GRINDROD BANK THEATRE
90 MINS
THURS 1800
FRI 1700
R150

Abnormal Loads was commissioned as part of Neil Coppen’s 2011 Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Theatre and is set in a fictional battle-field town nestled in the once war ravaged valleys of Northern KwaZulu-Natal. The play is a rich amalgamation of ghost story, love drama, historical epic and dark comedy, where events, both past and present, unfold seamlessly.

Coppen makes his point through a tragicomedy centred on a young coloured man brought up in a white family who boast of their colonial history. He eventually finds himself trapped in it and becomes subject to its consequences, though it is not of his own making. Coppen doesn’t simply juxtapose the past and present, he allows history to run parallel to the present, eventually allowing the two to intersect, at its climax, in such a way that they become indistinguishable from each other.

With a narrative that whisks audiences through two centuries of South African history, Coppen’s production takes an irreverent look at how history is misconstrued and constructed to suit various individual’s needs while offering a funny and touching reflection on the many complexities and contradictions of life in small town South Africa.Written and Designed By Neil Coppen. Directed by Neil Coppen and Jana Ramos Violante and featuring Mothusi Magano, Fortunate Dhlomo Allison Cassels, Jenna Dunster, Ntombikayise Gasa, Nhlakanipho Manqele, Clinton Small, Thomie Holtzhausen, Nosipho Bophela & Julia Wilson.

MEM HALL

50 MINS

FRI 1800

SAT 1900

SUN 1000

R 110

Untouchable Productions proudly presents the award-winning performers Gerard Bester and Craig Morris alongside their striking new collaborator, Rayzelle Sham, in Roslyn Wood Morris’ satirical gem, Bar Flies. Wood-Morris dives into the murky underbelly of a social watering hole to reveal the world of three desperate lonely souls. A barman, trapped by the codes of the bar that render him invisible; a flamboyantly macho cowboy, with a flair for the Argentine Tango; and a guarded woman, whose sensuous alter ego is released as she nurses her wine as if it were mother’s milk; all hover at the edge of existence, ever short of bridging the gaps between them. The one minute they’re keeping time to the music, the next they’ve slipped out of the real time of their unfulfilled lives and into the vacuous space of the bar. They flirt, fight, drink and forget, fuelled by the answers they find at the bottom of the glass.

Wood-Morris deftly exposes a poignant and dark desperation within the expertly crafted comical confusion. The nuanced performances magnificently capture three characters teetering at the edge of their bar stools, frantically trying to make some tangible connection.

Adrienne Sichel of The Star writes: A runaway hit....Wood-Morris has her own distinctive quirkily detailed humour which blossoms into desperately funny cartoony comedy... pure theatrical gold

Choreography by Roslyn Wood-Morris and Cast; Set Design by Roslyn Wood-Morris; Lighting Design by Barry Strydom

MEM HALL

SAT 1615

SUN 1215

75 MINS

PG 16

R 95

Finally, after 3 long years, the wacky Belgian Gaëtan Schmid (The Dog’s Bollocks) is back with his brand new one man show Body Language. Sold out in Cape Town; sold out at the National Arts Festival, you’d better book this one asap to get a ticket!

“Your body talks and talks and talks and it doesn’t shut up! Ever. Unless you’re dead.” Hilarious and informative, Gaëtan will fascinate you with the hidden meanings behind your everyday gestures.

Underneath its irreverent and comical narrative, Body Language’s social message is of ever increasing importance: human interaction and communication.

Our entire societal system is based on communication. If we can improve the quality of our communication we will improve the quality of our society.

“ … a solo tour de force …” Sunday Times

SPAR DRAMA CENTRE

60 MINS

SAT 1200

R 80

Who would ever have thought that the story of a refugee could be funny ….it is!!!

Madonna famously quoted, "I am a survivor. I am like a cockroach; you just can't get rid of me." Hutu extremists referred to the Tutsi minority as cockroaches during the Rwandan Genocide in 1994. In South Africa, the President referred to his political opponents as cockroaches and rats.

A trilogy, written and performed by Jonathan Khumbulani Nkala, a young man from Kwekwe, Zimbabwe, living in Cape Town, and directed and edited by Bo Petersen, bears witness to the dramatic arc of Jonathan’s life. Despite great hardships, COCKROACH is a story of resilience and triumph of the human spirit over adversity.

The story moves from his childhood and a bicycle thief, through his first poignant but treacherous love to his dangerous crossing of the great Limpopo River into South Africa … and adulthood.

Business Day Review (17th March 2011)

MEM HALL

80 MINS

SAT 1000

SUN 1430

R 75

37 Plays! Only 80 minutes!! After 4 years at the festival, Actors Unemployed finally have a venue! An irreverent, fast-paced romp through the Bard’s plays, Compleat Wrks (abridged) invites you to join these madcap men in tights as they weave their wicked way through all of Shakespeare’s comedies, histories and tragedies in one wild ride, leaving you breathless and helpless with laughter.

The script is by Adam Long .... oh yes, and William Shakespeare; it is directed by Peter Court and features Marc Kay, Adam Dore and Clinton Small.

SPAR DRAMA CENTRE

70 MINS

SAT 1630

SUN 1415

R 60

“This is the true story of a young black girl growing up: growing through crushes, looking for love, finding herself. It’s unpredictable, ironic, refreshing and there’s not a single cliché in it. Haarhoff’s accomplished acting fills the stage with believable characters, realistic situations and shared insights. Brilliant!” - Hellen Hollerman (National Arts Festival 2011)

“History weighs heavies on those deemed to be the perpetrators or beneficiaries of oppression. Few works illuminated the experience of black people during our oppressive history. One such play was Crush-Hopper, a one hander by the talented Mandisa-Roeleene Haarhoff. I t was an engaging semi-autobiographical narrative about a coloured girl who, in her desire to be white, suppresses her Xhosa heritage, which she perceives to be backward and uncouth. It is through a series of crushes on various boys that she begins to discover and eventually accept her Xhosa

“ It’s a true South African story about a girl negotiating her life in search of her self-loved (and) identity. The performance was most appealing and sincere, and gave a good insight into the differences between races. The audience rose as one to join in a standing ovation, with many calling out "Musho". This young lady certainly deserved to win the audience vote of best performance at the Musho festival.” -Di Matthews

GRINDROD BANK THEATRE

80 MINS

SAT 1745

SUN 1730

R 140

A comedy for grown ups!

The hottest ticket on Broadway is coming to Hilton after a sell-out season in Durban! Kickstart’s The God of Carnage is a wickedly funny social comedy, featuring a brilliant local cast of multi-award winning actors: Clare Mortimer, Jailoshini Naidoo, Tim Wells and Iain ‘Ewok’ Robinson. Tony Award winner Yasmina Reza (writer of Art) brings a razor wit and profound understanding of human subtleties to her play, in which two civilized married couples meet up to sort out a playground fight. The son of one couple has broken two of the teeth of the son of another. At first diplomatic niceties are observed, but as the meeting progresses and the rum flows, huge tensions emerge and the gloves come off, leaving their liberal principles in tatters, and the audience in stitches!

The play is directed by Steven Stead, designed by Greg King, with lighting design by Tina le Roux.

• WINNER BEST NEW COMEDY! - 2009 Olivier Awards
• WINNER BEST PLAY! - 2009 Drama League Awards
• WINNER BEST NEW PLAY! - 2009 Outer Circle Critics Awards
• WINNER BEST PLAY! - 2009 TONY AWARDS

GRINDROD BANK THEATRE

100 MINS

FRI 2030

SAT 1000

R 145

KickstArt presents an unmissable romantic comedy!!

This hilarious, American musical comedy by Joe DiPietro and Jimmy Roberts looks at love and relationships from dating to marriage, to becoming parents, and finally to old age. It is the second-longest running Off Broadway musical in the history of Broadway. It is also everything you have ever secretly thought about dating, romance, marriage, lovers, husbands, wives and in-laws, but were afraid to admit!

The musical premiered in New York City, on August 1, 1996 and closed on July 27, 2008, after 5,003 performances. So universal is its appeal that, since then, it has been translated into 13 languages .

Now it comes to Hilton in a brand new production by Durban’s top theatre company, KicksArt. It stars Lisa Bobbert, Steven Stead, Roland Perold and Jessica Sole, with musical direction by Justin Southey. It is directed and designed by Greg King.

“Once again this outstanding and hard-working company, now celebrating its 10^th anniversary, delivers - and then some. This is a boisterous, hugely rewarding stage experience…and so enjoyable that I, for one, will be seeing it again.” - Billy Suter, The Mercury 

“Five Stars!” - Latoya Newman, The Daily News

GRINDROD BANK THEATRE

65 MINS

SAT 1515

SUN 1000

R 135

The most popular show in Grahamstown for 2 consecutive years!! An absolute MUST!!!

This new script by Nicolas Spagnoletti and directed by Lara Bye, tells the tender, beautiful and funny story about a friendship between two women from diverse backgrounds, living in the same block of flats in London Road, Seapoint.

The performances by Robyn Scott as the elderly Jewish widow, Rosa, and Ntombi Makhutshi as the young Nigerian, Stella, have been described as ‘phenomenal’, ‘breathtaking’ and ‘a tour de force’.

On the surface, Stella and Rosa Kaplowitz have nothing in common other than the block of flats in which they live. Stella is a young Nigerian woman living in a damp, converted storage room. Long distant family, dodgy gangsters and a sense of survival makes her very mistrusting of the gestures of strangers. Rosa is an elderly Jewish widow living in a flat on the fifth floor. Her children and grandchildren live overseas so she keeps herself occupied by becoming very involved in the business of her neighbourhood. After an act of violence, these two women find themselves stranded together and take comfort in finding that common themes unite them.

“Audiences have said that they found the play to be both funnier and more moving than they expected,” says Spagnoletti. “Many of them also said it made them think about and cherish the precious relationships in their lives.”

SPAR DRAMA CENTRE

50 MINS

FRI 2015

SAT 1415

PG 16

R 75

For some time now, Darren King and Clare Mortimer have been mulling over the idea of creating a companion piece for their critically acclaimed  From My Point of View. Master of the Café Society and From My Point of View are adapted from Steven Befkoff’s book of hard-hitting, yet haunting, short stories Gross Intrusions.

In keeping with the style of the first piece, Master of the Café Society combines the edgy and evocative language we associate with Berkoff’s writing with innovative physical and visual staging, making for a seamless, surprising theatrical experience. King and Mortimer are enthusiastic about the challenges of the adaptation and the scope afforded to the creative team when “making a play” from a short story - something that has never been staged.

SPAR DRAMA CENTRE

50 MINS

SAT 1900

SUN 1200

R 80

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS PLAY IS IN ENGLISH, WITH SOME AUSTRIAN

This intimate two-hander Mein Soldat, featuring Janna Ramos-Violante and Clinton Small, is a freshly conceived new South African piece written by Ramos-Violante. It debuted at the National Arts Festival in 2010 and was one of three Durban productions to win a coveted Standard Bank Fringe Ovation Award. A total of 16 productions from across the country were awarded these out of an excess of 400 shows. It was also nominated for best new South African script, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Director at the 2010 Durban Theatre Awards.

Set during World War II, the play documents the beautiful and complex relationship of two strangers who find each other through forced circumstances. After escaping from a prisoner of war camp in Krems, Duncan (a young British soldier) falls into Irma’s (a young Austrian woman) kitchen in dire need of assistance. Irma for her part, has been alone for 6 years awaiting her husband’s return from the war. What must ensue is a sometimes taut, sometimes funny, but always ambiguous state of play as the two characters are unable to communicate.

Largely due to the impenetrable silence of Mein Soldat, the audience feels liberated and empowered to interpret the silences, laugh at the awkwardness, and place in the characters hearts their own wish for what might be said, what might come to pass. In short, “It is a piece rich in humanity, suspense and humour, beautifully set, and astonishingly portrayed.” (Clare Mortimer, 2010)

SPAR DRAMA CENTRE

65 MINS

SAT 1000

R 90

One of three theatre gems from Israel. See also The Timekeepers and Volunteer Man.

 "That night too I woke up and heard Mom and Dad arguing. Mom said to Dad that he was fucking up her life with all his playing around, and his walking out on us and his moods, and she was fed up, fed up: and he answered back that it was hard for him too, and he felt stifled and stuck in a rut, and his time was running out and, he never succeeded in getting anything done; then she said that if he cried less over his wasted time he wouldn’t waste so much time; and he asked her not to be nasty" 

This is how the story about the deterioration of an Israeli family, told by Yotam, begins… Yotam, an eleven year old child, obsessed with documentation, records everything in his children's tape recorder, "My First Sony". He follows the events and reports them accurately, a fact which emphasizes the comic aspect of painful developments in his life, such as his parents' separation and the inevitable ending… 

Written by Benny Barbash, directed by Dafna Widenfeld-Nagler and performed by Roy Horovitz.

MEM HALL

45 MINS

SAT 1430

R 70

A Spoken Word poetry performance by Durban’s own award winning published rapper and performer Iain EWOK Robinson. This dynamic recital flows between the poetry and the performance, containing Spoken Word pieces from EWOKs series of one man shows as well as select tracks from his various recording projects.   EWOK has appeared on international poetry stages from Sweden to Colombia, as well as maintaining an active national profile as both a poetic entertainer and educator. Expect some home grown wisdom and wit, flavoured in poetry, rapped in truth...

GRINDROD BANK THEATRE

75 MINS
SAT 2030

SUN 1500

R 140

A world premiere

Faced with a sea of troubles, it's harder to stay dry on dry land than it is to drink them all away.

Cooped up on a cruise ship with an unchanging cast of waifs, strays and eccentrics as her only company for months at a time, the ship's on-board lounge singer counts down the days until she docks. Between cabaret sets in the Starlight Bar, the oblivion of too much booze and observing the absurd antics of passengers and crew, she does everything she can to distract herself from the painful dilemma she faces: whether or not to be reunited with her estranged daughter.

Should she stay at sea or put a tentative foot on the earth? The problem is, the closer she gets to land and her daughter, the closer she gets to facing herself too. Coming home is not as easy as running away.

Sailing Somewhere, a one-woman play by Matthew Hurt with songs by Conor Mitchell, stars the legendary Fiona Ramsay and is a sometimes funny, sometimes haunting portrait of a mother's guilt. It is directed by Vanessa Cooke and also features Tony Bentel on piano, with sets by Andrew Botha.

MEM HALL

55 MINS

FRI 2030

SAT 1230

R 120

[adj. SLACK noun GUAVA] 

PLEASE NOTE THIS PLAY IS IN ENGLISH

This absurdly funny and touching play brings two great actresses of Stage and Television together again - Annelisa Weiland and Vanessa Cooke.

The action finds two stressed-out actresses, of a certain age, in a tatty dressing room, preparing for the first preview of a new South African play... a work not without its problems! Can they pull it off without losing what's left of their marbles

About twenty years ago, while working together at The Market Theatre, Annelisa & Vanessa started writing sketches for two very old ladies – their characters – Mavis and Violet.

These sketches were inspired by newspaper sensations of the time: the mother who carried her daughter’s triplets to term, thus giving birth to her own grandchildren; one of the partners in a lesbian couple who was inseminated with sperm donated by an Indian gentleman friend, and delivered in a spice bottle.

Nothing came of any of these ideas because their careers took different paths. Two years ago, circumstance revived their friendship and, encouraged by Robert Whitehead, Vanessa unearthed their old writings and they set to work developing them.

They wrote together on a regular basis and, with Robert Whitehead, structured ‘The Slap Koejawel’ into a play. It has turned out to be a quite complex and delightful entertainment that is entirely self explanatory.

Written & Performed by Annelisa Weiland & Vanessa Cooke; directed by Robert Whitehead.

“... a frank, fresh, wildly comic look at what happens to dedicated, legendary actors when they grow old in a contemporary, soap opera smitten, country.” Adrienne Sichel

“The dialogue is very witty, candid and usually a little on the rude side. Annette Bayne – The Citizen

FLEUR DE LYS

3 HOURS (SUNDAY BRUNCH PERF 2 HOURS)

THURS 1800

FRI 1800

SAT 1200

SUN 1000; 1400

R 295

A Dinner Thriller

Director: Brendan Grealy

September, 1939. Storm clouds have gathered over Europe. In a private school in the Natal Midlands, trouble is brewing of a different kind.

A master’s wife has met with an unfortunate accident… The much-loved school librarian has been ‘put out to grass’… The widowed headmaster has taken a vivacious new wife… And a ghostly phantom strides across the school grounds in the dead of night…

Could it be the wraith of the headmaster’s former wife?

Join Michael Buchan, the unlikely detective, on his quest to unravel the mystery behind a singularly enigmatic murder; the challenge is on to work out whodunnit and why!

Paul Spence and Annie Robinson return, for the fifth time, to The Hilton festival, with their latest ‘dinner thriller’.

You will be wined, dined and royally entertained!

GRINDROD BANK THEATRE

65 MINS

SAT 1300

SUN 1230

R 145

THE WITNESS FLAGSHIP PRODUCTION

One of three theatre gems from Israel. See also My First Sony and Volunteer Man.

When Hans, an outrageous young camp German homosexual, and Benjamin, a conservative elderly Jewish man are thrown together in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, they appear at first to have little in common.

Working together, repairing watches for the Nazis under the tyrannical eye of the Capo, suspicion, prejudice, mistrust and indifference slowly give way to a touching friendship.   Benjamin can mend watches. Hans knows how to survive. None of them can really sing opera. So what’s to be done? Humour, apparently, is a great weapon.

This award-winning drama, which has toured Israel to great acclaim with this cast for over seven years, deals with the Holocaust in a way that accentuates the private experience amidst a tragedy of millions.

Written by Dan Clancy, directed by Lee Gilat and performed by Roy Horovitz, Rami Baruch / Pinhas Mittelman, Omer Etzion

The Timekeepers has performed in many countries, receiving excellent reviews and several international awards.  

• ” An intimate, human and touching drama …  Rami Baruch brings plenty of emotional power… Roy Horovitz’s performance is excellent and overtaking” - The Daily ‘Maariv’, Israel
• "Both actors deliver humours and charming performances that force us to appreciate the human as opposed to the victim" - TIME OUT, London

SPAR DRAMA CENTRE

65 MINS

FRI 1800

SUN 1000

R 90

One of three theatre gems from Israel. See also My First Sony and The Timekeepers.

VOLUNTEER MAN is an exploration on the right of a patient with an incurable illness to choose to end his life.  It is also a meditation on  the “rightness” of the decision another person makes  to aid in the suicide.   

The story is straightforward: a gentle, introverted gay man volunteers to visit a tough drug dealer who is dying from AIDS in a NYC hospital before the advent of life prolonging drug regimens.  They come from different worlds, with different outlooks on what is “right” or “wrong,” but over time they find a common cause.

VOLUNTEER MAN is an Obie award winning play, and it  also received a G.LA.D.D nomination for Best Play of the Year.

According to the New York Times, VOLUNTEER MAN is a confrontational play that is “filled with laughter but leaves you feeling [like] Mike Tyson has landed one on your chest.”  The reviewer from “TimeOut New York” called it “one of the bleakest, most confrontational – and one of the best plays – I have seen in a long time.”

As he did in "TimeKeepers", playwright Dan Clancy manages to combine humour, serious dilemmas and poignancy with remarkable skill.