double Bill / Downstairs Theatre, Wits Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg Sick / Choreographed by Gustin Makgeledisa 4 In-Time /...
Concert Review: Myles Kennedy – Smyles On The Face Of The Tiger, Or Acoustic Achievement
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Myles Kennedy – Year Of The Tiger World Tour / Sun Arena Time Square, Menlyn, Pretoria 7.5 A wonderful singer who has enjoyed success with a number of bands, Myles Kennedy has still...
Concert Review: Ingrid Fuzjko Hemming – Bucket Liszt Playing, Or Hands Of The Rising Song
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Ingrid Fuzjko Hemming / Brooklyn Theatre, Pretoria 8 As part of a larger cultural expo staged to celebrate a century of bilateral interaction between Japan and South...
Film Reviews: Giant Eyes, Or Take Care, Barber
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL The BFG / Directed by Steven Spielberg / PG 8.5 Eye In The Sky / Directed by Gavin Hood / 13PGV 8.5 Barbershop: The Next Cut...
Music Reviews: Michael W Smith – A Million Lights & Surrounded: Audio Activism, Or Why Can’t We All Just Get Along (Twice)?
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]BY BRUCE DENNILL Michael W Smith: A Million Lights Michael W Smith: Surrounded Michael W Smith has a habit of – either unwittingly or by design – being a first responder to emerging zeitgeists. His...
Theatre Review: Hedwig And The Angry Inch – German Eccentricity Where You Need It Most On A Stage, Or Permanently Punk Production
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Hedwig And The Angry Inch / Directed by Elizma Badenhorst / Pieter Torien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg 7.5 A now 20-year-old stage show, Hedwig And The Angry Inch...
Concert Review: Amanda Palmer – Intimate Epic, Or Talk Is A Cheap Shot
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Amanda Palmer / Fox Junction, 1Fox, Ferreira’s Dorp, Johannesburg 8.5 Amanda Palmer is a standout artist for a number of reasons – her fierce independence, the burning...
Music Reviews: Easter Elephant, Or Pray For Gray
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Various Artists: Easter Journey 6.5 Bye Beneco: Space Elephant 6 Ashlinn Gray: Ashlinn...
Theatre Review: The Illusionists Direct From Broadway – Slickness And Secrets, Or Eclectic Enchantment
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL The Illusionists: Direct From Broadway / Directed by Hollie England / Teatro, Montecasino, Fourways, Johannesburg 7.5 Much of the time spent watching an illusionist usually involves...
Film Reviews: Hateful Wars, Or Jason Awakens
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL The Hateful Eight / Directed by Quentin Tarantino / 16LPV 6.5 Star Wars: The Force Awakens / Directed by JJ Abrams / PGV 8 Jason Bourne / Directed by Paul...
Theatre Review: One Night In Miami – Qualified Quartet, Or Looming In A Room
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL One Night In Miami / Directed by James Ngcobo/ John Kani Theatre, Market Theatre, Newtown, Johannesburg 6 Kemp Powers’ One Night In Miami features four men in a room talking,...
Theatre Review: The Color Purple – Purple Patch, Or Bursting Through The Glass Celie
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL The Color Purple / Directed by Janice Honeyman / Mandela, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg 8.5 The Color Purple is, on paper, hardly the stuff of a fun night out. It’s...
Concert Review: Collective Soul And Lifehouse – Massive Melodies’ Mix Mashed
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Collective Soul and Lifehouse / TicketPro Dome, Northgate, Johannesburg 6.5 There was a great deal of excellent songwriter-driven rock music coming out of America in the Nineties...
Theatre Review: Andre The Hilarious Hypnotist – Broken Reverie, Or Momentum Unmanaged
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Andre The Hilarious Hypnotist / Studio, Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg 4 Celebrating a quarter-century of performing his stage show,...
Concert Review: Angus & Julia Stone at ParkLife 2018 – Muted Dynamics, Or Atmosphere Ascendant
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Angus & Julia Stone / Parklife Festival, Marks Park, Johannesburg 5 For a number of reasons, I was only able to make it to the 2018 edition of the Johannesburg Parklife...
Music Reviews: Getting Your Phil Of Dreams, Or Love In The Sunshine
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Phil Collins: The Singles 8 Echosmith: Talking Dreams 6.5 Sonskynwoud:...
Concert Review: Viennese New Year’s Concert – Sweet Starters Served, Or A Victory For Variety
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Viennese New Year’s Concert: Opposites Attract / Johannesburg Festival Orchestra, conducted by Richard Cock / Linder Auditorium, Parktown, Johannesburg 7 The traditional kick-off...
Theatre Review: Another One’s Bread – Meet Substitutes, Or Mourning Has Broken
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Another One’s Bread / Directed by Pamela Nomvete / Mannie Manim Theatre, Market Theatre, Newtown, Johannesburg 8.5 Food security. An incredibly – and increasingly – important topic in...
Film Reviews: Grandma’s Intern Goes Missing
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL The Intern / Directed by Nancy Meyers / PGL 7.5 Grandma / Directed by Paul Weitz / 16L 7 The Jakes Are Missing / Directed by Bianca Isaac / PG 5...
Music Reviews: Love The Sun, Or Something More Than Time
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Wonderboom: Rising Sun 7 Gracepoint Worship Music: Love Is Calling 6.5 Andra: A Sound Or Something More 7 Johnny Clegg:...
Film Review: Star Wars – The Last Jedi: Skywalking A Fine Line, Or Crowd-Pleasing Of The First Order
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Star Wars: The Last Jedi / Directed by Rian Johnson / PG13 5 What made the first three Star Wars films brilliant – and, ironically, the next three terrible – was their...
Music Reviews: Santa’s Songs Of The Outback, Or Children Compile Passionately
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Sia: Everyday Is Christmas 7 Various Artists: The World’s Favourite Praise & Worship Songs 7 Planetshakers: Outback...
Book Reviews: African Keyboards, Or An Alibi For Jocasta
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL, NIGEL WILLIS & ROB HOFMEYR A Slip Of The Keyboard: Collected Non-Fiction by Terry Pratchett 8.5 South Africa In Africa: Super Power Or Neocolonialist? by Liesl...
Theatre Review: A Christmas Carol – Making It Look Ebeneasy, Or The Gift Of Creativity
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL A Christmas Carol / Directed by Elizma Badenhorst / Studio, Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg 8 Charles Dickens’ classic is a difficult tale to tell...
Theatre Review: Cinderella On Ice – Folk Tale Finessed, Or Cynicism Put On Ice
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Cinderella On Ice / Directed by Tony Mercer / Teatro, Fourways, Johannesburg 7.5 Many observers may believe the gimmick in this show – it’s Cinderella, after all,...
Concert Review: Bryan Adams – Get Up World Tour: Creative Consistency, Or Ultimately Excellent
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]Bryan Adams: Get Up World Tour / Ticketpro Dome, Randburg, Johannesburg 8 There was a moment on stage on his 9 December show when Bryan Adams mentioned the Get Up World Tour (named for his latest studio...
Music Reviews: Tremors On The Moon, Or Thank You For The Night
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Sohn: Tremors 4 James Blunt: Moon Landing – Apollo Edition 7.5 Meghan Trainor: Thank You 6...
Theatre Review: Dead Yellow Sands – Pouring Over The Weir, Or Incisive Sentiment
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Dead Yellow Sands / Directed by Bo Petersen / Barney Simon Theatre, Market Theatre, Newtown, Johannesburg 7 For 17 years, my mother and father bundled me, my brother and my...
Film Reviews: Hope And Re-Joyce, Or Finding Room In Brooklyn
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Where Hope Grows / Directed by Chris Dowling / 10 7 Joyce Meyer: A Confident Attitude / A 5 Room / Directed...
Music Reviews: Natives Of Venezuela, Or Talented Ducks
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Night Natives: Night Natives 6.5 Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra Of Venezuela,...
Theatre Review: Pinocchio – Anything But Wooden, Or A Real Boy In An Unreal World
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]By BRUCE DENNILL Pinocchio – The Ultimate Pantomime Adventure / Directed by Janice Honeyman / Mandela, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg Janice Honeyman’s has now directed 30 pantomimes, presented...
Concert Review: Live – Reunion World Tour: Beautiful Brutality, Or Of History And Hits
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Live: Reunion World Tour / Sun Arena Times Square, Menlyn, Pretoria / 10 November 2017 Given that Live has toured South Africa before – as has singer Ed Kowalczyk on a solo tour to mark the...
Concert Review: Yusuf Cat Stevens – Nothing Has Broken, Or Stories Sung Sweetly
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Yusuf Cat Stevens / TicketPro Dome, Randburg, Johannesburg / 8 November 2017 Cat Stevens has had one of music’s more storied careers, having begun his career over half a century ago,...
Concert Review: John Legend – Darkness And Light, Or Suavity And Soul
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL John Legend: Darkness & Light Tour / 5 November 2017 / TicketPro Dome, Randburg, Johannesburg Two things can be guaranteed at a John Legend concert, whatever material he happens to be...
Book Review: The President’s Keepers by Jacques Pauw
By ROB HOFMEYR The President’s Keepers by Jacques Pauw (Tafelberg) When Jacob Zuma was elevated to president-in-waiting, a columnist consoled readers by opining that Zuma’s “minders” would keep him under control. What we have instead is a president who...
Book Reviews: Miniature Birds, Or Born To Run To Cape Town
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] BY BRUCE DENNILL & ROB HOFMEYR Roberts Bird Guide: Second Edition by Hugh Chittende, Greg Davies and Ingrid Weiersbye 8 The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton ...
Comedy Review: John Vlismas – The Good Racist: New Reckoning Via Reading, Or Beyond The Knowledge Black-Out
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL The Good Racist / Starring John Vlismas / Studio, Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg Disclaimer: on the night attended for review, a malfunctioning projector cable...
Theatre Review: Love Sex Fleas God – Manic Memoir Made Mellow, Or (With) Child’s Play
By BRUCE DENNILL Love Sex Fleas God / Directed by Celia Musikanth / POPArt Theatre, Maboneng, Johannesburg A one-man play based on author Bruce Clark’s memoir of the same name, Love Sex Fleas God tells the tale of its protagonist’s full, complex and...
Theatre Review: Evita – Blonde Attrition, Or Che What You Like About Politics, But Musicals Hit Despot
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL Evita / Directed by Hal Prince / Teatro, Montecasino, Fourways, Johannesburg It’s a very different experience watching Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s 1978 musical Evita in 2017 than it...
Theatre Review: The Man Jesus – A Complex Messiah, Or Lebo And The Twelve Personalities
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text] By BRUCE DENNILL The Man Jesus / Directed by Robert Whitehead / Barney Simon Theatre, Market Theatre, Newtown, Johannesburg Sex and politics form the thread of hundreds of plays. It is the third of the (if you...
Book Reviews: Isis Trapped, Or Rival Miracles
By BRUCE DENNILL & DRIES BRUNT Jesus’ Miracles, illustrated by Daniel Fernandez 6.5 Fighting Isis by Tim Locks 7 Trapped by Sam Scarborough 4...
Dance Review: Snow White The Ballet – Fairytale Refreshed, Or Grimmly Satisfying
By BRUCE DENNILL Snow White: The Ballet / Joburg Ballet / Artistic Director: Iain Macdonald / The Mandela, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg Joburg Ballet’s latest production is an original one. Though the story of Snow White (originally a...
Theatre Review: Couplet, Or Plenty Of Rhyme Needs A Little More Rhythm
By BRUCE DENNILL Couplet / Directed by Steven Feinstein / Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg The name of this complex new play refers to just one of the mechanisms used in its creation – the use of rhyming couplets in the dialogue and...
Theatre Review: Jervis Pennington – An Extraordinarily Ordinary Life, Or Stories, Songs & Street Smarts
By BRUCE DENNILL Jervis Pennington: An Extraordinarily Ordinary Life / Studio, Pieter Torien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg A clean-cut pop star in his twenties, Jervis Pennington is now in his early sixties and steps onto stage looking...
Theatre Review: The Old Man And The Sea, Or Facing Off With An Ernest Enemy
By BRUCE DENNILL The Old Man And The Sea / Directed by Jenine Collocott / Auto & General Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg Contagious Theatre is a pocket-sized theatre company – just three members, but oh, what talent in artistic director...
Music Reviews: Galaxy Satellite, Or Gray Love
By BRUCE DENNILL Ashton Nyte: Some Kind Of Satellite 7 Slipknot: .5: The Gray Chapter 4 Various Artists: Guardians Of The Galaxy – Deluxe ...
Theatre Review: Red Ahead, Or View From A Loo Versus Do Be Do
By BRUCE DENNILL RedFest 2017: Helen Of Troyeville & Kate Normington – Live At Parlour Songs / Directed by Lesedi Job & Rowan Bakker (respectively) / Redhill School, Johannesburg The RedFest arts festival is now in its second year, expanding both...
Theatre Review: King Kong – Athletic Angst, Or Of Poetry And Pugilism
By BRUCE DENNILL King Kong / Directed by Jonathan Munby / Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg The phrase “long-awaited” is generally over-used in publicity bilge in a pointless attempt, perhaps, to convince readers that their lives have been oddly...
Film Reviews: Children, Creativity And Communication
By BRUCE DENNILL Justice League: Cosmic Clash (PG) 7.5 Open Season: Scared Silly (A) 7 Molly Moon & The Incredible Book Of Hypnotism 3 Max (PGV) ...
Book Reviews: Forgotten And Abandoned, But It’s Not All Curtains
By BRUCE DENNILL Forgotten Heritage by Matthew Emmett 5.5 Abandoned Asylums by Matt Van der Velde 6.5 After The Final Curtain by Matt Lambros 7 The lure of the forsaken is...
Theatre Review: Freud’s Last Session – Make Believe, Or An Act Of God
By BRUCE DENNILL Freud’s Last Session / Directed by Alan Swerdlow / Auto & General Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg It’s fantastic to see a piece of theatre that is unashamedly intellectual, focusing for almost its entire running time on...
Book Reviews: Space For A Leader, Or Mamushka’s One Job
By BRUCE DENNILL Mamushka by Olia Hercules 7 The Space Race by Alex Latimer 8.5 You Had One Job! by Beverly...
Theatre Review: Calling Me Home – If Musicals Be The Food Of Love, Or Home Is Where The Art Is
By BRUCE DENNILL Calling Me Home / Directed by Magdalene Minnaar / Mandela, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg Large budget, large scale, large vision … and large risk. Calling Me Home is a new, original South African musical, joining a list of...
Music Reviews: Revolutionary Rocketeers, Or Fear In Die Slaapkamer
By BRUCE DENNILL Green Day: Revolutionary Radio 6 Rocketeers: Something Else 7 Sia: 1000 Forms Of Fear 7.5 Deon Meiring: Die Slaapkamer Sessies 7...
Dance Review: In Her Shoes – Wild Women Do, And They Shouldn’t Regret It
By BRUCE DENNILL In Her Shoes / Directed by Luyanda Sidiya / John Kani Theatre, Market Theatre, Newtown, Johannesburg It’s an awful indictment of society in general and South African society in particular that it comes as no surprise that the anchor...
Film Reviews: Jesus Answers The Call, Or Of Vampires And The Vatican
By BRUCE DENNILL The Jesus Storybook Bible Vol. 1-4 (A) 7 Ghostbusters: Answer The Call / Directed by Paul Feig / 10V 7 Byzantium / Directed by Neil Jordan / 16HLV ...
Theatre Review: Mamba Republic – Ruit One Satire, Or No Mess, No Voss
By BRUCE DENNILL Mamba Republic / Directed by Dr Mervyn McMurtry / Auto & General Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg John van de Ruit and Ben Voss have been busy since creating a platform for themselves with satirical sketch shows Green...
Film Review: Let Me Be Frank – Rage Against The Evangelical Machine, Or When Repentance Looks Like Atheism
By BEN WRIGHT I promise that if you keep reading, we’ll get to Let Me Be Frank, an amazing new documentary that exposes the American Religious Right as fraudulent and cynical. But first, indulge me in a preface. In August 2003 I moved from London, England to...
Concert Review: Midnight Oil – The Power And The Passion, Or Undistilled By Decades
By BRUCE DENNILL Midnight Oil / The Great Circle 2017 World Tour / Marks Park, Emmarentia, Johannesburg Australian rock band Midnight Oil started out in 1972 and took 15 years to become overnight sensations with worldwide hit Beds Are Burning, still...
Theatre Review: My Name Is Asher Lev – Drawing On Experience, Or Brushing Up On Culture
By BRUCE DENNILL My Name Is Asher Lev / Directed by Moira Blumenthal / Studio, Pieter Torien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg Examining the importance of art in the context of a play, in a theatre (as opposed to in a boardroom or lecture...
Dance Review: Big City, Big Dreams – Familiarity Breeds Success, Or Reflected Glory
By BRUCE DENNILL Big City, Big Dreams / Directed by Fiona Ramsay / Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg There’s a school of thought that says too much classical ballet can be a touch too conservative and clichéd. And there’s another that considers...
Book Reviews: Echo Of Life, Or Fight To Kill
By ROB HOFMEYR & DRIES BRUNT Double Echo by Francois Bloemhof 6 I Ran For My Life by Kabelo Mabalane 8 Not Without A Fight by Helen Zille 8 Kill File by...
Theatre Review – Dangled: Mad Skills, Or You’ve Got A Psycho In The Furniture Business
By BRUCE DENNILL Dangled / Starring Rob Van Vuuren / POPArt, Maboneng, Johannesburg People will say; have said; that this is a tough play. And thematically, it is – it’s based on a story called Diary Of A Madman (written by Russian author Nikolai Gogol,...
Whiskey: Dewar’s 12 Review
By STEFAN VOS I initially toyed with the idea of doing this review as a sip-by-sip commentary, the enjoyment of a bottle of Scotch whisky (sticklers note: no ‘e’) in real time. As I envisioned how this would play out, however, I bravely discarded the idea: Sip...
Book Reviews: Let’s Read, Unashamed & Relationships Between Students And Spies
By BRUCE DENNILL, ROB HOFMEYR, DRIES BRUNT The Shark In The Dark by Peter Bently and Ben Cort / Marcello Mouse And The Masked Ball by Julie Monks / Monsters: An Owner’s Guide by Jonathan Emmett & Mark Oliver / A Squash And A Squeeze by Julia Donaldson &...
Theatre Review: The Mystery Of Irma Vep
By RELIC BLEDNUN The Mystery Of Irma Vep / Directed by Elizma Badenhorst / Pieter Torien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg The Mystery Of Irma Vep is, by design, a ridiculous piece of theatre. It’s written for two actors of the same gender,...
Theatre Review: Puss In Boots
By BRUCE DENNILL Puss In Boots / Directed by Steven Stead / Lyric Theatre, Gold Reef City, Johannesburg For Johannesburg audiences, the pantomime has long been a once-a-year festive season family treat at the Joburg Theatre (and this year’s offering in...
Concert Review: Alexandra May & The Mayze
By BRUCE DENNILL Alexandra May & The Mayze / Rumours Rock City, Blackheath, Johannesburg Johannesburg singer-songwriter Alexandra May has already experienced a good deal of success as a label-supported pop star charting with her first two singles...
Theatre Review: The Inconvenience Of Wings
By BRUCE DENNILL The Inconvenience Of Wings / Directed by Lara Foot / Mannie Manim, Market Theatre, Newtown, Johannesburg This play starts with a stage filled with three broken people and ends, a devastating hour-and-a-half later, with those people,...
Music Reviews: Swift Winds & Gospel Light
By BRUCE DENNILL Taylor Swift: 1989 8 Wouter Kellerman & Ricky Kej: Winds Of Samsara 6 Various artists: Wow Gospel 2015 5 Zzzz...
Theatre Review: The Devil & Billy Markham
By BRUCE DENNILL The Devil & Billy Markham / Directed by Jenine Collocott / POPArt, Maboneng, Johannesburg Being privy to the development process of a new production (even if unofficially so) is a revealing, exciting and sometimes amusing process....
Book Reviews: World In Conflict, Reset, Answering Jihad & Hitler, Verwoerd, Mandela And Me
By DRIES BRUNT & ROB HOFMEYR World In Conflict by John Andrews 9 Reset by Nick Hall 7 Answering Jihad by Nabeel Qureshi ...
DVD Reviews: Digital Cocaine, Waiting Here For You & 77 Chances
By BRUCE DENNILL Digital Cocaine (PG) 7 Louis Giglio: Waiting Here For You – An Advent Journey Of Hope (A) 7 77 Chances...
Theatre Review: Harold Pinter’s Betrayal
By BRUCE DENNILL Betrayal / Directed by Greg Homann / Auto & General Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg In response to the stilted dialogue of the first scene of this play about infidelity, lies, ego and self-absorbtion, the opening night...
Music Review: John Ellis – Tells
By BRUCE DENNILL “Tells” – in the poker sense – is an interesting word to use as a title for an artist whose utterances are often misunderstood or wilfully misconstrued. And what’s even more curious is that much of this music was written a few years ago, but...
Book Reviews: Shipwrecks, Lions, Martyrs and Oom Angus
By ROB HOFMEYR How To Survive A Shipwreck by Jonathan Martin 9 Chase The Lion by Mark Batterson 2 N: i am not the voice of the martyrs by David C Cook 6 Is Jesus Enough? by Angus Buchan ...
Music Review: Twin Atlantic – GLA
By BRUCE DENNILL This is the album Twin Atlantic made once they felt they’d achieved everything they set out to do when they formed the band. That they have the mettle to do that now, when they’re a big band, but not a massive, world-straddling one (fellow...
Film Reviews: Terminator Genisys, Batman V Superman Dawn Of Justice, The Hunger Games Mockingjay Part 2 & The Man From Uncle
By BRUCE DENNILL Terminator: Genisys / Directed by Alan Taylor / PG13 5 Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice / Directed by Zack Snyder / 13V 3 The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 /...
Book Reviews: Power Play, Isis: The Heart Of Terror & Permanent Removal – Permanent Power, Or Playing With Terror
By BRUCE DENNILL, ROB HOFMEYR & DRIES BRUNT Power Play by Mike Nicol 6.5 Isis: The Heart Of Terror by Eugene Bach 7 Permanent Removal by Alan Cowell 7 Mike Nicol’s tales of gangsters, petty criminals...
Theatre Review: In Bocca Al Lupo – Third Time Is Charming, Or Staying Ahead Of The Pack
By BRUCE DENNILL In Bocca Al Lupo / Directed by Jane Taylor / Ramalao Makhene Theatre, Newtown, Johannesburg Jemma Kahn has created a fantastical one-woman niche as the leading (and perhaps only) exponent of kamishibai – a Japanese street theatre art...
Theatre Review: In The Heights – High Hopes, Or Introduction To Excellence
By BRUCE DENNILL In The Heights / Directed by Danielle Bentel & Stefania Du Toit / Hyde Park High School, Johannesburg Many school productions are chosen with at least one eye on the complexity of the piece being performed and the capacity of young...
Music Review: My Unfashionable Opinion by Mark Nevin – Refractory Folk, Or Sophisticated Scrutiny
By BRUCE DENNILL Mark Nevin: My Unfashionable Opinion Mark Nevin is probably still best known as the songwriter behind Perfect, the biggest hit from influential folk band Fairground Attraction, of which he was a founding member. That song, though it had...
Theatre Review: Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert The Musical – In Living Colour, Or Trans-Sister Radio
By BRUCE DENNILL Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert: The Musical / Directed by Simon Phillips / The Teatro, Montecasino, Fourways, Johannesburg Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert remains a very different kettle of queens to most stage musicals. As one of the...
Music Review: Warner Compilations – Love, Soul, R&B, Rock & Jazz
By BRUCE DENNILL Various Artists: It Must Have Been Love – An Essential Love Collection Various Artists: Stand By Me – Classic Soul Various Artists: Give Me The Night – Essential R&B Various Artists: Listen To The Music – A Collection Of Classic Rock...
Book Reviews: Little Suns, The Battle For Cosatu, This Present Darkness & Emily Hobhouse
By ROB HOFMEYR & DRIES BRUNT Little Suns by Zakes Mda 8 The Battle For Cosatu by Patrick Craven 7 This Present Darkness by Stephen Ellis 8 Emily Hobhouse by Elsabe Brits ...
Concert Review: Leo Sayer Live In Johannesburg – Endless Energy, Or Help From Hot Hires
By BRUCE DENNILL Leo Sayer Live In Concert / Teatro at Montecasino, Fourways, Johannesburg English (now resident in Australia) singer-songwriter Leo Sayer has had a long association with South Africa, having been visiting the country since his Seventies...