
Theatre Review: Pass Over – Searching For Self, Or Dreams Still Deferred

Theatre Interview: Charlie Bouguenon – Pass Over, Or Endgame Ecstasy

Julia Anastasopoulos – Tali’s Baby Diary, Or Feel The Momfluence, Babes

Theatre Interview: Julie-Anne McDowell Hegarty – Writing Collectively, Or Uncowed By Covid

TV Interview: Tonya Cornelisse – Hitman In A Van, Or Storytelling Via Moping

Film Review: A Christmas Chorus, Or Defined By Presence

Insight: Culture In Crisis, Or Curing Creatives’ Covid Concerns

TV Interview: Carlo Arrechea – Roling With The Punches, Or SWAT Goes Around…

Film Interview: Tracey-Lee Oliver – Kaalgat Karel, Or Enjoying A Winning Streak

Opera Review: Cantiamo – Resounding Return, Or The Stage Is Alive With Desando Music

Podcast: The Chorus – New Episode Up: Towards Utopia, Or Meeting Marvellous Martin

Film Interview: Frances Sholto-Douglas – Kissing Connections, Or The Thrill Of The Space

Film Interview: Richard Gau – All About Aya, Or Towards The Truth

Film Interview: Chantelle Barry – Me And My Left Brain, Or The Craft In The Character

Theatre Interview: Antony Coleman – Endangered, Or Recollecting The Future

Theatre Review: Unfathomable – Immersed With The Ancestors, Or Wait And Sea

Theatre Interview: Michelle Douglas – BreaThing Space, Or A Schreiner To Storytelling

Theatre Interview: Kiruna-Lind Devar – Cinderella, Or Living The Fairy Tale

Film Interview: Jason Collett- The Devil All The Time, Or Both Here Noir There

Theatre Review: Scout – Canine Intervention, Or When Kindness Is King

Theatre Review: Amanda – Lus Vir Life, Or Passion Meets Prejudice

Theatre Review: Hip Hop Hamlet – Nothing Rotten, Or Deciding Who Should Take The Rap

Theatre Review: …Or Not To Be – How Shakespeare Could Change Your Death, Or Constantly Corpsing

Theatre Review: Paradise Blue – Trepidation And Tone, Or The Poetry Of Ambiguity

Theatre Review: Loving You – Songs From The Musicals, Or Of Intricate Intimacy

Opinion: Educate With Art, Or Investing In EQ

Theatre Interview: Chris Djuma – Kings Of The World, Or Conversations With Character

Theatre Interview: Kristian Lavercombe – Mingling With The Riff Raff, Or The Joy Of The Job

Theatre Review: Seussical – Cats And Creativity, Or For Who The Horton Rolls

Theatre Review: Jack And The Beanstalk – Movement And Mirth, Or A Giant Vision Realised

Theatre Interview: Germandt Geldenhuys – Every Dame Of The Week, Or The Deal’s In The Dialogue

Theatre Review: All You Ask Of Me – Once More While Seething, Or What A Tangled Lloyd Webber We Weave

Theatre Review: Gertrude Stein And A Companion – Making A Stein Way, Or Alice Through The Hourglass

Theatre Review: Benny Bushwhacker – Cordial Creature Concerns, Or A Theatrical Amuse Bush

Theatre Interview: Justin Swartz And James McPhail – Ensemble The Troops, Or Enjoying The First Act

Theatre Interview: Musanete Sakupwanya – Forever Plaid: Catholic Ambitions, Or In Harmony With His Craft

Theatre Interview: Joseph Gerassi – Redfest, Or The Art Of Education

Theatre Review: TechNO – Anti-Social Media, Or Run Screening To The Hills

Theatre Interview: Craig Morris – Play List, Or All Work And More Plays

Theatre Review: Story Book Theatre – Grimm Made Gracious, Or Childs’ Play

Theatre Review: Stomp – Fit For The Purpose, Or Quadruple Threats Hit The Mark

Theatre Interview: Jaco Van Rensburg – From Passion To Production, Or Bringing Theatre Into The Digital Age

Theatre Review: The Dead Tinder Society – Romance And Reality, Or Do Ray, She

Theatre Interview: Pieter-Dirk Uys – #HeTwo: He’s With Her, Or No Fixed Agender

Theatre Interview: Sharon Spiegel-Wagner – Tinder For A Flame, Or Igniting A Light In The Dark

Music Review: Here’s To You – The Simon And Garfunkel Songbook, Or Keeping The Customers Satisfied

Theatre Interview: Ashleigh Harvey – Best Play To Date, Or Swiping Write

Theatre Review: Call Us Crazy – Chaos And Comedy, Or Knocking The Tar Out Of Pessimism

Theatre Review: Family Secrets – Mater Matters, Or A Downsized Dynasty

Comedy Review: Mark Banks On Ice – Slippery Slope To Silliness, Or Of Ha! And Hope

Theatre Review: Harry Sideropoulos – Seriously?!, Or When Satire Seems Sensible

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

Theatre Review: Madagascar – A Musical Adventure Jr: Creature Feature, Or Animals Abroad

Theatre Interview: Carmen Pretorius – Hart And Soul, Or Making Fickleness Forgivable

Theatre Review: Equus – Saddled With Expectations, Or How Is Happiness Harnessed?

Theatre Review: Chicago – Dazzled By Razzle, Or Come On Feel The Illinois

Theatre Interview: Natasha Sutherland – Brutal Legacy: Going, Going, Go On

Theatre Interview: Ashleigh Butcher – Hen Party, Or Uke Can Do Anything

Theatre Review: Tease! – The Vagina Dialogues, Or Toying With Perceptions

Music Interview: Guitar Wizards – Anything Acoustic, Or Kings Of Six Strings

Theatre Review: Aunty Merle The Musical – Frock And Load, Or The Merle The Merrier

Theatre Review: The Revlon Girl – Making Up Is Hard To Do, Or What’s Mine Shouldn’t Have Been Theirs

Theatre Review: The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time – High-Functioning Drama, Or Finding Clarity In The Clutter

Theatre Interview: Michelle Douglas – The Revlon Girl: Good Grief, Or A Rare Welsh Bit

Comedy Review: Stuart Taylor – Funny, You Should Say That: Unembellished Amusement, Or Still More Mr Nice Guy

Theatre Interview: Elizma Badenhorst – The Little Prince: Propelled By Puppets, Or Noteworthy Additions

Comedy Review: Warren Robertson – Dad Inside: Just Kidding, Or Of Family And Fury

Theatre Review: Matilda The Musical – Honorable Minchin, Or Precocious Perfection

Theatre Interview: Mncedisi Shabangu – Tshepang: The Third Testament – Breaking The Cycle, Or Taking The Conversation To The Next Stage

Theatre Review: Odd Man Out – A Spectrum Of Emotions, Or How We Aut To Behave

Theatre Interview: Sharon Spiegel-Wagner – Oakfields College Showcase, Or In The Direction Of Success

Theatre Review: Peter And The Wolf – Creature Comforts, Or The Beauty Of The Beast

Theatre Review: Polkadots – The Cool Kids Musical: Spot The Difference, Or New Niches For Square Pegs

Theatre Interview: Shelley Adriaanzen – Polkadots: The Cool Kids Musical, Or Spot The Solution

Theatre Review: Macbeth – Plenty Of Toil, No Trouble, Or Treachery On The Table

Theatre Review: Fool For Love – Heartbreak Motel, Or A Fretful Familiarity

Theatre Review: Florence – Ebb And Flo, Or If Life Gives You Pals, Make Palisades

Theatre Review: Fawlty Flowers – No Set Agenda, Or Torquay Or Not Torquay

Theatre Review: Land Acts – Political Properties, Or Satire In The Soil

Theatre Review: Porralicious 4 – Looks Familia, Or The Fourth Is Strong With This One

Theatre Review: Visiting Mr Green – Stars Of David, Or Of The Now And The Not Yetta

Theatre Review: The Train Driver – Tracking The Changes, Or No (Happy) Country For Old Men

Music Review: A Celebration Of Bra Hugh Masekela – Avoiding Hugh-Bris, Or Tales, Tunes And Talent

Comedy Review: Conrad Koch – Puppet Guy: More Than Lip Service, Or All Dolled Up And Everywhere To Go

Theatre Review: Green Man Flashing – Layered Loyalties, Or A Collision Of Conflicts

Comedy Review: Stark Raving Mark! – Horizontal Ha Ha, Or Reigning In The Ridiculous

Dance Review: Double Bill – Sick & In-Time: Reflections On Erections, Or Energy On The Clock

Theatre Review: Hedwig And The Angry Inch – German Eccentricity Where You Need It Most On A Stage, Or Permanently Punk Production

Theatre Review: One Night In Miami – Qualified Quartet, Or Looming In A Room

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

Theatre Review: The Color Purple – Purple Patch, Or Bursting Through The Glass Celie

Theatre Review: Andre The Hilarious Hypnotist – Broken Reverie, Or Momentum Unmanaged

Interview: Sebe Leotlela – Purple Pro, Or Getting To The Nub Of Nettie

Theatre Review: Another One’s Bread – Meet Substitutes, Or Mourning Has Broken

Theatre Review: A Christmas Carol – Making It Look Ebeneasy, Or The Gift Of Creativity

Theatre Review: Dead Yellow Sands – Pouring Over The Weir, Or Incisive Sentiment

Theatre Review: Pinocchio – Anything But Wooden, Or A Real Boy In An Unreal World

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…

Theatre Review: Evita – Blonde Attrition, Or Che What You Like About Politics, But Musicals Hit Despot

Theatre Review: The Man Jesus – A Complex Messiah, Or Lebo And The Twelve Personalities

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…

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 like…

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…

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…

Interview: Alice Gillham – Build It And They Will Come, Or Expectations Displaced
By BRUCE DENNILL Composer, producer and playwright Alice Gillham’s new musical Calling Me Home recently completed its first run – a brief installation at the Joburg Theatre in Braamfontein, where it met with mixed reviews. The piece was initially…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Theatre Review: The Play That Goes Wrong – Wrong Done Right, Or In Fine Foolish Fettle
By BRUCE DENNILL The Play That Goes Wrong / Directed by Alan Committie / Pieter Torien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg Created by a couple of then low-key thespians only too familiar with how much could go pear-shaped during…

Theatre Reviews: El Blanco – Tales Of The Mariachi: White Lies, Or Having A Strum Old Time
By BRUCE DENNILL El Blanco: Tales Of The Mariachi / Starring James Cairns / Auto & General Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg There’s an art to making a one-man show really fly. If it is a pure…

Theatre Review: Live Jukebox – Spontaneous Spotlight, Or Invasion Of The Melody Snatchers
By BRUCE DENNILL Live Jukebox / Directed by Kristy Suttner / The Fringe, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg Interactive theatre shows are not as common as they once were, with even the likes of the Joburg Follies being distant…

Theatre Review: From Koe’siestes To Kneidlach – Gefiltered Culture, Or Come Here, Sweet Cakes
By BRUCE DENNILL From Koe’siestes To Kneidlach / Directed by Megan Furniss / Auto & General Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg Writer-actress Chantel Stanfield tells the true story, on a plain stage with just a trio of…

Theatre Review: Book Marks – Words To Stall By, Or Stuck On Scrutiny
By BRUCE DENNILL Book Marks / Directed by Allan Kolski Horwitz / AFDA Red Roof Theatre, Milpark, Johannesburg This intimate four-character play is billed as a tragi-comedy, but as it weaves its convoluted way to its conclusion, it…

Theatre Review: When Swallows Cry – Laager Mentality, Or In, Out, In, Out, What’s It All About?
BY BRUCE DENNILL When Swallows Cry / Directed by Lesedi Job / Laager Theatre, Market Theatre, Newtown, Johannesburg Migration is perhaps the international political buzzword (buzz-kill?) of the moment, though its nuances are generally hammered into oblivion by…

Theatre Review: The House Of Truth – Trying To Make Things Write, Or Why Can Couldn’t
BY BRUCE DENNILL The House Of Truth / Directed by Vanessa Cooke / Barney Simon Theatre, Market Theatre, Newtown, Johannesburg The Market Theatre hosted a play, Crepuscule, about Drum magazine journalist and short story writer Can Themba, in…

Theatre Review: Blonde Poison – All That Glitters Is Not Gold, Or Hey Jude, You’re Making It Worse
BY BRUCE DENNILL Blonde Poison / Directed by Janna Ramos-Violante / Auto & General Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg This moving one-hander by Gail Louw stars Fiona Ramsay as Stella Goldschlag, a septuagenarian German Jew who, while…

Theatre Review: Sherlock Holmes And The Curse Of The Queen’s Diamond – Holmes, Holmes On The Strange, Or An Ideal Cut Above
By BRUCE DENNILL Sherlock Holmes And The Curse Of The Queen’s Diamond / Directed by Alan Swerdlow / Studio Theatre, Pieter Torien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg Some folks may feel a tad Sherlock Holmesed out. Between Robert Downey…

Theatre Review: Cirque Éloize: ID – Action Attraction, Or A Fantasy Of Fitness
By BRUCE DENNILL Cirque Éloize: ID / Directed by Jeannot Painchaud / Teatro, Montecasino, Fourways, vrc Johannesburg Montreal’s Cirque Éloize is all about energy, movement and reaction to rhythm, and for ID, all of these facets are concentrated…

Theatre Review: Pay Back The Curry – Spice Of Life, Or Multiple Personality Distinction
By BRUCE DENNILL Pay Back The Curry / Directed by Rob Van Vuuren / Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg Satirical revues, especially those that deal in the clichés of whatever agenda is currently being pushed in newscasts,…

Interview: Blue Man Group – How To Be Human, Or What To Do When Feeling Blue
By BRUCE DENNILL Blue Man Group was founded by three close friends Chris Wink, Matt Goldman and Phil Stanton in New York in 1991. Since the group’s inception it has grown to include permanent shows in Las Vegas, New York,…

Theatre Review: Annie – Redhead Cred, Or You’ll Love This, Tomorrow
By BRUCE DENNILL Annie / Directed by Nick Winston / Teatro, Montecasino, Fourways, Johannesburg An enduring favourite can also, quite easily, become a cliché, and with the better-known songs from Annie – Tomorrow and Hard Knock Life in particular…

Theatre Review: The Dotted Line Showcase – Signature Performance, Or The Devil Made Me Do It
By BRUCE DENNILL The Dotted Line Showcase / Directed by Neka Da Costa / Redhill Theatre, Morningside, Johannesburg Great stories work in any format because they deal in themes that remain current whenever and in whatever context they…

Theatre Review: Acceptance – Problematic Perception, Or Enlightened Through Endurance
By BRUCE DENNILL Acceptance / Directed by Simona Mazza / The Fringe, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg The subject matter that inspired this original work is heartbreaking, macabre and troublingly revealing. It takes as it’s core theme the 2014…

Theatre Review: Saturday Night Fever – Fever Pitched, Or Mind Your Maneros
By BRUCE DENNILL Saturday Night Fever / Directed by Greg Homann / Opera, South African State Theatre, Pretoria As the beginning of a run of shows that will, it is hoped, play an important role in…

Theatre Review: Mannequin – No Dummies Here, Or We Say Thank You Very Much
By BRUCE DENNILL Mannequin / Directed by Nataniel / Theatre of Marcellus, Emperors Palace, Johannesburg Mannequin, like most of Nataniel’s output, is difficult to classify. Broadly speaking, it combines his skills as a stand-and-deliver spoken-word raconteur and as…

Theatre Review: Pests – Blood Is Thicker Than Common Sense, Or To Chav Or Chav Not
By BRUCE DENNILL Pests / Directed by Fiona Ramsay / POPArt Centre, Maboneng, Johannesburg Watching Pests, it’s difficult to understand what would make the story appeal to playwright Vivienne Franzmann. A tale of two sisters, young women who…

Theatre Review: I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change – Companion Piece, Or If Love Is The Answer, What’s The Question?
By BRUCE DENNILL I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change / Directed by Elizma Badenhorst / Pieter Torien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg Versions of the men-versus-women, Mars-Venus, defense of the caveman story have filled the pages of literature,…

Theatre Review: Slava’s Snowshow – Visual Poetry, Or Dances Of Assissai
By BRUCE DENNILL Slava’s Snowshow / Created by Slava Polunin / Teatro, Fourways, Johannesburg Slava’s Snowshow is a wordless, full-length, tragi-comic theatre production. As such, it’s not something that most mainstream audiences have the slightest clue how to…

Theatre Review: 6 Characters In Search Of An Author – Theatre About Theatre Not Being Theatre, Or Life Imitating Art Or Vice Versa Or What’s Going On?
By BRUCE DENNILL 6 Characters In Search Of An Author / Directed by Sibusiso Mamba / Mannie Manim Theatre, Market Theatre, Newtown, Johannesburg It was a strange strategy in 1921, when Italian playwright Luigi Pirandello wrote and first…

Theatre Review: Pan-Audience Entertainment, Or By Hook, Not Crook
By BRUCE DENNILL Disney’s Peter Pan Jr / Directed by Jill Girard and Keith Smith / People’s Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg Versions of this story have been presented on stage for around a century now, so there is no…

Theatre Review: Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat – Canaan Bananas, Or Prints Of Egypt
By BRUCE DENNILL Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat / Directed by Paul Warwick Griffin / Pieter Torien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg After Act 1 of this compact new production of the more enjoyable, slightly less irreverent of…

Theatre Review: Suddenly The Storm – Precipitating Introspection, Or Raining On Superficiality’s Parade
By BRUCE DENNILL Suddenly The Storm / Directed by Bobby Heaney / Barney Simon Theatre, Market Theatre, Newtown, Johannesburg A new play by Paul Slabolepszy should be a reason for fanfare. Even without his near-peerless track record as…

Theatre Review: Shape – The Shape Of Things Not Come, Or Exercising Their Rights
By BRUCE DENNILL Shape / Directed by Greg Homann / Auto & General Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg The tagline for this new original work is, “A comedy of vanity, sex and race” – three things that…

Theatre Review: Tobacco, And The Harmful Effects Thereof – Mild-Mannered Metamorphosis, Or Ivan To Be Better Than This
By BRUCE DENNILL Tobacco, And The Harmful Effects Thereof / Directed by Sylvaine Strike / Barney Simon Theatre, Market Theatre, Newtown, Johannesburg Given that it’s based on a Chekhov play (by way of William Harding’s adaptation), it’s not…

Theatre Review: Bye Bye Baby – No Jersey Boys, Or Pullover The Other One
By BRUCE DENNILL Bye Bye Baby / Musical director: Marc Ryzer / The Mandela, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein Frankie Valli & The 4 Seasons are a more or less impossible act to follow. There’s Valli’s voice, which is unique…

Theatre Review: Queen – It’s A Kinda Magic: Royal Variable Performance, Or Mercurial Personalities
By BRUCE DENNILL Queen: It’s A Kinda Magic / Starring Giles Taylor / Mandela, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg The stated aim of Queen: It’s A Kinda Magic is to be “ the theatrical creation of the very best…

Theatre Review: Just Carry On William! – Carry On Abounding In Williams, Or Child’s Play
By BRUCE DENNILL Just Carry On William! / Directed by Alan Swerdlow / The Studio, Pieter Torien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg On paper, the idea of bringing together Richmal Crompton’s Just William stories – about a bright, mischievous…

Seen And Heard: The Best Of 2015
By BRUCE DENNILL The below music, literature, film, TV and theatre may not have been created or originally released during 2015, but it was only at some point during this year that I was able to see it, hear…

Theatre Review: I’m Playing Your Song – Nobody Does It Better, Or Meet Marvin The Mensch
By BRUCE DENNILL I’m Playing Your Song: The Marvin Hamlisch Story / Directed by Alan Swerdlow / Pieter Torien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg There’s a regular conversation about South African theatre that focuses on the…

Dance Review: Cold Comfort, Or Cygn(et) Of The Times
By BRUCE DENNILL The Imperial Ice Stars: Swan Lake On Ice / Directed by Tony Mercer / Teatro, Montecasino, Fourways Broadly speaking, there are two superficial perspectives that arise when classical works are re-imagined to be performed on…

Theatre Review: Madame Zingara’s The Celebration – Menus, Mirrors, Dinner And Dancing Girls
By BRUCE DENNILL Madame Zingara’s The Celebration / Directed by Richard Griffin / Montecasino, Fourways, Johannesburg The Madame Zingara concept is now 15 years old – it’s refreshed with new acts, angles and ideas on a regular basis…

Theatre Review: Making Mandela – Of Kings And Kids, Or A Baby Step To Freedom
By BRUCE DENNILL Making Mandela: The Boy Who Defined A Future / Directed by Jenine Collocott / Auto & General Theatre On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg Any vaguely well-read South African will likely admit that they’re a touch…

Opinion: The Gong Remains The Same, Or Getting Star-Stuck
By BRUCE DENNILL Before this year’s Naledi Awards, there was a Facebook kerfuffle about the nominations, and during and after the show, there was more of the same sort of chatter – verbally, this time – in the Lyric…

Film Interview: On A Wing And Some Flair, Or Keaton Keeping On
Filming the black comedy Birdman for director Alejandro González Iñárritu was one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences of Michael Keaton’s career. Keaton is Riggan Thomson an actor who once starred as Birdman, a comic book superhero, which brought…

Opinion: Arts mArtyr – Learning From Littles, Or Small Mercies
By SIBUSISO MKWANAZI One of the joys of living in Gauteng is the wide array of activities that are on offer for families. And by this, I mean the kids are taken care of – any parent worth their…

Theatre Review: An Introduction To Magic, Or Let’s See How This (Peter) Pans Out
By BRUCE DENNILL Peter Pan: The Pantomime / Joburg Theatre / Directed by Janice Honeyman JM Barrie wouldn’t have a clue what was going on at if he were to walk into the Joburg Theatre during the 2014…

Books: Beginners On Stage … Ask Miss B: The Ultimate Guide To Running A Theatre

Book Review: Theatre On The Bay – The First 25 Years by Suzaan Keyter and Evan Milton
By BRUCE DENNILL The title of this celebration of a quarter of a century of Cape Town theatre provides an encouraging start – a statement of intent in an industry in which it’s impossible to guarantee success and very…