Represent Review: Athol Fugard’s Victory
Thanks to JohnO for his take on Fugard’s latest play at the Market Theatre – he says it’s a must see but not for the faint-hearted! : Wow ! The only thing saving us from freezing to death after the latest cold spell was the tension and drama on the stage of the Laager theatre at the Market. A packed house of cold feet and wide eyes got to see Athol Fugard’s latest effort Victory. And what an effort it was ! I was initially drawn to the piece because of Cobus Rossouw – one of my acting idols from yesteryear but what I got to experience was nothing short of breathtaking. The cast consists of Cobus Rossouw whom everyone may remember from the 70’s and 80’s during which he invariably played a villain or strict father in every second movie or television series. Those lucky enough to have seen “Die groen factor”, will realize that you do not get any better Cobus than that. His performance in Victory was good – although after not seeing him for so many years, I immediately noticed that the years have been tallying up. The rest of the cast was made up of two relative newcomers – Ameera Patel and Wayne van Rooyen. These two stole the show and delivered a performance that can only be described as brilliant and disturbing. Where have these two young actors been hiding? Although the piece tackles a very serious topic – poverty and racism- Fugard still managed to inject some laughs into the evening. The ensemble delivered the laughs and when the tension and absolute terror came, they delivered the goods, pushing the audience to the edge of their seats. I have never experienced the realism and absolute desolate frustration that Wayne van Rooyen delivered. At times he was foaming at the mouth, literally! There were a few scenes where he slapped Cosbus Rossouw’s character around which was positively shocking leaving the whole audience gasping for air. To get back to the technical side – the direction was excellent. The set was simple but suited the piece perfectly. The lighting and music were done brilliantly, communicating the mood – not leaving you confused as to what’s going on. To close – this play is not for the faint hearted. I went into it expecting the usual black vs. white story – which it is not. The piece starts of with a bang, introducing the characters, changes into what your mind can only fathom as a tragedy and then ends on a sad and very disturbing note. No fluffy animals and sing along songs here –...
Femi Kuti is in the country
Maybe we’re still skittish from the Snoop debacle where the brother never showed up – maybe we just like the speed of internet as a medium – anyway we thought we’d share some photo’s to show you that the legend is indeed here. A warmly wrapped Femi Kuti attended a press conference in Parktown today along with Kinobe, one of Uganda’s top artists, Brad from the Bassline and Steven Sack, Joburg city’s director of arts, culture and heritage services. We couldn’t stay for long but heard Femi being drilled about Nigerian politics and the recent elections – his answer was “there was no election in Nigeria..” Damn – wish we could have heard more. Respec’! The man is an incredible musician and we hope that all of us African’s will be in Newtown tomorrow night to celebrate the mother of all continents. It’s going to be interesting 🙂 DRESS WARMLY!!! Represent! ...
It’s all happening in Swaziland
Those of you that know us well know that we’re mad about Swaziland (no bias of course), particularly the mind-blowing venue House on Fire. It’s all happening next weekend with both DJ Fresh (an old school fave of ours) and the Brazilian carnival band Napalma (go to the delicious website to hear their infectious tribal beats). For a weekend away from the Jozi rush but still wanting a bit of a party namethrowing experience up close with the people – how about a trip to the gorgeous mountain kingdom? It’s a neat 3 and a bit drive. Still enough time to plan! House on Fire are able to make accommodation arrangements for you – come on – get that stamp in your passport. We heart Swaziland. Info: It’s Carnival time at House on Fire with the imminent arrival of Brazilian Carnival Percussion group, Napalma, on Sat 2nd of June – Napalma share the stage with 5fm’s Dj Fresh. NAPALMA’s amazing sound incorporates beats and melodies from electronic programming, vocals from exotic East Africa and hypnotic djembe drumming…what a package! Put all this together and you get an incredibly energetic set that defies obvious musical classification…!!!!!!!. Napalma are touring South Africa and Mozambique having performed in major festivals all over the world Doors Open 9PM Tickets @ the Door Hot Fires Hot Meals Hot Atmosphere!!! The band members are: Ivo Maia ( lead singer) born in Mozambique and brings with him Jamaican influences, traditional songs and dialects from East Africa. Paulo Bolzan,aka Carranca (electronic programming) Borrows from drum´n´ bass, house, hip hop, electro, techno, ragga, dub and whatever comes his way. Cid Travaglia e Rafael Jabah ( djembés) Initial founders of Napalma. Their job is to ensure everyone is shaking it. The two drum formula makes for instant success at any carnival. Info Line (+268) 5282110 Accommodation (+268)...
Represent Recommends: CLEO Magazine
Summing it up in a few words for those of us short on time: Try it. If you’re a girlygirl, you’ll love it. If you’re a fashionable girlygirl you’ll like it. If you’re a working girl with a girlygirl sideline you’ll adore it. Watch out Heat, Glamour et al, newly-launched magazine Cleo packs a mean punch. It’s so full it’s almost too full, a little cleaning up and touch of minimalism in the layout could make for easier reading… but what girl can complain about a page-turner that features numerous hot mature men representin’ from chocolate to indie and easy content that appeals to the Jozipolitan in you (that’s you Representers). You can feel that Cleo is birthed in Jozi (as opposed to CT) and it’s full of local faces, opinions and celebs, with a good (nice and low) percentage of international flavour and a slight Aussie undertone here and there. Trendy, juicy and sexy – Cleo has a bit of everything – the digital side was well covered (cool website too) and we were delighted to see some full-page adverts for two new venues (gonna check them out.) We used our VISA card (debit of course ;0 )at our latest favourite shop (again) Big Blue and got the mag for free. *We didn’t know about the launch 🙁 * so we’re not sure what Cleo magazine costs but can guess about R20 something. It’s worth a bash ladies. Let’s see how the team takes a formidable launch edition forward. Bonne Chance mate! ...
Dirty Skirts for 1 night only in Joburg
Indies (you know who you are) get ready for a Stellar night (Sharpile Dave) – In the wake of the incredible success of their Jozi album launch, the Dirty Skirts (fabulous looking website!) return to The 88 Lounge on Friday 1 June for one night only! The bands debut album, On A Stellar Bender has been turning heads countrywide, and the first single from the album has been receiving extensive airplay on 5FM and campus stations around the country. The net result of all of this activity is that the Skirts return to Johannesburg for a great show at the 88 Lounge. In keeping with the indie profile of the band, they are ably supported by the legendary cellar Door DJ’s, Martin and Marc who will be spinning their trademark collection of indie retro and future classics. The Details: The Dirty Skirts and Cellar Door DJ’s Friday 1 June The 88 Lounge William Road, Norwood 011 728 8417 Cover: R70 for non members R50 for members Doors open...
Digital solution for Zim Crisis: Mukuru.com
Interesting… an sms/cell phone service has been set up by enterprising Zimbabweans and South African’s in London that enables UK based Zimbabweans and South Africans to easily help their cash-strapped friends and family at home. It’s a voucher-based system – cash is paid over in the UK for a specific service like petrol or fuel at a garage, friends and family are sent an sms voucher to redeem the goods. So in other words, you can buy petrol for your family in Southern Africa in pounds and all they have to do is show the voucher at the garage and fill up with petrol. Author CK Prahalad talks about exactly this kind of notion, how creative digital solutions can help the developing world, specifically in reducing poverty. It’s a great concept – well done guys. Let’s not get bogged down but look for solutions instead. See Makuru here. BBC Africa has more here: Text messages from abroad have never been received so eagerly by cash-strapped Zimbabweans. The “beep beep” signals an end to hours spent queuing at petrol stations. “Hey… you have been sent a Mukuru Voucher for 40 litres of Petrol from…” reads the message. A voucher number follows which allows the recipient to swap the pin number for coupons redeemable at certain garages. This is all the handiwork of Mukuru.com – a website set up by Zimbabweans in the UK to help their fellow countrymen in the diaspora pay for petrol, satellite TV or transfer money to their friends and relatives at home. It properly got off the ground last year, and its customers are steadily growing as news of it spreads. [Click here for rest of BBC Africa article]...
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